Grand Trunk Western Railroad
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| Grand Trunk Western Railroad | |
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 1887 map of GTW predecessor railroads |
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| Reporting marks | GTW |
| Locale | Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio |
| Dates of operation | 1928–1995 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan |
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad (AAR reporting marks GTW) is an important subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway (CN).
It currently operates in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, forming the CN mainline from Port Huron, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois, as well as serving Detroit, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio.
The GTW gained fame among railfans for being one of the last North American railroads to use steam locomotives in regular service, which lasted until 1960. Since a corporate restructuring by CN in 1971 the railroad has been placed 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 northwestern 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 automobiles from manufacturing plants around Detroit and across Michigan.
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[edit] History
Grand Trunk Western was made up of several smaller railroads in Michigan including the following:
- Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway
- Chicago, Detroit and Grand Trunk Junction Railroad
- Michigan Air-Line Railway
- Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway
- Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railroad
- Detroit and Huron Railroad
- Detroit and Pontiac Railroad
- Peninsular Railroad Company
- Pontiac, Oxford and Northern Railroad
In 1880 the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway was created 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 1980 GTW purchased the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad (AAR reporting mark DTI) which increased its trackage around Detroit's industries and gave it routes into Ohio. DT&I was fully merged into GTW in December 1983.
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. Elsdon Yard is now closed. The Chicago board, also known as the Elsdon board, operates out of Markham yard (CN/IC yard).
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 lake 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. The Detroit River ferries ceased running in 1975. The Lake Michigan ferry operations were discontinued in October 1978. The St. Clair River ferries had initially been discontinued circa 1891 when the first St. Clair Tunnel opened, but were reinstated in 1971 due to clearance problems for some cars at the tunnel. In 1995 a larger St. Clair river tunnel opened that allowed double decker trains to cross into Sarnia and the ferries ceased operation on the river.
[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 incorporated 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 grey scheme as seen in the photo at the right. 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, Grey #17 and Red-Orange #11 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] 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
- Grand Trunk Western Historical Society
- Photo of Grand Trunk Western EMD GP38-2
- Michigan Railroads.com
- Canadian National Railways
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