A post relating to history
-
Tecumseh autumn arrival (1980)
The leaves on the trees were turning and the afternoon shadows getting long when Edward Hodges captured Conrail’s Clinton Local arriving in Tecumseh, Michigan on 22 October 1980. The Local, running southbound from Clinton to Lenawee Junction, is approaching the […]
-
Switcher summer in Adrian–1967
It is the summer of 1967 in Adrian, Michigan. With the “Old Road” line from Toledo to Elkhart having been severed some years earlier, Adrian is a bit of a backwater on the mighty New York Central System, at the […]
-
Winter’s End—Clinton, MI 1979
Spring was not far away when Edward Hodges photographed Conrail’s Clinton Local at Clinton, Mich. in March of 1979. It is likely a weekend day, as no crew is present and the train is tied down with locomotive idling on […]
-
Conrail in Lenawee County—countdown to abandonment
Throughout 1981, the possibility that Conrail would abandon its trackage in Lenawee County was a topic for the local media. The articles were published throughout that year, and provide a look back at the thinking and ideas being mulled at […]
-
Photo day—Dexter at twilight
In the last rays of the setting sun, Amtrak train #352, “The Lake Cities”, races through the small town of Dexter, Mich. on 08 October 1982. The train is en route from Chicago to Toledo, and will soon be slowing […]
-
Conrail Presidential Special (1983)
In the spring of 1985, Conrail president L. Stanley Crane and railroad officials toured the Conrail system. Part of the inspection included Conrail lines in Michigan. The special train first arrived in Michigan running from Toledo to Detroit. Then, on […]
-
The last winter of the Clinton Branch—40 years later
by Jeffrey Dobek Photos—the author, except as noted A filing with the Interstate Commerce Commission on November 16, 1981 signaled the coming end of Conrail freight service on the Clinton Branch between Lenawee Junction and Clinton, Michigan: Although press reports […]
-
Conrail in Sturgis
Located in St. Joseph County, Michigan, Sturgis was once an important railroad junction. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern/New York Central’s “Old Road”—the original LS&MS main line to Chicago—passed through. The Old Road had a crossing in town at RK […]
-
Photo day—Conrail on the Carrothers
Conrail GP40 #3263 and a GP30 sister lead a northbound train off the Carrothers Branch at Walbridge, Ohio on 09 March 1982. The train is about to cross the diamonds of the Toledo Terminal Railway and continue towards Toledo. To […]
-
Photo day—Amtrak’s “St. Clair” at Detroit (1973)
Amtrak train #363, the westbound “St. Clair”, stirs up the dust as it crosses Central Ave. at the west end of Livernois Yard in Detroit on the afternoon of July 6, 1973. Classic cars spice up the scene, and in […]