Railfanning From Battle Creek MI to Potterville MI Labor Day Weekend 2026

On Labor Day Weekend, I went out to Grand Rapids to visit my brother who goes to Grand Valley and during the day I decided to railfan around the Battle Creek area and it proved to be a decently busy day with 12 freights and three Amtrak's I caught. It took a minute for the action to get going but once it did it was very steady at one point I caught 5 trains in less than an hour as well. Canadian National has been having serious problems with traffic severely backed up and not enough crews to handle the uptick in traffic. So on this day, there was alot of trains. I also caught a pair of trains near Potterville on my way to Howell where i got invited to my friends campsite the next day. Seventeen trains are seen on this holiday weekend. Enjoy the ride! I know its been awhile since I uploaded a video, I have been very busy this whole month with life as I am trying to get a new job. Location Battle Creek MI Train 1: Westbound Canadian National Stack train Z149 heading for Chicago IL Train 2: Westbound Canadian National Auto Rack train E281 heading for Chicago IL with a Citirail unit leading Train 3: Westbound Amtrak Wolverine train 351 passing the small Norfolk Southern yard running over 2 hours late Train 4: Westbound Amtrak Wolverine train 353 follows right behind running 25 minutes late Train 5: Westbound Canadian National mixed freight train M397 heading for the crew change with four engines Train 6: Eastbound Canadian National mixed freight train M302 heading for Toronto ON departing with a fresh crew Train 7: A Canadian National Yard Job with a sd60 and a long cut of cars Train 8: Eastbound Canadian National mixed freight train A492 heading for the yard for a crew change Location Bellevue MI Train 9: Eastbound Canadian National extra mixed freight train X492 heading for Sarnia ON Train 10: Westbound Amtrak Blue Water train 365 heading for Chicago IL Train 11: Westbound Canadian National mixed freight train M301 heading for Winnipeg MB with a nice horn this train sat in Lansing for three days without a crew Train 12: Westbound Canadian National mixed freight train M399 heading for Chicago IL with a nice horn on this rebuild Train 13: Westbound Canadian National mixed freight train A491 heading for Gary IN Train 14: Eastbound Canadian National mixed freight train M396 heading for Toronto ON Train 15: Westbound Canadian National mixed freight train E251 heading for Battle Creek MI Location Potterville MI Train 16: Eastbound Canadian National road local train L501 returning to Flint MI with a SD75I leading Train 17: Westbound Canadian National mixed freight train heading towards Battle Creek. I believe this was a late A491 or M397 I could be wrong