Railroad: Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway Company

This was the successor to one of Michigan earliest railroads, the Detroit & Milwaukee. It provided cross-state services from Detroit to Grand Haven via Durand.

Detroit & Milwaukee railroad → Detroit Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway → GTW railroad

Reorganized D&M in 1878. Leased Grand Rapids Terminal in 1908.

Operated for 50 years.

Became: GTW in 1928.

Reference: [MRRC]

Notes

Operated Detroit to Grand Haven upon incorporation.

Time Line

1858. November 22. The line was opened between Detroit and Grand Haven as the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad. [MCR-1903]

1902. SNAPSHOT. About half of the stockholders of this company were from Montreal, and half from Detroit. There were 11 stockholders, 4 in Michigan. The company had 996 employees, including 22 office clerks, 6 train dispatchers, 37 station agents, 264 other station men, 46 engineers and 45 firemen, 28 conductors and 56 other trainmen, 4 machinists, 19 carpenters, 11 other shopmen, 38 section foremen and 139 other trackmen, 25 switchmen, 93 flagmen and watchmen, and 30 telegraph operators. The road had 189 miles of main track, of which 3.56 miles were double track, and 74 miles of sidings and spurs. It was Standard gauge.

The DGH&M had two drawbridges at Ferrysburg in 1902, one west of Ferrysburg, built in 1883 (177 feet long, 11 feet above water, depth of 24 feet), and one east of Ferrysburg built in 1896 (154 feet long, 11 feet 6" above water, 16 feet deep). They were made of ironand were hand powered and semaphore protected. The railroad had 44 stations in Michigan. 37 track sections of about 5.1 miles each, 4 men per section gang.

This road crossed the following other roads at grade (*=interlocking): MCRR at Milwaukee Jct.* and Owosso Junction. CD&CGT at Milwaukee Jct., Michigan Air Line 1 mile east of Pontiac, the PM at Holly*, Ionia, Malta*, Fuller and Ferrysburg, the Ann Arbor at Durand*, the GTW at Durand, the CS&M at Durand, and the GR&I at Fuller. This road crossed under the GR&I at Berlin. The railroad crossed 89 highways at grade, five which had electric or automatic signals in the early years.

The road had twenty locomotives, 6 18-wheel passenger cars and 19 8-wheel passenger cars, 11 express and baggage cars, 227 box freight cars, 3 stock cars, 102 platform cars, 16 conductor way cars, 1 derrick and 6 boarding cars. Passenger cars were heated with steam from the locomotive.

Top five types of freight hauled by tonnage: grain (10%), flour (9%), lumber and forest products (11%), coal (11%) and stone, sand (9%). The railroad utilized the National Express Company at its depots. Sleeping cars were provided by the Pullman Company. They had 242 miles of telegraph wire owned by the railroad, and 440 miles of wire owned by Western Union Telegraph Company. Eight people were killed in 1902, most struck or run over by a train. The railroad declared they were not at fault in any of the cases.

1903. This railroad operated 189 miles from Detroit to Grand Haven with 3.5 miles of double track. They had about 70 miles of sidings and spurs.