On the Eastern Loop. On a beautiful but chilly January day, US 152 hauls a short string of wooden passenger coaches around the Huckleberry Railroad's eastern turning loop. Unlike most steam tourist railroads, which run with the power facing forward in one direction, and tender first in the other, the locomotives on "The Huck" are always facing forward. That's because the roughly 4 mile line is constructed a lot like a model railroad layout, with balloon loops at either end. Basically, from the time they leaves Crossroads Village Station, the trains never have to stop until they arrive back where they started. Outside of the loops, the line is otherwise like most Michigan railroads....meaning pretty straight. For a photography charter like this 2019 Lerro Productions Event, these loops make great photo spots, because you can almost always find a nicely lit angle like this one, and if you like, you can turn the train 180 degrees in just a couple of minutes. I don't know the technical specs for the two loops, but it's just my personal observation that the eastern one pictured here is a fair bit larger and much more open than the western one. Interestingly, the loop you see here is not what was originally built in the 1970s. The original eastern loop was somewhat further east and as I understand it, it was even larger than what exists today. I did not get a chance to explore that area on this trip, but about 10 years ago, portions of the original loop ROW were still visible.
