D E T R O I T
Railroads
Source: The Industries of Detroit By John William Leonard 1887
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Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway
This road, which forms the western
extension of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, is an important factor in the railway
facilities of Michigan, the greater part of the lines operated by it being within the
boundaries of the State. The company is the result of a consolidation, effected April 7,
1880, of the Huron nnd Lake Michigan, opened in December, 1871, and the Peninsula
Railroad opened in 1872, which were consolidated under the name of the Chicago and
Lake Huron Railroad, in August, 1873, and extended to Valparaiso. Ind., with the line
between Lansing and Flint, Mich. built by the Northwestern Railroad Company, and
the extension from Valparaiso to Chicago, built by the Northwestern Grand Trunk
Railway Company, and opened February 8, 1880. The company now operates the
Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway proper from Port Huron to Chicago, 335 miles,
the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway. Detroit to Grand Haven, 180 miles;
the Chicago, Detroit and Canada Grand Junction Railway, Fort Gratiot to Detroit, 58.75
miles, and the Michigan Air Line Railway, 105.75 miles. The main offices of the road
are in this city, and are an important factor in the business of Detroit.
The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, forming the eastern connection of the Chicago
nnd Grand Trunk Railway, is one of the most extensive of existing railway systems
covering, with branches and auxiliary lines, all parts of the Dominion, and extending
east to Portland, ME., and the Atlantic Coast.
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Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway
The mileage of this
road is given with that of the Chicago ami Grand Trunk Hallway. It forms a part of
that system, although separately organized, the general officers of the two companies
being the same except the Secretary and Solicitor. The history of the road dates back
to the issuance of the first railroad charter ever granted in Michigan, that for the Pontiac
and Detroit Railroad, incorporated July 31, 1830. The roud passed through various
hands prior to the organization of the present company. November 9, 1878. The road
extends from Detroit to Grand Haven, and at the latter place connection is made with
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Detroit, Lansing and Northern
The origin of this road was its consolidation in 1860, of two roads known as the Detroit, Howell and Lansing and the Lansing
and Lake Michigan. The parties now owning the road purchased it in 1876, and have
since added to its length and increased its equipment. The mainline from Detroit to
Howard City is 100.3 miles, the Stanton branch from Ionia to Big Rapids is 67.5 miles,
and in addition the company controls and operates the Saginaw and Western and the
Saginaw and St. Louis railroads, 80 miles, running from East Saginaw to Howard City.
The company has now under construction 51 miles, from Grand Ledgc to Grand Rapids,
which will be completed the present year, and will make almost un airline from Detroit
to Grand Rapids, eleven miles shorter than any other.
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Flint and Pere Marquette
This is an important road operating wholly in
Michigan and giving Detroit valuable connections with the trade of the state. The road
has its headquarters at East Saginaw, an effects an entrance in Detroit over the line of
the Michigan Central from Wayne, eighteen miles distant. The main line extends from
Monroe to Ludington, 353.3 miles; the Flint River Division, East Saginaw to Bay City,
12.4 miles; the Flint River Division, from Flint to Fostoria. 24.1 miles; the Harrison
Division, from Harrison Junction to Meredith. 20.6miles; the Manistee Division, Man
istee Junction to Manistee, 25.5 miles; the Mount Pleasant Division, Coleman to Mount
Pleasant, 14.5. and the St. Clair Railroad, Saginaw City Division, from East Saginaw to
Saginaw City. 5.4 miles. The lines above enumerated embrace those whose trains run directly into the city,
although a number of other roads, tapping one or the other of these inlets, also form
important items in the business with which Detroit is connected.
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Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad
The origin of this road, so far as the State of Michigan is concerned was the granting of a
charter, April 22, 1833 to the Eric and Kalamazoo Railroad. The line was completed from Toledo to Adrian.
a distance of thirty-three miles, in 1836, and was the first line operated in Michigan. The
cars were drawn by horses for several months, but in January, 1837, the first locomotive
arrived. On August 9, 1849 a perpetual lease was made to the Michigan Southern
Railroad Company, which had been chartered March 20, 1837. This company had
before acquiring the franchise of the Erie and Kalamazoo road, built eighteen miles of
rail from Monroe to Petersburg in 1839, extended to Adrian in 1840, and to Hillsdale in
1843. In 1852 the company completed its line from Toledo to Chicago, and in 1855 from
Toledo, via Cleveland, to Buffalo, and in 1850 the link connecting Detroit with Toledo
was acquired by the company. The present Lake Shore nnd Michigan Southern Railway
Company was organized under the laws of Ohio in 1869 and was a consolidation of the
lines above mentioned and others, and has since acquired nnd constructed a large amount
of road.
The main line of this road, extending from Chicago to Buffalo, has a mileage of
540.49. in addition to which it has five Lake Shore and Michigan Southern branches
324.38 miles, three proprietary roads owned wholly by the company, but under other
organizations 160.07 miles in length, and five leased roads 315.41 miles, making a total
length of line operated of 1340.35 miles.
The road, with its various branches, covers large portion of the State, and is an
important item in the transportation facilities of Detroit, not only as regards traffic with
other parts of Michigan and contiguous trade territory, but also as affording a valuable
connection with eastern cities. The headquarters of the mail are at Cleveland, Ohio.
Its equipment is 536 locomotives, 16,303 freight cars and full passenger equipment.
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Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific
This system, which has passed into the control of the courts, has recently been divided as to management, the lines between St.
Louis and Kansas City, Council Bluffs and Des Moines, west of the Mississippi, and the
lines between Detroit and Logansport, Ind., and Indianapolis and Michigan City, being
still operated by the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company, in connection
with the Gould syndicate, with headquarters at St. Louis. The other portions of the
road, cost of the Mississippi, are operated under separate management, with Gen.
McNulta as receiver, and extend from Toledo, Ohio, to East St. Louis, IL., 436 miles and
from East St. Louis to Chicago. 280 miles.
The great value of this road to the business of Detroit is well expressed in the report
of Secretary Lane to the Detroit Board of Trade. He says: " Of all the feeders of the
Detroit grain trade, the Wabash and Pacific Railway. The latest completed, has become
by far the most important. The increase in the movement of the leading cereals over
that channel to Detroit has been rapid and uninterrupted since it was opened five years
since. In 1882 the road brought to this market 1,514.984 bushels of grain. In 1886 the
aggregate receipts amounted to 5,622.334 bushels. Had our grain storage room been
equal to the demands of the trade, the record of the past season would have exceeded
6,000,000 bushels. The total arrivals of grain via the Michigan Central lines, the second
most important road of the market, amounted to 3,848.528 bushels during 1886, and to
8,535,538 bushels during 1885." For almost a score of years before the opening of this
important channel of traffic, that road or some direct inlet from the southwest was the
one great want of the city. Its completion, in connection with one of the greatest
systems of railways in tho country, has fully satisfied this long felt need, and in the trade
already realized has fully, and even more than met the anticipations of our merchants.
For the future, the possibilities of the trade along that line are almost unlimited, and
invite the active efforts of every interest to push in that direction with the best assurances of success."
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