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100-657: The railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) for 99 years in 1883; in 1929 it was subleased to the New York Central Railroad (NYC). Its successors Penn Central (formed 1968) and Conrail (formed 1976) later exercised control before being sold to Canadian National Railway / Canadian Pacific Railway in 1985. The line was originally conceived by Kenyon Cox (brother of Jacob Dolson Cox , Governor of Ohio ), Daniel Drew , Sidney Dillon and John F. Tracy to connect with

200-488: A bypass around Rochester. The Terminal Railway 's Gardenville Cutoff, allowing through traffic to bypass Buffalo to the southeast, opened in 1898. The Schenectady Detour consisted of two connections to the West Shore Railroad, allowing through trains to bypass downtown Schenectady. The full project opened in 1902. The Cleveland Short Line Railway built a bypass of Cleveland, Ohio, completed in 1912. In 1924,

300-523: A carrier of autos and auto-related parts. The Michigan Central was one of the few Michigan railroads with a direct line into Chicago, meaning it did not have to operate cross-lake ferries , as did virtually all other railroads operating in Michigan, such as the Pere Marquette , Pennsylvania , Grand Trunk , and Ann Arbor Railroads . Michigan Central was part owner of the ferry service operated to

400-478: A classification yard and livestock pens on 300 acres of land (known as West Albany). Facilities included locomotive shops, freight and passenger car shops, and roundhouse terminals. These were the New York Central's primary back shops until the end of steam in 1957. The Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened later that year, connecting Troy south to Greenbush (now Rensselaer ) on

500-447: A good number of mainline trains. The CASO rarely operated its own rolling stock after acquisition, and its reporting mark was abolished in 1977. Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad ( reporting mark MC ) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan , and St. Joseph, Michigan . The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan , Indiana , and Illinois in

600-520: A larger plot of land on the west side of the city along Livernois Avenue, then consisting of two roundhouses and car repair shops. In 1919 new freight and locomotive terminals were constructed in Niles, Michigan . However, the primary locomotive and car repair shops during the steam era were located in Jackson, Michigan , established in 1871. They closed in 1949 during a coal strike and never reopened due to

700-575: A line between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. It was leased to New York Central Railroad in 1853. Also in 1855 came the merger with the Lewiston Railroad , running from Niagara Falls north to Lewiston . It was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1837, without connections to other railroads. In 1854, a southern extension opened to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad and the line was leased to the railroad. The Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad

800-576: A network of commuter lines in New York and Massachusetts. Westchester County, New York had the railroad's Hudson, Harlem, and Putnam lines into Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan (Putnam Division trains required a change at High Bridge, New York), while New Jersey and Rockland County, New York were serviced by the West Shore Line between Weehawken and Kingston, New York, on the west side of

900-558: A passenger station and dining room on the ground floor with the railway's head offices on the upper floor. The extremely long, narrow building was based on Italianate architecture and is the only known train station in Canada to embody this style. The station was the design of Canadian architect Edgar Berryman (1839-1905). A large car shop, located in the yard, facilitated the manufacture of cars and allowed repairs to be made to locomotives. Steam locomotives were also manufactured for CSR in

1000-628: A victim of extensive vandalism. Over the next 30 years, several proposals and concepts for redevelopment were suggested, none coming to fruition. The estimated cost of renovations was $ 80 million, but the owners viewed finding the right use as a greater problem than financing. Though listed on the National Register of Historic Places , the Detroit City Council passed a resolution to demolish the station in April 2009. The council

1100-631: A way for freight and especially passengers to avoid the extensive and time-consuming locks on the Erie Canal between Schenectady and Albany. The Mohawk and Hudson opened on September 24, 1831, and changed its name to the Albany and Schenectady Railroad on April 19, 1847. Until the 1840s it used an inclined plane and pulley system at either end of the line to pull passenger cars up the steep hills in Albany and Schenectady. As locomotive technology progressed,

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1200-550: Is also gone. Amtrak trains serving the Michigan Central Detroit line now use the former NYC to Porter, where they turn north on Michigan Central. Passenger equipment was mostly similar to that of parent New York Central System. Typically this meant an EMD E-series locomotive and Pullman-Standard lightweight rolling stock. Because General Motors ( Electro-Motive Division ) was a large customer of Michigan Central, use of Alco or General Electric locomotives

