Michigan Street Running?

Locomotive identification, railfan locations, frequency information, etc. can be found here.
atrainguy60
Saginaw Sub Foamer
Posts: 4075
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:54 pm
Location: None of your business......

Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by atrainguy60 »

Aside from spots where tracks run right along the edge of the road or in a median on a road, but not actually in the pavement, had there ever been any true street running in the State of Michigan? I'm assuming if there had been, it's probably gone by now, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

atrainguy60 wrote:Aside from spots where tracks run right along the edge of the road or in a median on a road, but not actually in the pavement, had there ever been any true street running in the State of Michigan? I'm assuming if there had been, it's probably gone by now, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
I could be wrong, but I think there was some in Marine City on the PH&D. It was a block or so in a residential neighborhood, and even though it's long gone, the street is still there. It's probably been repaved a time or two since the RR was removed though. I know there were other instances of street running around here (Port Huron area), including ex-PM on the north side of the Black River drawbridge nobody seems to be able to take down, but it's all been gone for decades.
~ Charles W.

Jim_c
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:14 pm

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by Jim_c »

In Plainwell, the old industrial siding to the paper mill ran down the center of a street for a block. Mill's closed, siding is gone.
Trails to Rails. Put the track back.

User avatar
LSRC
Flat River Rat
Posts: 1264
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:08 pm
Location: Grand Rapids

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by LSRC »

Alpena, MI had a stretch of true street running down Fletcher St in addition to the current stretch of "fake" street running down 10th Ave. The Fletcher Street branch has since been removed. Below is a photo taken by Ron Cady of a train running down Fletcher Street, crossing 2nd Ave.

Image

Muskegon Heights, MI also has a stretch of street running, but I'm not sure if it meets your qualifications. Technically I think the rails are separate from the dirt road, but years have neglect have made it closer to true street running.

ImageSW in the Street by Jim Guest, on Flickr

Grand Rapids also had a stretch of street running in downtown, which has since been removed. This video I found on YouTube shows the line in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFwK5hPSX0

ConrailDetr​oit
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 5911
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:04 pm
Location: Detroit

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by ConrailDetr​oit »

There is street running now in Detroit :lol: :lol:

ImageQ Line - Detroit, MI by tcamp7837, on Flickr

User avatar
AARR
Ann Arbor RR Nerd
Posts: 37841
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:39 pm
Location: Washington, MI

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by AARR »

Passenger trains are not real trains :wink:
ConrailDetr​oit wrote:There is street running now in Detroit :lol: :lol:

ImageQ Line - Detroit, MI by tcamp7837, on Flickr
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

blueheron13
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 531
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 4:01 pm
Location: All over Southeast Michigan

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by blueheron13 »

It wasn't that long ago that trains still ran down First St in Monroe, MI. Here is a picture:
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/426665/

Also not all that long ago, trains ran down Guoin St and Wight St in Detroit on the old Detroit Manufacturers Railroad, as described in a book by Byron Babbish. See this post for more info: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34688
Amateur railfan trying to become a real railfan since 2017.

EWRice
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 468
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 7:07 pm
Location: Muskegon, MI

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by EWRice »

Even though it was an interurban, the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon hauled freight, and I have seen a few picture of PM freight cars in tow. They ran on streets in GR, Coopersville, Spring Lake, Grand Haven and Muskegon. Not quite the train one would dream of seeing in the middle of Savidge st in SL, but would have been cool anyway.

User avatar
Burb8145
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:08 pm
Location: In the Y&.

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by Burb8145 »

Sorry to bump an over-a-month-inactive thread, but it too wasn't that long ago that trains ran down Marshall Street in Wyandotte to access the old Pennwalt and BASF South Works facilities, both long gone since around 1991. You can still see different pavement where the tracks were if you travel along Biddle Avenue in this area. Here is an aerial photo from 1981.
Image
If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
-Red Green

User avatar
M.D.Bentley
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 2473
Joined: Sat May 07, 2005 4:41 pm
Location: Downriver

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

Burb8145 wrote:Sorry to bump an over-a-month-inactive thread, but it too wasn't that long ago that trains ran down Marshall Street in Wyandotte to access the old Pennwalt and BASF South Works facilities, both long gone since around 1991. You can still see different pavement where the tracks were if you travel along Biddle Avenue in this area. Here is an aerial photo from 1981.
Image
Don't worry about bumping a old thread, info is info (we'll take all we can get) . Also on Mulberry st. by the hospital. Penwalt was reached south of Pennsylvania ave.

User avatar
Atkinson_Railroad
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 5:04 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by Atkinson_Railroad »

Grand Trunk Western ran right down the middle of Hart Street in Bay City for about 5 blocks.
I remember following the train(s) while riding on a bike as a kid.

John
Attachments
Bay City, Michigan (West Side) 1967
Bay City, Michigan (West Side) 1967

GP30M4216
Saver of all History
Posts: 4794
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:35 pm
Location: Feel the Zeel, MI
Contact:

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

There was a spur in Ypsilanti diverging from the Michigan Central mainline eastbound down the middle of Lincoln Street on it's route to the Ford Ypsilanti​ plant. It was probably removed about 10 years ago. I know Mackinac Mac has photos somewhere of the rails in place.

User avatar
trnwatcher
My name ain't Steven
Posts: 4855
Joined: Sun May 11, 2008 6:22 pm
Location: Grandville MI
Contact:

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by trnwatcher »

The interurban from Grand Rapids to Holland ran down the middle of 30th St in Grandville from Peck St to "old" Chicago Dr. Tracks where paved over in the past and removed back in the early 2000's when they resurfaced 30th St. The power lines that run NE from Peck St are on the old ROW of the interurban.
Steven F. Shick
http://www.youtube.com/user/trnwatcher
http://www.trnwatcher.net

I.T. guy/Railfan
"The true railfan has two favorite railroads....the Baltimore & Ohio and another one." - Charles S. Roberts

blueheron13
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 531
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 4:01 pm
Location: All over Southeast Michigan

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by blueheron13 »

Going back a bit, during the late 1830s and most of the 1840s, the rail line that became the Michigan Central ran west down Michigan Ave in Detroit from its depot near the corner of Michigan and Griswold.

And during the 1840s and early 1850s, the Detroit & Pontiac rail line (the most ancient forerunner of the CN Holly Subdivision) ran down Gratiot Ave between Dequindre and a depot east of Woodward.
Amateur railfan trying to become a real railfan since 2017.

User avatar
Burb8145
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:08 pm
Location: In the Y&.

Re: Michigan Street Running?

Unread post by Burb8145 »

blueheron13 wrote:And during the 1840s and early 1850s, the Detroit & Pontiac rail line (the most ancient forerunner of the CN Holly Subdivision) ran down Gratiot Ave between Dequindre and a depot east of Woodward.
And let's not forget that the rerouting of those tracks off of Gratiot was the result of a pair of incidents where business owners destroyed the tracks after they were laid. In fact, these incidents are widely known to be one of the first riots ever to break out within Detroit proper (and I'm not saying it just because 50 years ago this week was the infamous 1967 riot).
If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
-Red Green

Post Reply