Interlocking: Raisin Center, MI

Raisin Center was the grade crossing of the Wabash main line (Detroit to Montpelier, OH) and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Jackson Branch (Lenawee Junction to Jackson). The crossing was located near the center of Raisin Township, between Adrian and Tecumseh in Lenawee County.

Photo info: Two photos from 2002 at Raisin Center. The first looking north on the former LSMS Jackson Branch towards Tecumseh. Note the southbound signal which has been restored by the Southern Michigan Railroad Society, the owner of the branch. The 2nd photo looks south towards Lenawee Junction. You can see the remnants of the northbound signal. [Dale Berry]

Notes

This crossing existed as early as the 1880's. It had an interlocking tower as early as 1890. The tower had a Saxby-Farmer US&S interlocking plant with 10 levers (2 switches and locks, 8 for signals and derails). [MSA-IF]

It appears that this crossing never had wye tracks or other connections. It was a straight-up crossing.

In 1927 it was made into an automatic interlocking, with the first train on the track circuit receiving a proceed signal.

After the creation of Conrail, the Jackson Branch was sold to the Southern Michigan Railroad Society. The line was unused prior to this transaction and the Norfolk & Western pulled the diamond up at Raisin Center, separating the society's track segment at this location. The Society was unsuccessful in having the crossing reestablished.

Location: 41^o54.845'N / 83^o56.702'W.

Time Line

1905. February 4. In a grade crossing collision tonight at Raisin Center, between the Lake Shore Jackson passenger train and the second section of a westbound Wabash freight No. 95, Engineer Shelden Stone a 25-year employee from Jackson, and Fireman Stephen Lancaster of Burr Oak, both of the LS&MS passenger train were killed instantly. None of the passengers were seriously injured.

Lew Haviland, who operates the tower house, had thrown the interlocker giving the right of way to the passenger train and then came down out of the house (tower) and signaled them to stop to allow some passengers to get on the train. The passenger train was slowing down in obeyance of this order when the Wabash freight, which was a light train, went tearing through the derail at the rate of 45 mph.

The passenger train struck the freight three or four cars back of the engine, knocking six of the freight cars off the track and tearing up the track for a great distance. The passenger engine and baggage car were thrown into the ditch and the fireman and engineer did not have time to jump and were buried under their engine. The fireman was killed instantly, while the engineer lived about fifteen minutes. Both his legs were broken and he had a gash from the knee to the abdomen that laid the flesh wide open to the bone. The baggage crew escaped serious injury but were severely shaken up as were the passengers in the cars that remained on the track. A special car was sent to the scene from Adrian, but there was little for the doctors to do. The badly scared but uninjured passengers were brought back to Adrian over the Wabash and a wrecking crew was sent out from Montpelier, Ohio. [DFP-1905-0205]

1927. The Wabash installs a new automatic interlocker at Raisin Center. [RCE-1928]