RailRoadFan.com

Once upon stumbling into the town of Parchment during BO's final days I was amazed by how half of the town had practically become a ghost town. From reading up on the history of the area Parchment was once an international center in the production of Paper, which is why the town Is nicknamed "The Paper City". Most of the old industrial side of town is either leveled or abandoned waiting redevelopment.

When was this area last served by rail and how big of a customer(s) were the various paper industries? I noticed that old CK&S through Parchment also went and hooked up with the DT&M, later Michigan United at Richland Jct, the NYC's Grand Rapids to Jackson line in Hastings, and eventually met up with what is now the CSX Plymouth Sub in Woodbury. When was this last a through route and was there any other businesses along the route or was this mainly a connector?

Google CK&S and you'll find a lot. Also hit on Delton. They have pics from CK&S days. There was a rather large brickworks just north of town.
Also maybe look up railroads Doster T. There may be stuff there. I have the 1976 State Final Railroad plan in stock and they talk about it. Conrail serviced it for awhile into Richland.
http://www.cksrailfans.com/ LOTS of stuff.

MQT1223 wrote: Parchment was once an international center in the production of Paper, which is why the town Is nicknamed "The Paper City"

Also, Parchment is a material made from processed animal skin and used—mainly in the past—for writing on. The paper industry in Parchment is why they named it Parchment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment

Here's a document on the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company that started the city: http://c0038777.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspa ... 201934.pdf

Find the book All Aboard by Willis Dunbar. It's a history or railroads in Michigan. It's worth reading if you are interested in the history. It's on Amazon for less than $10 used.