1300-598: Is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now houses the Gandy Dancer Restaurant. The Michigan Central also built and operated a swing bridge over Trail Creek at Michigan City, Indiana . This swing bridge is similar to the moving span at Spuyten Duyvil owned by parent New York Central, but has no approach spans. It is still in operation and owned by Amtrak. No historic Michigan Central-specific equipment exists today. After

1400-658: Is now Clara's on the River Restaurant. Located between Augusta and Galesburg Michigan, the massive re-enforced concrete building stands over the Detroit to Chicago mainline. Built in 1923, it was used to refuel and water steam engines. It fell out of use post-World War II, as diesel engines came onto the scene. The former Michigan Central Station in Ann Arbor , Michigan, a granite stone block building built in 1886 and designed by Frederick Spier of Spier and Rohns ,

1500-625: The Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge was constructed as part of the Hudson River Connecting Railroad 's Castleton Cut-Off, a 27.5-mile-long freight bypass of the congested West Albany terminal area and West Albany Hill. An unrelated realignment was made in the 1910s at Rome, when the Erie Canal was realigned and widened onto a new alignment south of downtown Rome. The NYC main line was shifted south out of downtown to

1600-723: The Canadian Pacific Railway . The Michigan Central Railway Bridge opened in February 1925 and remained in use until the early 21st century. It replaced the earlier Niagara Cantilever Bridge which had been commissioned in 1883 by Cornelius Vanderbilt ; the older bridge was scrapped as the new MCR bridge went into service. The MCR cantilever bridge was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame in 2006, long after it had been scrapped. The Hall of Fame report discussed its significance to

1700-713: The Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest , along with the intermediate cities of Albany , Buffalo , Cleveland , Cincinnati , Detroit , Rochester and Syracuse . New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building , adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal . The railroad

1800-685: The Harlem Line ). The surviving sections of the West Side Line south of 34th Street reopened as the High Line , a linear park built between 2009 and 2014. In 1867, Cornelius Vanderbilt acquired control of the Albany to Buffalo -running New York Central Railroad, with the help of maneuverings related to the Hudson River Bridge in Albany. On November 1, 1869, he merged the railroad with his Hudson River Railroad to form

1900-671: The Mackinac Transportation Company , which operated the SS Chief Wawatam until 1984. The Chief Wawatam was a front-loading, hand-fired, coal-fed steamer . It was the last hand-fired steamer in the free world at its long-overdue retirement in 1984. The Chief Wawatam continued to operate until 2009, cut down to a barge . One Chief Wawatam engine was salvaged and restored by the Wisconsin Maritime Museum . Other artifacts from

2000-738: The Michigan Central Railway Bridge at Niagara Falls . Much of the CASO has been downgraded, abandoned or removed by CN and CP over the years. Operations through Niagara Falls (and over the MCRR bridge) were discontinued with that portion of the line through the city removed in 2001. Unlike the rest of the line, however, the Detroit River tunnel is a key part of freight movements across the Canada-US border and still sees

2100-490: The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie and Boston and Albany Railroads in 1887 and 1900, respectively, with both roads remaining as independently-operating subsidiaries. William H. Newman, president of the New York Central lines, resigned in 1909. Newman had been president since 1901, when he replaced Samuel R. Callaway (who had replaced Depew as president in 1898). In 1914, the operations of eleven subsidiaries were merged with

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2200-579: The Rochester and Syracuse Direct Railway was chartered and immediately merged into the Rochester and Syracuse Railroad on August 6, 1850. That line opened June 1, 1853, running much more directly between those two cities, roughly parallel to the Erie Canal. The Tonawanda Railroad , to the west of Rochester, was chartered on April 24, 1832, to build from that city to Attica . The first section, from Rochester southwest to Batavia , opened May 5, 1837, and

2300-700: The United States and the province of Ontario in Canada . After about 1867 the railroad was controlled by the New York Central Railroad , which later became part of Penn Central and then Conrail . After the 1998 Conrail breakup, Norfolk Southern Railway now owns much of the former Michigan Central trackage. At the end of 1925, MC operated 1,871 miles (3,011 km) of road and 4,139 miles (6,661 km) of track; that year it reported 4,304,000 net ton-miles of revenue freight and 600 million passenger-miles. The line between Detroit and St. Joseph, Michigan ,

