CSX Plymouth Subdivision
Encyclopedia
The CSX Plymouth Subdivision is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Michigan
. It connects the Plymouth Diamond at mile marker CH 24.5 to Grand Rapids at CH 148.1, passing through the Lansing metropolitan area en route. Other towns served include Brighton
, Howell
, Williamston
, Grand Ledge, and Lake Odessa. Operationally, it is part of the CSX Chicago Division, dispatched from Calumet City, IL.
(organized 1864), the Ionia and Lansing Railroad
(organized 1865), the Howell and Lansing Railroad (organized 1868), and the Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad
(created by merger 1870). Principal construction on the Lansing-Detroit segment was completed by the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad (created by merger 1871), with operations commencing on August 31, 1871.
In 1896 control of this east-west mainline through the state capital passed to the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad (DGR&W), and subsequently by merger to the Pere Marquette Railroad (later Railway) in 1900. Though never among the most profitable railroads, the Pere Marquette persevered until it merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) in 1947. The C&O became part of the Chessie System
in 1972, and was absorbed into CSX Transportation
in 1987.
.
The route of the Plymouth Subdivision has the following waypoints:
Notable bridges are a three-span Warren deck truss bridge
over the Thornapple River, the 1887 "High Bridge" trestle
over the Grand River
at Grand Ledge
, and a deck plate girder bridge
over the Red Cedar River
and Lansing's River Trail.
freights daily, in addition to numerous locals and commodity trains. Over time, however, much of that traffic moved southward, using Norfolk Southern's tracks from Toledo
to Chicago through Garrett, Indiana
. As of June 2011, only two symboled trains are regularly seen on the Plymouth Subdivision, giving it the character of a branch line rather than a mainline. Current and former trains include:
Locals operating west from Plymouth Yard, east from Ensel Yard, and east from Wyoming Yard in Grand Rapids switch customers along this line. A nightly local shuttles traffic off Q326 from Wyoming to Ensel.
Full and empty commodity trains (grain/coal/lime/stone) operate over the Plymouth Subdivision on an irregular basis.
Except for a 30-mile portion west of Lansing which consists of five ABS
blocks (Cash, Ledge, Field, Jordan and Lake), the entire Plymouth Subdivision is CTC
signalled.
In 1946, the Pere Marquette introduced the nation's first post-war lightweight streamlined passenger trains
, operating between Detroit and Grand Rapids over the Plymouth Subdivision. These were the first diesel-powered trains on the Pere Marquette system, with power provided by EMD E7A
s pulling Pullman Standard cars. By 1947, there were three daily trains in each direction, an evening and a morning express and a mid-day (late evening on Sundays) local. The expresses had a scheduled trip of 2:40, with intermediate stops in Plymouth and Lansing. The local had a scheduled trip of 3:00 due to additional stops in Brighton, Howell, Fowlerville, Williamston, Grand Ledge and Lake Odessa. The service was continued by the Chesapeake & Ohio under the Pere Marquette name following the 1947 merger. The final passenger train ran on the Detroit-Grand Rapids route in 1963.
The Union Depot at Michigan Avenue, just blocks from the state Capitol, survives as Clara's Lansing Station restaurant. The Williamston Depot was moved a half mile to Grand River Avenue in 1979, where it now houses a museum and the city Chamber of Commerce. The Fowlerville Depot is still owned by the Pere Marquette successor CSX and used as a base for track maintenance crews. As in Williamston, the Lake Odessa Depot survived through relocation and repurposing as a museum.
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It connects the Plymouth Diamond at mile marker CH 24.5 to Grand Rapids at CH 148.1, passing through the Lansing metropolitan area en route. Other towns served include Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Howell
Howell, Michigan
Howell is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 9,489. It is the county seat of Livingston County and is located mostly within Howell Township, but is politically independent from Howell Township...
, Williamston
Williamston, Michigan
Williamston is a city in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is at the southeast corner of Williamstown Township, but is politically independent. A portion of Williamston was annexed from adjacent Wheatfield Township. Downtown Williamston is located at the intersection of Grand...
, Grand Ledge, and Lake Odessa. Operationally, it is part of the CSX Chicago Division, dispatched from Calumet City, IL.
History
Construction of what is now the 124-mile CSX Plymouth Subdivision was attempted in the 1860s by a succession of short-lived and undercapitalized railroad companies, including the Detroit and Howell RailroadDetroit and Howell Railroad
The Detroit and Howell Railroad is a defunct railroad organized in 1864 to build a line connecting Howell and Detroit in southeast Michigan....
(organized 1864), the Ionia and Lansing Railroad
Ionia and Lansing Railroad
The Ionia and Lansing Rail Road is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan in the 1860s and 1870s. The company incorporated on November 13, 1865; the investors hailed primarily from Lansing, Ionia and Portland...
