GTW Fowler, MI Operations and Pictures

[FowlerRail34]

Hello,

I am looking for any information pertaining to the Grand Trunk Western operation in Fowler, Michigan, and if there are any photos of local rail traffic out there. Any and all information would be greatly appreciated!

I know the tracks were removed in 1995, after CM abandoned them.

-Thanks!

[SD80MAC]

The lumber yard I believe had a spur at one time. Was there a small grain elevator at one point, too?

[AARR]

You are correct about the lumber yard. My uncle Carl Wieber co-owned it. Wieber Lumber would receive mixed lumber in a single car often from a warehouse in Detroit. When GTW discontinued shipping mixed lumber in a single car my uncle stopped rail service because they rarely had a need for a single car of the same product.

Fowler Farmers Coop was the older elevator with wood storage bins on the west side of Main Street. They would ship one or two cars at a time. They closed in the early 80's IIRC.

Mathews Elevator is small but more modern elevator with steel silos across the tracks from Wieber Lumber. They had a spur built but stopped shipping shortly after starting because the there was significantly less grain being unloaded at the port (usually Toledo) than what they had loaded. They only used their spur enough to keep it connected to keep the truckers pricing competitive. Coincidentally they often shipped their grain with my Uncle / Cousins trucks, Simon Brothers. They tell me the original Mathews was not a pleasant person to deal with and sometimes would turn down his business. I don't know who owns it now, however.

There was a flour mill on the west end of town that shipped to a bread plant in Detroit. It was owned by the Becker's who also own the wedding gown, furniture and other shops in Fowler. It burned down in the 70's. It was around long enough to ship in GTW airslide cars. Mr. Becker has a very nice HO Scale model railroad in his basement that my Uncle Francis has helped build.

The Team track was busy into the 70's receiving coal, oil, salt, etc. By the 70's the mail and milk business had passed. My grandfather on my dad's side started Simon Trucking and would get commodities in by rail. My dad would have to help load the trucks. He tells me he would shovel coal out of the pit by hand and throw it into a flatbed truck with side panels...all by hand...when he was quite young.

Ferry Traffic (which ended in 1978) was handled by a road freight that departed Detroit late morning. Made pickups at Pontiac and Durand. Would arrive in Muskegon late evening. Quickly turn around and head back to Detroit making pickups at Grand Rapids, Durand and Pontiac.

During the "ferry" era a local worked Durand to Grand Rapids one day then returned the next, making three round trips per week. However, my Uncle Francis told me, that when motivated they would complete the round trip in a day (which was 16 hours back then).

After the ferry service ended locals worked out of Durand and Grand Rapids respectfully, would meet usually in Ionia, then return to their home terminals.

The lumber yard I believe had a spur at one time. Was there a small grain elevator at one point, too?

[MQT1223]

This brings up a good question in general. What industry was there before GTW sold the line to the CMGN? Seems like all of the towns between Owosso and Ionia had elevators of some kind, minus maybe Pewamo at this point. Was there anything else out there besides agriculture?

[AARR]

St. Johns had a Central Michigan Lumber Distribution Center that received a lot of cars. They closed it in the early 90's and moved it to Lansing. Other than that it was all small agriculture customers.

This brings up a good question in general. What industry was there before GTW sold the line to the CMGN? Seems like all of the towns between Owosso and Ionia had elevators of some kind, minus maybe Pewamo at this point. Was there anything else out there besides agriculture?

[Steve B]

St. Johns had a Central Michigan Lumber Distribution Center that received a lot of cars. They closed it in the early 90's and moved it to Lansing. Other than that it was all small agriculture customers.

This brings up a good question in general. What industry was there before GTW sold the line to the CMGN? Seems like all of the towns between Owosso and Ionia had elevators of some kind, minus maybe Pewamo at this point. Was there anything else out there besides agriculture?

The American Bumper spur in Ionia is visible in a 1986 photo on historicaerials.com, and I corroborated that with a 6/23/86 Earth Explorer USGS photo. When exactly was that spur installed and how much traffic did GTW get from it? I see that it wasn't there in 1981 and looks pretty fresh in 1986. Interesting that GTW sold the line even with a new source of traffic. Apparently the 55 miles from Durand to reach the factory weren't worth it.

[Jetlink]

Interestingly enough the spur still exists even though the mainline rails have been pulled. .

[AARR]

AB was shipping about 10 cars a week with GTW and CMGN. They doubled that with GRE until they stopped rail service around 2006.

The American Bumper spur in Ionia is visible in a 1986 photo on historicaerials.com, and I corroborated that with a 6/23/86 Earth Explorer USGS photo. When exactly was that spur installed and how much traffic did GTW get from it? I see that it wasn't there in 1981 and looks pretty fresh in 1986. Interesting that GTW sold the line even with a new source of traffic. Apparently the 55 miles from Durand to reach the factory weren't worth it.

[SD80MAC]

Was American Bumper Tower Automotive at one point? I've always heard that CMGN "lost" Tower as a shipper and the GRE had to do a lot to win their business back.

[AARR]

I don’t recall that it was Tower but I heard GRE had to earn their trust because of previous poor experiences.

Was American Bumper Tower Automotive at one point? I've always heard that CMGN "lost" Tower as a shipper and the GRE had to do a lot to win their business back.

[geeb557]

I checked a group of Grand Trunk monthly bulletins I have and found that the Wieber Lumber track and the old elevator track in Fowler were first noted as being spiked and out of service in the November 1, 1985 bulletin. The south track in Fowler was added to the list of spiked and out of service tracks with the October 1, 1986 bulletin. The latest bulletin I have in that group is dated November 1 1986 and all 3 tracks were still showing as spiked and out of service.

Likewise, the first mention of the new American Bumper track in Ionia was in the bulletin dated July 1, 1986. The bulletin stated the track would soon be placed in service. That same wording was in subsequent bulletins as late as November 1, 1986. The Bumper track required the crew to stop and flag the main street crossing leading to the plant.

At the end the Grand Rapids Eastern took 3 86-footers out of the plant daily (M-F as I recall). There was a large pool of cars to support that business. It was normal to have a dozen cars staged on the old main east of the Bumper track with a bunch more staged in Lowell.

Gary Betz
Ionia MI

[GP30M4216]

This is probably ancillary to the discussion and from a bit of a different era, but Fowler is somewhat unique in that the railroad hotel still survives. The “Fowler Hotel” was built near the tracks at North Main and West Clinton and catered to newly arrived travelers and others arriving by train. Many times these hotels were lost to fire, new development, or other casualties, and few tend to survive. It’s been converted into apartments and is in somewhat rough shape, but it’s still there…long after the tracks were removed.

[MQT1223]

This is probably ancillary to the discussion and from a bit of a different era, but Fowler is somewhat unique in that the railroad hotel still survives. The “Fowler Hotel” was built near the tracks at North Main and West Clinton and catered to newly arrived travelers and others arriving by train. Many times these hotels were lost to fire, new development, or other casualties, and few tend to survive. It’s been converted into apartments and is in somewhat rough shape, but it’s still there…long after the tracks were removed.

Bet there can’t be many of those left…

I’d be curious about surviving railroad YMCA’s. Only one that comes to mind is the one in Durand that you can see from the depot.