Time Line - 1895

Last Year | Next Year

• February 1:  The Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad leaves receivership and the assets are sold to new owners, the Detroit and Mackinac Railway.

• Winter:  A 40-lever interlocking plant is erected at Porter, IN at the crossing of the Lake Shore and the Michigan Central.  The interlocker would stand until the early 1980's.  [LS]

• March 12:  Epworth League Railway in Mason County was organized (later named "Ludington Northern" and builds 4 mile long  line from Ludington to Hamlin Lake.  [MDOT/MRRC]

• April 16:  Alpena and Northern purchased by the Detroit and Mackinac RR and designated as it's Northern Division.  The depot is located near Dock Street in Alpena.  [NK/AArgus-8/28/1895]  (Note:  GW notes this sale date as April 10th).

• Summer:  Work is completed on the Iron Mountain and Huron Bay, between Huron Bay in Lake Superior (north of L'Anse) and Champion.  The route ran one train, which derailed and went into the ditch.  The railroad was deemed a failure and the track was pulled up.  [MSL]

• June:  Grand Haven Street Railway opens electric line in Grand Haven.  [MRRC]

• July 8:  Crosstown streetcar line begins operation, built by Detroit Railway Co. and organized by the Pack brothers.  [DWS]

• July 14:  The official opening of the Rapid Railway from Detroit (city limits - Gratiot near Harper) to Mt. Clemens.  The first trip was actually made on June 30th.  [EMR4]

• August:  The Barnum & Bailey Circus train came to Elkhart with the following consist:  30 flat cars, 15 box cars, 7 passenger coaches and 3 elephant cars.  The train was handled in three sections.  [LS]

• September 7: A fire on the 27th level of the Osceola Mine in Calumet skills 30 miners.

• September:  The Manistique & Northwestern lays its first eleven miles of track, starting at Manistique and going north. [AATHA-F/1990]

• October 1:  An interurban line opens betwen Pontiac and Sylvan Lake, in Oakland County.  [EMR4]

• October 5:  Detroit, Delray & Dearborn Railroad completes line from Delray to (west) Dearborn.  [MRRC]

• October 29:  Michigan Railroad Commission approves the crossing of the Detroit, Lansing and Northern by the Ann Arbor Railroad at Annpere.  Interlocking tower is installed.  [MSAI]

• November:  A tower is installed at the crossing of the Detroit, Lansing & Northern and the Ann Arbor Railroad east of Howell, called Annpere. [MSAI]

• Lima Northern builts line from Ohio State line to Wabash connection at Lima Junction.  [IT-12/79]

• Chicago & West Michigan opens 7-mile branch line from Turtle Lake to the town of Honor.  [COHS-5/1995]

• Pere Marquette abandons line from Honor to Clary, 10 miles.  [COHS-8/1997]

• New steel Portage Canal swing bridge is built between Houghton and Hancock.  [CRWS]

• Michigan Central builds a Romanesque-style brick depot at Columbiaville.  It saw passenger service until 1964.  Depot continues to exist into 1999.  [IT-12/1974/MRT-I]

• Detroit & Mackinac Ry. locomotives continue to be steamed with hardwood fuel.  Coal was expensive and involved long hauls and expensive storage.  Hardwood was at hand, it was cheap, and by using it the road provided a market for the settler while clearing his land for farming purposes.  [GW]

• Lake Shore & Michigan Southern builds depot at Sturgis.  Depot continues to exist into 1974.  [IT-12/1974]

• State law requires that each station have a bulletin board announcing in advance the time of arrival and departure of trains.  [AAD]

• The D&M adopts the "Turtle" as its trade-mark, and begins a bid for sportsmen and summer resorters.  [GW]

• The Solvay Process Company of Syracuse, New York, purchases the old exposition grounds of 67 acres (including buildings).  They add Brady Island, just across the Rouge River (232 acres), and begin development of salt beds underlying Zug Island.  It becomes the largest industry in Delray.  [HWC]

• Union Station in Muskegon is completed.  It is a Richardsonian Romanesque structure of red brick.  It was designed by Sidney J. Osgood.  The depot served the Chicago and West Michigan, the Grand Rapids & Indiana, and the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railroads which were given a financial incentive to build it.  Previously the city had been served by a small frame structure.  [BOM]

• Oakland Railway electric interurban begins regular service to Detroit.  [DWS]

• Wireless radio is invented in Italy.  [DWS]

• Marconi sends a message by "radio".  [SAM]

• Baltimore & Ohio Railroad establishes world's first electric mainline service in Philadelphia.  [DWS]

• A strike occurs in the upper peninsula iron range and the state milita responds. [IOHT]

 Time line Key:

• Railroad event in Michigan
• Event relating to mining
• Event related to car ferries
• Event outside of Michigan
• Improvement in Technology
• Railroad built or extended
• Railroad abandoned and/or removed
• Economic panic or depression