Grand Trunk Western Railroad

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Grand Trunk Western Railroad

Reporting marks	GTW
Locale	Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
Dates of operation	1928 – present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Detroit, Michigan

1887 map of GTW predecessor railroads

Grand Trunk Western Railroad Incorporated (AAR reporting marks GTW) is the American arm of Canadian National (CN; AAR reporting mark CNA) operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring by CN in 1971 the railroad has been under a subsidiary holding company known as the Grand Trunk Corporation.

Grand Trunk Western’s mainline, known as its Chicago Division, runs between Chicago, Illinois and Port Huron, Michigan. It serves as a connection between the railroad interchanges in Chicago and the rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad also has extensive trackage in Detroit, Michigan, and Ohio. Its presence in Detroit has made the railroad an essential link for the automotive industry. GTW has become known as a major hauler of parts and autos from manufacturing plants around Detroit and across Michigan.

1 History
2 Passenger Trains
3 Car Ferries
4 Grand Trunk Corporation
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Grand Trunk Western was made up of several smaller railroads in Michigan including the following:

Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway
Chicago, Detroit & Grand Trunk Junction
Michigan Air-Line Railway
Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway
Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon
Detroit & Huron
Detroit & Pontiac
Peninsular Railroad Company
Pontiac, Oxford & Northern Railroad

In 1880 the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway was crated by Canada's Grand Trunk Railway System, GTR, to build a line linking Canada to Chicago across lower Michigan. GTR, predecessor to the Canadian National Railway, CNR, wanted to avoid the expensive cost of using Cornelius Vanderbilt's Michigan Central Railroad as a way into Chicago. The route eventually became the Grand Trunk Western Railway which was amalgamated into the Canadian National Railway in 1923. On May 9, 1928 Canadian National consolidated all of its rail lines in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana and formed the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a separate company owned by CNR that operated its routes in the United States.

Grand Trunk Western and the Nickel Plate Railroad (NKP) co-owned the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad (DTSL). It was a small carrier that had a multi-track mainline bridging Detroit and Toledo and served major industries. GTW eventually took complete control of the line.

In 1982 GTW purchased the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad (AAR reporting mark DTI) which increased its trackage around Detroit's industries and gave it routes into Ohio.

It also attempted to buy The Milwaukee Road (AAR reporting mark MILW) to create a connection with its corporate cousin the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific (AAR reporting mark DWP). It would have given GTW trackage from Chicago to northern Minnesota but its bid was rejected.

GTW major terminals and rail yards are located in Detroit, Battle Creek, Durand, Flint, Port Huron and Pontiac, as well as Elsdon Yard on Chicago's west side.

The St. Clair River Tunnel, completed in 1891 between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, connected Grand Trunk with its parent CNR. On April 5, 1995 Canadian National opened a new, larger tunnel next to the original 1891 tunnel. The new tunnel can accommodate double stacked intermodal containers and tri-level auto carriers used in freight service. In 1975 GTW also obtained trackage rights with Penn Central (AAR reporting mark PC) to use its Detroit River Tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

[edit] Passenger Trains

Grand Trunk Western's primary passenger trains were The Maple Leaf, the International Limited, the Inter-City Limited and The LaSalle, which provided service between Chicago’s Dearborn Station and Toronto Union Station. In 1967, GTW introduced the The Mohawk as a fast through train between Chicago and Brush Street Station in Detroit. Passenger operations were handed over to Amtrak (AAR reporting mark AMTK) in 1971. Amtrak's Chicago to Port Huron trains, known as its Blue Water Service, operates over GTW's route between Battle Creek and Port Huron.

GTW along with the Erie Railroad, Wabash Railroad, Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad and Monon Railroad was a co-owner of the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad, C&WI, which performed passenger and express car switching at Dearborn Station in Chicago. The group also ended up creating the Belt Railway Company of Chicago that connected every rail line in Chicago.

The railroad also operated suburban commuter trains between downtown Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan from August 1931 until January 1974 when the now defunct SEMTA (Southeast Michigan Transportation Authority) took over operating the commuter trains. Amtrak’s Detroit-Chicago trains now originate or terminate over this former commuter line making stops in the northern Detroit suburbs of Pontiac, Birmingham and Royal Oak, Michigan.

[edit] Car Ferries

GTW also operated rail-barge service across the St. Clair River between Port Huron and Sarnia and a railcar ferry service across the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. It also ran car ferry vessels across Lake Michigan from Grand Haven, and Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The ferries were operated by GTW's subsidiary Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company. GTW's Lake Michigan car ferry fleet of steamers included the SS Grand Haven, SS Milwaukee (which was lost in a storm in October 1929), Grand Rapids, Madison and the City of Milwaukee. All ferry and barge operations were discontinued in 1978.

[edit] Grand Trunk Corporation

Grand Trunk Western has always shared equipment, color schemes and corporate logos with parent company Canadian National. It followed CN's herald styles with its own name on the previous "tilted shield" and "Maple Leaf" logos. In 1960, GTW had its own initials incoporated into the "wet noodle" logo. However, in 1971 GTW broke tradition and began receiving its new locomotives in its now famous bright blue, red/orange and white scheme. At the same time the railroad would also adopt its company slogan; The Good Track Road.

In 1995, Canadian National began a corporate image program to consolidate all of its U.S. railroads under the CN North America brand (AAR reporting mark CNA). Grand Trunk Western along with other CN owned subsidiaries would see their images replaced with the CN logo and name. All GTW corporate identification and that of its new corporate cousins the Illinois Central Railroad, IC (acquired by CN in 1999) and Wisconsin Central Ltd., WC (acquired by CN in 2001) are referred to with CN’s corporate image. However, while each railroad’s locomotives would receive CN’s black, white and Morency Orange colors and logo they would still retain their respective reporting marks, GTW, IC or WC, on each of their locomotives.

CN’s subsidiary Grand Trunk Corporation now controls almost all of CN's U.S. operations which include Grand Trunk Western, Illinois Central, Wisconsin Central, Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific and Great Lakes Transportation, GLT, which includes the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad, B&LE and the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway, DMIR. The Association of American Railroads has considered the Grand Trunk Corporation as a single Class I railroad since 2002.

[edit] Trivia

In 1859, a 12 year-old Thomas A. Edison was given his first job as a newsboy on the Grand Trunk line between Port Huron and Detroit.
Grand Trunk Western was one of the last North American railroads to use steam locomotives in regular service, until 1960.
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad is where the band Grand Funk Railroad got its name. The railroad was a regular fixture in the city of Flint, where the band originated.

[edit] References

Dorin, Patrick C. (1976). Grand Trunk Western. ISBN 0-87564-716-2.
Hofsommer, Don L.. Grand Trunk Corporation, Canadian National Railways in the United States, 1971-1992.

[edit] External links

Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America
United States: AMTK, BNSF, CSXT, GTW, KCS, NS, SOO, UP - Canada: CN, CP, VIA - Mexico: FXE, TFM, KCSM See also: List of USA/Canada/Mexico Class I Railroads, List of USA/Canadian Class II Railroads, Class III railroad, Class 2 Railraods in Canada, Short-line railroad, List of United States railroads, List of Canadian railroads, list of Mexican railroads