Can anyone give me some info on the line boxed in red below?
(click to enlarge)
The line begins in Holland MI and ends in Hamilton MI. I’ve never seen any trains it but there is a siding (near 142nd Ave.) were I occasionally see MOW equipment parked. The line serves a single customer (I think) in Hamilton that receives a few carloads of… (I’m drawing a blank right now). The customer is located a few feet south of a very old (but nice) looking wooden trestle. The trestle spans the Rabbit River right above the Hamilton dam. About 200 yards south of the trestle the line terminates. Can anyone tell me the owner/operator of the this line? How frequent are the trains? Are there any other online customers? Thanks in advance.
I know that CSX had been talking about abandoning the line, so I suspect that the customer in Hamilton was pretty influential in keeping it going. However, I suspect that you’ll only see stuff moving on that line as often as they need it.
I understand that Life Savers is leaving (or has left) Holland; they were another big customer on that line. There may be others in that cluster of industries southeast of U.S. 31, but then CSX may own that track still.
Historically, that line began life as the Allegan & Holland Railroad. A successor, the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore, operated the line from Allegan to Pentwater (if you look at the line along U.S. 31 to the north, you’ll find that the mileposts are measured from Allegan). C&O abandoned the line from Hamilton to Allegan in the early-to-middle 1970s.
Thank you very much for the reply. I actually live about 100 ft from the old ROW that runs along US 31. There were still ties and rails there until it was developed into a residential neighborhood a few years ago[tdn][:(!]. I’m not sure whose equipment was on the siding, but it looked pretty old and run down. The line ends at Hamilton Farm Bureau, but I don’t think they receive any rail traffic. I think it serves either a grain mill (which would make sense) or a paper mill but I still can’t be sure. It’s really starting to bug me, I’ll have to get out there soon. Recently many of the stop signs guarding the grade crossings have been taken down. Now there are only pairs of crossbucks. What does this mean?
EDIT: I just found a document stating that CSX filed for abandonment of this line in 2002.
i was a trainman for csx from 1996 to 2001 working mostly the east end out of wyoming yard to detriot and that line was known as the hamilton spur…(wish i could find my old chicago div TT all i have now is my det div TT dated 7-1-2000) at that time a local out of waverly would go to hamilton 3 times a week to switch local industries…according to a 1896 map of michigan railroads i found at the library of congress map collection it was built as part of the Chicago & West Michigan which was merged into the PM around 1900…the LOC has some great early RR maps… ive downloaded a bunch but their in a SID format and i dont think you can get the veiwer free aymore…ive had mine for about 6 years
I’d say that the wreck you illustrated looks like a collapse of that lovely trestle.
The Chicago & West Michigan was one of the three major predecessors of the PM. The merger date was January 1, 1900. The railroad I mentioned, the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore, became the C&WM after a couple of mergers and reorganizations.
fair enough…im just going by an old map and a msu pamplet titled When Railroads Were King the Story of Railroads in Michigan published 1974…ol’ governor Crapo made a large fortune from land grants and actual running of the Flint and Holly which was the nucleus of the Flint & Pere Marquette which seems to have had a pretty interesting life
J. Edgar - you’re talking about my old stomping grounds (but not as a railroader) with what is now the Saginaw Sub. We had another forum member a while back who had worked that line. I lived in Milford.
lol …great …i grew up and live in howell…currently work in wixom as a truck driver…was great working d709 and stopping in howell…have friends that live near the grain ele. so i always had pop or snack waiting for me…i worked q336\337 once in a while …the run over the bridge in milford is neat…always loved coming around the corner in plymouth going west with coal…12,000 tons up the hill makes anything work hard
am heading to blissfield next weekend…i enjoy soaking up the history of rail lines built pre civil-war…the A&B is part of the original Michigan Central , as im sure you know, built around 1850.
and i remember you saginaw boys knew how to milk your runs for OT…almost as bad as the chi sub west out of GR…that was real blood money
The line is owned by the Co-op in Hamilton. CSX’s Y121 out of Waverly Yard runs down there on most Thursdays, normally starting south around 11:00am. The trip is made at a leisurely 5mph. While I’ve never “chased” the trip down, one of my friends has followed them several times. Look through his gallery here for some pictures http://www.railroadfan.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=505
Also, if you would like, join us over here on this site http://www.railroadfan.com/phpbb/ Lots of West Michigan specialists there.
I’m not sure what siding you’re referring to, but the line is single track all the way from the Waverly Rd crossing until it meets the parking lot on the south side of the trestle in Hamilton.
Where is this ROW that you mention along 31? I’ve been up and down 31 a million times in my life and for the life of me, I can’t figure out where you’re referring to. I’m also still a bit confused about the location of the rundown equipment on the siding…since there isn’t on on that line south of Waverly Rd.
You are correct about the line ending at the Hamilton Farm
Sorry for the late response. I had no idea anyone else had replied [:I].
cnw8835,thank you for the info and the invite. I might head over to Hamilton this week and try to catch one on the trestle.
J T, Thanks very much for replying. Those are some great photos. It’s kinda funny, this morning I was searching RailPictures.Net and I saw a pic of Wyoming yard (#195587). I clicked on the photographer’s (which happened to be you) name and up came a pic of the Hamilton trestle! Seeing that pic prompted me to resurrect this thread. BTW, I hope you don’t mind, but I saved that photo as my desktop background. Very nice shot!
I’d like to address some incorrect information and a typo in my original post. First, the old ROW actually runs along US 131, not US 31. On the map it is represented by a brown dotted line coded NYC. I live on the dot labeled Dorr. If you look to the west while traveling on US 131 between Byron Center and Grand Rapids you can sometimes see the old ROW.
There is definitely a siding but it’s about 20 yards north of 141st Ave, not 142nd as I first said. I’m not sure if there’s still MOW equipment there but there was at one point. I’ll try to get over there soon and get some pics.
The right-of-way on your map is the old NYC (LS&MS) from Grand Rapids south to Allegan, then southeast to Otsego, Plainwell, and Kalamazoo (I think it’s intact between Kalamazoo and Otsego). Between Grand Rapids (Butterworth, west of Valley Ave, SW) and Byron Center the line is now a bike trail, with the old truss bridge across the Grand River intact.
What you’re seeing along 131 is not the same right-of way. That line is a former interurban that went through most of the same cities as the GR&I.
Neither of these have anything to do with the ex-PM/C&O line through Hamilton.