(organized 1865), the Howell and Lansing Railroad (organized 1868), and the Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad
Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad
The Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in central and southeast Michigan during the early 1870s. The company formed on March 29, 1870 through the consolidation of the Detroit and Howell and the Howell and Lansing...
(created by merger 1870). Principal construction on the Lansing-Detroit segment was completed by the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad (created by merger 1871), with operations commencing on August 31, 1871.
In 1896 control of this east-west mainline through the state capital passed to the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad (DGR&W), and subsequently by merger to the Pere Marquette Railroad (later Railway) in 1900. Though never among the most profitable railroads, the Pere Marquette persevered until it merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) in 1947. The C&O became part of the Chessie System
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...
in 1972, and was absorbed into CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
in 1987.
Route
For most of its length the Plymouth Subdivision crosses gently rolling farm and forested terrain, passing through small towns and the state capital. The high point west of Lansing is 1000.4 feet above sea level at Canwell (CH 51), and the low point 830.6 feet at Beck (CH 27), for an elevation change of 169.8 feet. The steepest grade in this segment is 1.2% west of Canwell. The high point west of Lansing is 883.1 feet at Saddleback Road (CH 116), and the low point is 690.7 feet at the Thornapple River (CH 139), for an elevation change of 192.4 feet. The steepest grade west of Lansing is 1.8% in the vicinity of Jourdan Lake Road. Despite the relatively modest grades, trains occasionally stall climbing Salem Hill west of Plymouth and coming east out of the Thornapple RiverThornapple River
The Thornapple River is an tributary of Michigan's longest river, the Grand River. The Thornapple is located in western Michigan. It joins the Grand in Ada, Michigan.- Description :...
.
The route of the Plymouth Subdivision has the following waypoints:
- Plymouth Diamond - CH 24.5 - the Plymouth Subdivision joins the CSX Detroit Subdivision and is crossed by the dual track north-south Saginaw Subdivision at mile marker CC82.
- South Lyon - CH 36.2 to CH 37.7 - 6750-ft passing siding, south side
- Green Oak - CH 39.1 - defect detector
- BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
- CH 45.3 to CH 46.8 - 7000-ft passing siding, north side - Ann Pere - CH 52.8 - junction (single wye) with the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay RailwayTuscola and Saginaw Bay RailwayThe Great Lakes Central Railroad is a Class II regional railroad, originally called the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway was formed on August 26, 1977 to operate over former Penn Central lines from Millington to Munger, Michigan, and Vassar to Colling, Michigan...
- HowellHowell, MichiganHowell is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 9,489. It is the county seat of Livingston County and is located mostly within Howell Township, but is politically independent from Howell Township...
- CH 52.8 to CH 54.2 - 5450-ft passing siding, north side - Fowlerville - CH 60.7 to CH 62.0 - 7060-ft passing siding, south side
- Fowlerville - CH 64.0 - defect detector
- WilliamstonWilliamston, MichiganWilliamston is a city in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is at the southeast corner of Williamstown Township, but is politically independent. A portion of Williamston was annexed from adjacent Wheatfield Township. Downtown Williamston is located at the intersection of Grand...
- CH 71.5 to CH73.0 - 7150-ft passing siding, south side - Okemos - CH 79.9 - defect detector
- Trowbridge - CH 83.1 to CH 84.8 - 8000-ft passing siding, south side; the MSU power plant spur is near the west end of this section
- Trowbridge Diamond - CH 84.9 - the Plymouth Subdivision is crossed by the CN Flint Division (dual track) just west of the East Lansing Amtrak station on Harrison Road; there are no wyes for interchange
- Michigan Avenue - CH87.2 - junction with Jackson and Lansing Railroad (formerly Norfolk Southern's Lansing Branch)
- North Lansing - CH88.3 - begin double track to west end of Ensel Yard at CH90.0
- Grand Ledge - CH 97.8 to CH 99.1 - 5650-ft passing siding, north side
- Grand Ledge Yard - CH 98.5 - access from siding
- Sunfield - CH 111 to CH 112.3 - 5750-ft passing siding, north side
- Lake Odessa - CH 120.4 to CH 121.7 - 5400-ft passing siding, north side
- Elmdale - CH 130.4 to CH 131.7 - 5500-ft passing siding, north side
- Fox - CH 141.8 to CH 143.3 - passing siding, south side
- Seymour - CH 148.1 - joins Grand Rapids Terminal
Notable bridges are a three-span Warren deck truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
over the Thornapple River, the 1887 "High Bridge" trestle
Trestle
A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...
over the Grand River
Grand River (Michigan)
The Grand River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It runs through the cities of Jackson, Eaton Rapids, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Grand Haven.-Description:...
at Grand Ledge
Grand Ledge, Michigan
Grand Ledge is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city lies mostly within Eaton County, though a small portion extends into Clinton County, and sits above the Grand River 12.7 miles directly west of downtown Lansing. The population was 7,813 at the 2000 census...
