Time Line - 1946

Last Year | Next Year

• Early: National coal mine strike cripples coal production. [HI]

• March 19: The DT&I makes its first trial test of two-way communications with transmitters placed in the yardmaster’s office and two locomotives. [MRF-3/1981]

• June: Escanaba & Lake Superior takes delivery of its first Baldwin diesel, to replace steam operations on their line. No. 100 was a 1,000 horsepower unit acquired in June, 1946.  In December, 1947, they acquired No. 101, a 600 horsepower Baldwin switcher. [EDP-12/27/1950]

• July 12: D&M receives its first diesel switcher, a Alco S1 which is assigned to North Bay City yard. [HI]

• August 10: Nation's first streamlined train built since World War II, the "Pere Marquette" enters service making its Grand Rapids-Detroit run in 2 hours, 20 minutes. [MDOT][PMHS]

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• Detroit & Mackinac Ry discontinues use of steam locomotives, becoming the nation's first all-diesel, line-haul railroad. [MDOT] ([HI] describes it as the 2nd all-diesel railroad).

• New D&TSL depot at Dearoad Yard built. [IT-4/81]

• The Pere Marquette has replaced men on all diners with attractive girls to service dinners. Thirty girls, divided into six crews are working the Detroit-Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids to Chicago runs. Waitresses are smartly dressed in uniforms of gray-beige, trimmed in aquamarine. While on duty, all jewelry, nail polish and heavy make up is banned. With the exception of some eastern roads, the PM is the first in the nation to place women on mail line dining cars. [MRC-3/1981]

• DSS&A moves depot, roundhouse, sandhouse and coal dock from Marquette Street in St. Ignace to the waterfront, as a part of a consolidation of rail yards. [MRC-8/89]

• Pere Marquette constructs a new diesel engine house at Rockwell Yard, Chicago. [PM45]

• The Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant boasts 130 miles of track inside their facility, with 21 locomotives and hundreds of units of rolling stock. Six outside railroads have track connections to the facility. The power consists of 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 steam switchers, and 1,000 hp Cooper Bessemer twin-type diesels and small old-style box diesels. Ford has its own locomotive repair shop and company men keep 700 switches maintained, including reparing broken switch lenses and filling lamps with oil.  Ford has only one caboose, which is used when trainmen must ride when moving molten metal. [MRC-3/1981]

• Soo Line closes depot in Hermansville. Baggage house is removed. [SOO-10/1991]

• Congress ends all discounts by land grant railroad lines for federal government traffic.STOV]

• The PM track between Elmdale to Freeport was abandoned sometime prior to 1947. [COHS-1/1998]

• The ICC grants permission to the GTW to abandon their line from Greenville to Muskegon. [MRF-3/1981]

• "Hotbox" (hot wheel journal) detectors are installed on all passenger cars by the New York Central. [SAM]

• SNAPSHOT: DSS&A RS1's were used as helpers on time freight No. 22 east of Marquette to Shingleton, as well as on extra freights in the same area. The Shingleton extra freights would switch the sidings and spurs between Marquette and Shingleton, along with the LS&I interchange at Munising Jct. and the M&LS interchange in Shingleton. EB cars would be left at Shingleton for train No. 22 to pick up on its way east to St. Ignace later at night. WB cars would be brought back to Marquette. [SOO-S/2006]

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