Doodlebugs

[Gov. Crappo]

i cant find it now...but i seem to recall seeing a pic of a transition era "doodlebug" on either the PRR or NYC at Mackinaw City....is this true?...were there doodlebugs in Michigan on any road around 1940???....

thinkin the Managment of the K&L wants to invest in one for the Gull passenger service instead of a Pacific and a coupla of cars...see here; viewtopic.php?f=16&t=16439

thanks

[Gov. Crappo]

ok i havent found the pic in question but i remember it was a RDC at Mackinaw...

but the question stands...did any road run doodlebugs in MI??

[AARR]

ok i havent found the pic in question but i remember it was a RDC at Mackinaw...

but the question stands...did any road run doodlebugs in MI??

I'll have to check but I think AA may have operated doodle bugs. I also think GTW operated one between Detroit & Port Huron.

[GP30M4216]

I have a photo of new PM E7A #102 on the head of a Pere Marquette at GR Union Station in 1946, and beside it is a shovelnose (modified) car with a big ol' Keystone on the nose. Can't tell if it's a self propelled guy/doodlebug or not, but there's a big air intake over the cab portion which leads me to be believe it is such.

There's a Neil Plagens photo (I think) that was posted a while ago showing a NYC RDC at the Grayling Station from 1959.

Also, there is this photo of a doodlebug converted to a Rail Dectector Car (pre-Sperry) which says NYC though the image is at Jackson in 1970 (PC days): http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/P ... to038B.htm

[Gov. Crappo]

thx Geep....i scanned thru the RRHX site....also saw a D&M doodlebug dated 1920 so i guess they were in Mi... thanks all

[kenN]

The PRR ran a doodlebug on a two-round-trips per day between Grand Rapids and Muskegon just after WWII. I'm not sure how long that lasted, likely into the early '50s. There's a picture of one in Charlie Foss's book "Evening Before the Diesel", page 174. It's a Grand Trunk book but includes some Pennsy stuff because the GT ran on the PRR from Penn Junction to Muskegon. A picture I have showing the car at Union Station in Grand Rapids was taken in 1947.

Also, near the end of regular passenger service into Grand Rapids, the PRR ran a doodlebug to Sturgis and back on the same schedule as the previous overnight GRR-Cincinnati passenger. Indiana and Ohio permitted the discontinuance of the regular train, but Michigan didn't, so they ran the "accomodation" to protect the schedule. I remember seeing it northbound through Moline in the early '50s, sometimes pulled by a Geep when mechanical failure occurred. Again, I'm not certain when it quit running.

[Gov. Crappo]

thx Ken good info.....dont know if youve been following my thread in the MR section but im modeling a freelance RR with close ties to the Pennsy here in Michigan in 1940....and since you have a good handle it seems on the Pennsy ...would it be plausable for a Pennsy Pullman to be run from say St.Louis to Lansing with the last bit on my road from Kalamazoo to Lansing.....i know Pullman had some round about wierd routes....just wondered if that would "fit"

[kenN]

I doubt it, since any sleeper service to Lansing would have been via PM or GT. The PRR's regular passenger service (post-WWII) was overnight from Grand Rapids to Fort Wayne-Richmond-Cincinnati. Southbound it left GR at 10pm, northbound it arrived in GR about 9am. It carried a heavyweight pullman for a while, but towards the end it had only a coach and baggage (and RPO--I remember watching the mailbag get kicked off in Moline as the train came through); but you could make connections east and west at Fort Wayne in the middle of the night to other PRR trains.

Earlier, there were PRR connections to the NYC at Kalamazoo to Chicago, but as far as I know, nothing to Lansing.

The other train that ran on this line was the seasonal "Northern Arrow" which ran to Mackinaw City on summer weekends with lightweight equipment. It had coaches, diner, and sleepers from Chicago and St Louis (plus others that I can't recall) that were added to the train at Ft Wayne. It ran until 1963 or 1964.

So, you could legitimately have a PRR sleeper into your Kalamazoo station; and, as owner of your railroad, nothing says you couldn't run a special to Lansing. That's the beauty of running your own railroad, right?

[Gov. Crappo]

my thought exactly..the buisness in reality wasnt there.....pre-war pass. buisness was already declining especially on "marginal" lines but id like to think in my lil corner of fantasy...the Pennsy was still interested enough in keeping what service there was to a capitol such as Lansing they would run on a very friendly K&L...and during the War years i think it would be real easy to justify it......if nothing else im going to run a PRR Pullman 3 days a week to Lansing just to continue the long rivalry between the GR&I(PRR) and the MC(NYC)

thanks for the times too...that'll help me schedule The Gull

[Todd Cline]

The Ann Arbor ran Mc Keen railcars in the 1930-1940? era. These were gas-mechanical units. They weren't very reliable and they were not operated north of Cadillac due to the heavy grades. Not sure if those are qualified as "Doodlebugs", but probably as close as you will find in Michigan.

Todd