Time Line - 1959

Last Year | Next Year

• June 1: Six miners are killed due to an in-rush of hot gases and steam at the Sherwood Mine in Iron River. This is the last major underground mine disaster in Michigan.
• July 15: A steel strike begins and immediately effects dock and railroad workers in Michigan's Iron Range.  The strike is finally settled on November 9th.  The DSS&A ore dock in Marquette sets a record for the tons loaded in the month of December. [RO]
• July 25: Pennsylvania RR discontinues its "Red Arrow" passenger train from Detroit to New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. [MDOT]
• August. The ICC authorizes the C&NW railway to abandon a five-mile logging line in Gogebic County linking Stickley and Cisco Lake. The segment has been out of use for some time. [EDP-1959-0805]
• August 6: Annpere interlocking is converted from a tower operation to an automatic interlocker.  Supervisory control is transferred to C&O dispatchers in Grand Rapids. [MSAI]
• October: CPR replaces conventional passenger train from Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie with an RDC car.  This was the first RDC car into the Sault. [IT-5/81]

• December 6. Detroit & Mackinac railroad officials have increased the estimate of damage to their bridge hit by a ship here Sunday from $150,000 to $200,000. James G. Campbell, D&M general superintendent in East Tawas said Wednesday divers and engineers have inspected the bridge over the Saginaw River and found more severe damage than was first suspected. Capt. Daniel Ronspeil of the tanker Lio said his ship suffered only minor damage. "It won't cost for than $100 to make repairs," Ronspeil said. [LDN-1959-1210]

• December 24: "Beeliner" discontinued between Jackson and Bay City, via Owosso and Saginaw. [MDOT]

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• New York Central's "Beeliner" a self-propelled passenger, baggage and mail car, ceases operations from Jackson to Grand Rapids. [MDOT]

• GTW stops using their Battle Creek roundhouse.  It is razed in 1974. [IT-12/1975]

• Welded aluminum cars without a center sill are introduced. [SAM]

• Hydrocushion underframes are introduced on railcars. [SAM]

• Heavy vertical lift bridge completed between Houghton and Hancock. The twin-towered, vertical lift bridge carries four highway lanes on the upper segment and a railroad track on the lower level across the Portage Lake Ship canal. When fully raised, the lift span provides a clearance of 104 feet for shipping. [CRWS/BOM]

• "Roadrailer," first experimental dual wheeled combination rail and highway vehicles in the U.S., begins operating between Grand Rapids and Traverse City on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. [MDOT]

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 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