, and a deck plate girder bridge
Plate girder bridge
A plate girder bridge is a bridge supported by two or more plate girders. The plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates , which are welded or, in older bridges, bolted or riveted together to form the vertical web and horizontal flanges of the beam...
over the Red Cedar River
Red Cedar River (Michigan)
The Red Cedar River is a westward-flowing tributary of the Grand River in Michigan. Its source is Cedar Lake which is located in Marion Township in the southeastern corner of Livingston County, and it runs about through Okemos, East Lansing, including the campus of Michigan State University, and...
and Lansing's River Trail.
Traffic
When it was the Pere Marquette's primary route and the mainline between Michigan's two largest cities, the Plymouth Subdivision's rails were bustling with traffic. Even as late as the mid-1970s, in the first years under CSX, the line saw a dozen CSX and four Soo LineSoo Line Railroad
The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
freights daily, in addition to numerous locals and commodity trains. Over time, however, much of that traffic moved southward, using Norfolk Southern's tracks from Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
to Chicago through Garrett, Indiana
Garrett, Indiana
Garrett is a city in Keyser Township, DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,286 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1875, Garrett was named for John W...
. As of June 2011, only two symboled trains are regularly seen on the Plymouth Subdivision, giving it the character of a branch line rather than a mainline. Current and former trains include:
- CSX Q326 - Chicago-Detroit (terminates in Wyoming Yard, Grand Rapids, beginning January 2011)
- CSX Q327 - Detroit-Chicago (originates in Grand Rapids beginning January 2011)
- CSX Q334 - eastbound, Barr to Toledo
- CSX Q335 - westbound, Toledo to Barr
- CP X500 - Chicago to Detroit via Grand Rapids (rerouted over Norfolk Southern effective October 2010)
Locals operating west from Plymouth Yard, east from Ensel Yard, and east from Wyoming Yard in Grand Rapids switch customers along this line. A nightly local shuttles traffic off Q326 from Wyoming to Ensel.
Full and empty commodity trains (grain/coal/lime/stone) operate over the Plymouth Subdivision on an irregular basis.
Signaling and Dispatching
All CSX operations in Michigan, including the Plymouth Subdivision, are managed by dispatchers in Calumet City, IL.Except for a 30-mile portion west of Lansing which consists of five ABS
Automatic Block Signal
Automatic Block Signaling, or ABS, is a block system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of blocks and then functions to control the movement of trains between them through automatic signals...
blocks (Cash, Ledge, Field, Jordan and Lake), the entire Plymouth Subdivision is CTC
Centralized traffic control
Centralized traffic control is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America and centralizes train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that...
signalled.
Passenger Service
There is no passenger service on the Plymouth Subdivision as of 2011, but surviving depot buildings in towns along its route are reminders of a different era.In 1946, the Pere Marquette introduced the nation's first post-war lightweight streamlined passenger trains
Streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
, operating between Detroit and Grand Rapids over the Plymouth Subdivision. These were the first diesel-powered trains on the Pere Marquette system, with power provided by EMD E7A
EMD E7
The EMD E7 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E7A, was manufactured from February, 1945 to April, 1949, and 428 were produced. The booster version, or E7B, was manufactured from March, 1945...
s pulling Pullman Standard cars. By 1947, there were three daily trains in each direction, an evening and a morning express and a mid-day (late evening on Sundays) local. The expresses had a scheduled trip of 2:40, with intermediate stops in Plymouth and Lansing. The local had a scheduled trip of 3:00 due to additional stops in Brighton, Howell, Fowlerville, Williamston, Grand Ledge and Lake Odessa. The service was continued by the Chesapeake & Ohio under the Pere Marquette name following the 1947 merger. The final passenger train ran on the Detroit-Grand Rapids route in 1963.
The Union Depot at Michigan Avenue, just blocks from the state Capitol, survives as Clara's Lansing Station restaurant. The Williamston Depot was moved a half mile to Grand River Avenue in 1979, where it now houses a museum and the city Chamber of Commerce. The Fowlerville Depot is still owned by the Pere Marquette successor CSX and used as a base for track maintenance crews. As in Williamston, the Lake Odessa Depot survived through relocation and repurposing as a museum.
External links
- The Chessie Chapter - CSXT's Michigan Subdivisions http://chessiechapter.multiply.com/journal/item/340
- Michigan DOT Railroad Map of Michigan http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Official_Rail_130897_7.pdf