8 Comments

  1. By Matt
    December 21, 2011 at 3:41 pm | permalink

    I saw them scattered along the line at Longshore and Wright yesterday evening, too. Meant to go backt oday to take a photo. At least it’s not some newfangled de-icing strategy.

  2. By Juliew
    December 21, 2011 at 4:52 pm | permalink

    This happens a few times a year. I took a similar picture in 2009 [link] and somewhere I have a picture of what happens when they spill grain in the spring and it rains a lot right afterward. :)

  3. December 22, 2011 at 4:27 am | permalink

    I have to confess that I am somewhat disappointed to learn that the seeds were the result of spillage from a RR car—I naively thought the seeds were there because some kindly soul was feeding the birds of the Old West Side.

  4. By Barbara
    December 22, 2011 at 5:16 pm | permalink

    They’re back? I always thought it was Hansel and Gretel, or maybe Dorthy?

  5. By Daniel Madaj
    December 23, 2011 at 6:22 pm | permalink

    Might it not be a sign that Maize is back on track?

  6. By Rod Johnson
    December 24, 2011 at 12:10 am | permalink

    *rimshot*

  7. December 24, 2011 at 9:46 am | permalink

    So…what do you think? Was any (bird)seed/grain at all left in the freight car when it arrived at its final destination or did it arrive completely emptied?

  8. By bear
    December 25, 2011 at 3:16 am | permalink

    Yeah, The Ann Arbor Railroad is a short line these days, usually running twice a day hauling mostly sand (for concrete) and auto parts. A couple of times a year it hauls corn or grain, with leakage usualy spilling on the tracks. It IS pretty cool to see it in the Spring after a rain. The tracks turn into a fuzzy green carpet! This stuff is good, I suppose, for animals who need the nourishment. most of the corn we get these days is GMO, and that is the sad part of the whole equation. But, Merry Christmas and count your blessings instead of sheep. (not to Irving Berlin)