Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad

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Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad

Reporting marks	DTI
Locale	Michigan and Ohio
Dates of operation	1905 – 1982
Successor line	Grand Trunk Western
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters

The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad (DT&I) (AAR reporting marks DTI) was a railroad that operated between its namesake cities in Michigan and Ohio between 1905 and 1982.

1 Early history
2 The Pennsy years
3 The later years
4 Cities and towns along the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton
5 External links

[edit] Early history

The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad was organized in 1905 through the merger of the Detroit and Lima Northern Railway and the Ohio Southern Railway. The line went bankrupt in 1908, but remained solvent until it was purchased by Henry Ford in 1920. Ford recognized the strategic importance of the line to his automobile business as the line left Dearborn, Michigan and connected with all of the major east-west rail lines in the Midwest. This gave Ford direct control over shipments of raw materials and finished goods to and from his factories in Dearborn. The line thrived and saw numerous improvements under Ford's management. However, Ford sold the line in 1929 to the Pennsylvania Railroad after becoming disgusted with interference from the Interstate Commerce Commission.

[edit] The Pennsy years

The line operated as an independent subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1929 until 1970. In 1955, the line replaced its steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The DT&I relied exclusively on diesel locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. The new diesel locomotives were painted bright orange throughout this period, though the specific design and placement of the railroad's logo varied with time.

[edit] The later years

In 1968, the DT&I's parent company, the Pennsylvania Railroad, merged with its longtime rival, the New York Central Railroad, to become the Penn Central, which declared bankruptcy two years later and sold off the DT&I to private investors. In 1980, the DT&I was acquired by the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW). Under the GTW, the DT&I locomotives were painted in the red and blue livery of the GTW, but retained the DT&I logo. In 1982, the DT&I was completely assimilated into the GTW and the track south of Washington Court House, Ohio was abandoned. In 1997, much of the remaining trackage of the DT&I was sold to Railtex who operates it under their Indiana and Ohio Railway division.

[edit] Cities and towns along the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton

The following is a list of the major cities and towns along the DT&I

Also, DT&I trains served Cincinnati, Ohio over trackage owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

[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 Railroads in Canada, Short-line railroad, List of United States railroads, List of Canadian railroads, list of Mexican railroads