Looking for the Keswick cut.

Any historical questions can be posted here. Answers would certainly help as well :)
User avatar
M.D.Bentley
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 2473
Joined: Sat May 07, 2005 4:41 pm
Location: Downriver

Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

Somewhere on the T.C.L.& M. RR in or near Traverse city. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.

Henry F. Burger
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 7:48 pm

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by Henry F. Burger »

The T.C.,L.&M. RR in Traverse City was about a mile long, running along the shoreline, connecting the Traverse City RR (GR&I) with the M&NE RR and it all flat land.
The run from Hatches to North Port sound like a better bet for a cut in the land.

User avatar
James Sofonia
Grand Traverse Dinner Train 1996
Posts: 1701
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:56 pm
Location: Traverse City, Michigan

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by James Sofonia »

Keswick, leelanau co. mi. is a small community between Traverse City and Suttons Bay. It had a population of 200 at one time, today all that is left is a church and a few houses. Two miles South of Keswick immediately South of Whitaker Rd. is a cut in the RW, but is only 3 ft. lower than the surrounding fields. Could this be your Keswick cut even though it doesn't seem deep enough to warrant having it's own name? I rode a snowmobille thru this area in about 1979 following a bunch of other guys and it seems we went thru a much deeper cut than 3 ft. I don't remember where it was, and didn't even know it was a RR grade at the time, but it is out there somewhere in this area.
I'm curious as to why you are curious about this cut?

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

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

Image[/url]

Found this while doing some research.

Henry F. Burger
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 7:48 pm

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by Henry F. Burger »

Good find - out on Leelanau County area - they several pictures in the Leelanau Historical facebook page but they said where taken.

aghudley
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2016 8:02 am

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by aghudley »

This is a portion of the 1957 Traverse City 1:62500 topo map (from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer. Contour lines show what is almost certainly the cut in question. Contour intervals are 20' on this map. That doesn't mean the cut was 20' deep, rather it was somewhere between 0 and 20' deep.

Keswick was about 3 1/2 miles south of Suttons Bay. The map shows it at Otto Road. The next E/W road north is Revold Road. The north end of the cut is at Richter Road.

Image

Henry F. Burger
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 7:48 pm

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by Henry F. Burger »

Look over the line - that deeper and longer cuter cut than these one, should have build covers over these as bad the snow gets.
From other pictures looks like GR&I spend a lot of time plowing and re-railing the equipment.

aghudley
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2016 8:02 am

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by aghudley »

Taking a second look at the topo map (and remembering what I learned a long time ago), I see this cut indicated south of Keswick. I assumed the cut was longer than this, and it may be, but this is apparently the deepest part.

Image

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

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

Thanks for all your help guys ( that's why I like this place :-) ) . Got back into some USGS maps as well, and you were right on the money. I have found a few pictures of wrecks on that line that may or may not been in the same location.

User avatar
Standard Railfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1800
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:25 pm
Location: Marquette, MI

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by Standard Railfan »

Henry F. Burger wrote:Look over the line - that deeper and longer cuter cut than these one, should have build covers over these as bad the snow gets.
From other pictures looks like GR&I spend a lot of time plowing and re-railing the equipment.
The photographers of the day did not take pictures of trains unless there was a wreck or another unusual event such as a huge snowstorm. Think about pictures of semi-trucks today.

I have researched much about the railroads around Traverse City and Northern Michigan. I found no evidence to suggest that snowfall was a sufficient to seriously disrupt the service on a frequent basis. The cost of building and maintaining snow sheds could in no way be justified.

IIRC the "Keswick" cut was south of Keswick and quite deep but fairly short. I had the opportunity to run a track speeder on this line, I remember a number of cuts that looked as though they would drift shut quite readily.

Henry F. Burger
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 7:48 pm

Re: Looking for the Keswick cut.

Unread post by Henry F. Burger »

I have been researching this line and its connection with the Manistique, Marquette & Northern, since they both were controlled by the Grand Rapids & Indiana at this time frame, to build up traffic for the GR&I. I have been looking for a track layout at Northport to go along with the ferry slip, it ended its life as Ann Arbor RR west slip. The GR&I Poors Railroad investments manuals reports do give some information on the forming and building problems with the Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique RR.

Post Reply