Location: Milwaukee Junction, Detroit, MI - GTW Facilities

Milwaukee Junction was the main location for Grand Trunk Western locomotive and car maintenance. Two main GTW lines crossed here (the Detroit to Grand Haven cross-state line, and the Port Huron to Detroit line).

In the early days, most of GTW's freight customers were along their line to Brush Street station along the river front, and along their line to the West Detroit area. Most of the shops were in the southeast quadrant of the crossing. The GTW had a roundhouse in the southeast quadrant of Milwaukee Junction. [MCTC-1950]

Photo info: Top, this is the GTW roundhouse at Milwaukee Junction in 1910. The DGH&M depot is on the south side of their line. You can also see the MC Milwaukee Jct. signal tower in the NE quadrant of their double track line. This view also shows the National Can Company (manufacture of tin cans) and the American Wood Grain Company (manufacturer of oil cloths). [SBM-1910]  2nd image, this is the Grand Trunk Western office at Milwaukee Junction, taken in 1986.  It was located in the SW quadrant of the crossing.   [Charlie Whipp]

Notes 

Location: 42o22.740'N / 83o03.376'W.

The GTW had a water tower at Milwaukee Junction. [MRC-Cal/73]

The interlocking tower here was operated by the Michigan Central.

Time Line

1867. Two little colored boys, named Enos and Edward Larkins, were yesterday arrested by Detective Sullivan for having engaged in the late attempt to throw a train off the track near Milwaukee Junction. They had piled a lot of rails crosswise of the track, and when the train approached, let fly a volley of stones, some of which passed through the windows, but without injuring anybody. They are both sharp little darkies, and deny the charge, but an employee on the train recognized them, and says that these are the same parties. An examination of the case will be had today. [DFP-1867-0619]. Editors note: This article was presented as written and represents the racial bias by the Detroit Free Press in 1867.

1869. An emigrant woman gave birth to a child at Milwaukee Junction and threw it into the [toilet] vault. After her train left the junction one of the railroad employees heard the child cry, ripped up the floor over the vault and rescued the almost suffocated little victim. Some ladies cared for it, dressed it, and one of them brought it to the city and gave it in charge of the police, who turned it over to the Director of the Poor. The brutal mother has not been arrested. [DFP-1869-0712]

1900. July 29. One of two special trains, bringing Buffalo Bill's entourage from Ypsilanti to Pontiac was backing into a wye at Milwaukee Junction to reach the westbound DGH&M line. They used the wrong wye track and backed into a switch engine which was trying to get out of the way. The crash collapsed the caboose on the back of the special train into the passenger car in front of it. One rodeo employee died and 10 were injured. The railroad suggested that they would not be sued because the cars used by the rodeo outfit were old and unsafe. [DFP-1900-0729]

1918. Driven by almost constantly reoccurring cold weather and inability to obtain fuel in a legitimate way and emboldened in many instances by illness in the family, hundreds of Detroiters are stealing coal out of coal yards and off coal trains. Thefts now have become so numerous and reach such an aggregate volume that police, railway detectives and fuel administration officials admit they are virtually hopeless.

Officials of the Grand Trunk railroad report that two cars of coal consigned to the Diamond Coal & Coke company were hardly switched into the Milwaukee Junction yards before a crowd of fully 200 men, women and children swarmed upon the cars, and both were unloaded in less than two hours. Of the cars, barely five tons remained. Sixteen arrests were made during the day by the police and four by railway special officers. During the last four days 55 persons have been convicted of stealing coal and paid fines of $5 and more. Ten are serving slight jail sentences because they are unable to pay a fine. [DFP-1918-0129]