Posted by Jim Sinclair on February 27, 2011 
Very nice catch, Stan! Surely the "railroad gods" were smiling on you this fine sunny day to allow you to catch two Ann Arbor trains passing each other! If I could clearly see the faces of the two trainmen on the back platform of caboose 2834, I could probably give you some names. During the early 70's, I rode many trains between Owosso and Boat Landing, and the schedule was such that I never saw an opposing train during any of my trips. Back then, westbound TF-1 (Toledo-Frankfort) departed Owosso about midnight and arrived Boat Landing about 07:00. Eastbound FT-2 (Frankfort-Toledo) was generally called about 10:00 and arrived Owosso about 17:00. Obviously, the crew that arrived on TF-1 was not rested for FT-2, so after TF-1's crew got their rest, it wasn't uncommon for the railroad to call a Cadillac Turn about 15:00 with an RS-1 (either 20 or 21) that was assigned to Boat Landing. If all went well, the turn would generally return by 20:00 with plenty of time to hit the local bars before turning in. This crew would be legally "rested" ("physically" rested for some could be hotly debated!) to take the next day's FT-2 back to Owosso, which was the "home terminal" for all the road crews. Once again, thanks for all the memories!
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