Time Line - 1975

Last Year | Next Year

• January 20: GTW razes its Port Huron depot, also known as Tunnel Station. [IT-4/1975]

• February 3: Chessie System closes stations at South Lyon and Fowlerville.  Also closing this month are agents in Alto, Belding, Gera, Marlette, Vassar, Hart, Fremont, Newaygo, Sparta, Scottville, Breckenridge, Hemlock Alma, Charlevoix, Petoskey and Ellsworth. [IT-4/1975]

• February 14: GTW makes last run over their Lakeland to Jackson line.  Generally, no trains run west from South Lyon after this time. [IT-4/1975]

• Spring: Chicago & Northwestern retires its fleet of Fairbanks-Morse H16-66 "Baby Train Masters" which were used in ore operations out of Escanaba. These units were eventually replaced by ex-Norfolk & Western high-hood Alco Century 628's. [R&R-3/1980]

• April 10: Amtrak begins using French-built RTG trainsets between Detroit and Chicago, the first new equipment on the line since at least 1968. [MT]

• April 30: GTW is granted permission by the I.C.C. to use the Detroit-Windsor tunnel and includes all track between West Detroit and the Essex Terminal Railway in Windsor, 5.2 miles. [MRC-7/1975]

• May 16: GTW closes agencies in Cass City, Pigeon and Imlay City. [IT-12/1975]

• July 29:  Fort Wayne crossing is automated by the GTW with operation now handled by the dispatcher in Battle Creek.  The tower is razed. [IT-12/1975]

• July:  The American Freedom Train, visits the state with displays of the nation's treasured documents, touring southern Michigan. [MDOT]

• July 5: Penn Central closes the station agency at Chelsea. [IT-2/1975]

• August 21: Griffith, Indiana station is closed by the GTW. [IT-12/1975]

• August 29: Durand is eliminated as a train order station by GTW. Order boards were removed. [IT-12/1975]

• September 14: The PC team track west under the Broadway Bridge in Ann Arbor is removed to make room for passenger parking. [IT-12/1975]

• September 20: The City of Detroit opens a narrow-gauge Washington Blvd. trolley line from Clifford to West Larned. The line should be completed from Grand Circus Park to Cobo Hall by November. [MRC-11/1976]

• September 22: The AARR/GTW diamond at Lakeland is removed from service, and the GTW main line is shortened from MP 70.3 to 69.7. [IT-2/1976]

• October 5: The Pere Marquette 1225, 1 2-8-4, is steam tested on the Michigan State University campus. The locomotive, which was on static display at MSP, is eventually moved to the Steam Railroad Institute in Owosso for operation. [MT]

• December 15: GTW closes its agency at Richmond. [IT-2/1976]

• December 23: The Grand Trunk Western eliminates 4 miles of track along the western edge of Bay City by switching to trackage rights over the Penn Central. [NK] From approximately Main Street to Bay City West Side.

• December: The GTW roundhouse in Battle Creek, unused since 1959, is razed by a private contractor. [IT-12/1975]

• December: The Richmond station agent is eliminated by the GTW. Other agencies closed in the last year include Lapeer, Schoolcraft, Edwardsburg, Owosso, Carson City, Fraser, Mt. Clemens and New Haven. [IT-12/1975]

  ---

• The former Penn Central line between Cement City and Bryan Ohio is abandoned. [MRC-2/1983]

• Penn Central abandons the Ida Branch, between Ida and Lenawee Jct., a distance of 19.8 miles. [MRC-2/1975]

• The Cadillac and Lake City Railway is granted permission to abandon its line from Round Lake to Lake City, a distance of 8.12 miles. [MRC-2/1975]

• GTW Roundhouse in Jackson is abandoned. [IT-2/80]

• N&W Summer Street yard in Toledo is closed. [IT-4/1975]

• The diamond at Federman, south of Diann, is removed. It was an interlocked crossing of the Ann Arbor and the Penn Central. [IT-12/1975]

• Cadillac and Lake City Railway ends service on branch from Penn Central to Lake City. Abandoned in 1981. [MRRC]

• Since lightweight "Turboliner" passenger trains have been put in service between Detroit and Chicago, some delays have occurred due to signal malfunctions. The new lightweight passenger trains are not heavy enough to shake off rust accumulation. Penn Central has solved the problem by running one of their hot shot freight trains over the line, the first mainline freight trains to operate west of Kalamazoo on the old MCRR in a number of years. [MRC-8/1975]

• The American Freedom Train, powered by a former Reading steam locomotive No. 2101, arrives in Detroit for a visit. The train, with 25 cars, visited the 48 contiguous states with stops in 80 cities. The train came into town via the Norfolk & Western's line from Montpelier to Oakwood Yard. [MRC-7/87]

  ---

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