2400-650: The Upper Peninsula as well as cross-river ferry service to Ontario , but these routes did not exist to circumvent Chicago. The Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) and then parent New York Central Railroad (NYC) owned the Canada Southern Railroad (CSR), which had lines throughout southwestern Ontario from Windsor to Niagara Falls . The railroad operated a car-float service over the Detroit River from 1883; an immersed tube tunnel under

2500-793: The Wabash Railroad and establish a railway network extending from Lake Erie to the Mississippi River . The Panic of 1873 was responsible for the failure of several large railroads in North America, together with their financial backers. In addition to the CSR, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad , Northern Pacific Railroad , Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and New York and Oswego Midland Railroad were also affected. The CSR's banker, Kenyon, Cox & Co. (of which Drew

2600-521: The 1950s that began to deprive NYC of its long-distance passenger trade. The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 helped create a network of government subsidized highways for motor vehicle travel throughout the country, enticing more people to travel by car, as well as haul freight by truck. The 1959 opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway also adversely affected NYC freight business: container shipments could now be directly shipped to ports along

2700-761: The Big Four, was formed on June 30, 1889, by the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway , the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway and the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway. The following year, the company gained control of the former Indiana Bloomington and Western Railway . By 1906, the Big Four was itself acquired by the New York Central Railroad. It operated independently until 1930; it

2800-512: The Boston and Albany. This influenced a great deal about the line, from advertising to locomotive design, built around its flagship New York-Chicago Water Level Route. A number of bypasses and cutoffs were built around congested areas. The Junction Railroad 's Buffalo Belt Line opened in 1871, providing a bypass of Buffalo to the northeast as well as a loop route for passenger trains via downtown. The West Shore Railroad, acquired in 1885, provided

2900-648: The CVR opted to merge with the Ontario and Quebec Railway instead. CSR's headquarters were located in St. Thomas, Ontario . The site was chosen because St Thomas was roughly equal-distance between Windsor and Fort Erie, Ontario and the city offered a $ 25,000 bonus to the railroad company as an incentive to build within city limits. CSR's main building, the Canada Southern Railway Station , included

3000-528: The Canada Division Passenger Service, saw a major surge beginning at the start of the 1920s. Between 1920 and 1922, the legendary Wolverine passenger train operated in two sections, five days per week along CSR's mainline. Then, in the summer of 1923, the eastbound Wolverine began running from Detroit to Buffalo without any scheduled stops in Canada, making the trip in 4 hours and 50 minutes, an unprecedented achievement. During

3100-622: The Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario; and the MCR cantilever bridge at Niagara Falls , which was later replaced with a steel arch bridge in 1925. The car-float operation ended when the Detroit River tunnel was completed. Control of Canada Southern passed from MCR to NYC, then Penn Central, then Conrail . In 1985, the Canada Southern was sold to two companies, the Canadian National Railway and

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3200-490: The Erie Canal and serve Rome, and so the Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad was chartered on January 26, 1853. Nothing of that line was ever built, though the later West Shore Railroad , acquired by New York Central Railroad in 1885, served the same purpose. The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was chartered on May 1, 1834, and opened mostly in 1838, the remaining 4 miles (6.4 km) opening on June 4, 1839. A month later, with

3300-625: The Great Lakes, eliminating the railroads' freight hauls between the east and the Midwest. The NYC also carried a substantial tax burden from governments that saw rail infrastructure as a source of property tax revenues – taxes that were not imposed upon interstate highways. To make matters worse, most railroads, including the NYC, were saddled with a World War II-era tax of 15% on passenger fares, which remained until 1962: 17 years after

3400-610: The Hudson River Railroad, the West Side Line was built in 1934 in the borough of Manhattan as an elevated bypass of then-abandoned street running trackage on Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The elevated section has since been abandoned, and the tunnel north of 35th Street is used only by Amtrak trains to New York Penn Station (all other trains use the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad to reach

3500-688: The Hudson River. The New York Central, like many U.S. railroads, declined after the Second World War. Problems resurfaced that had plagued the railroad industry before the war, such as over-regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), which severely regulated the rates charged by the railroad, along with continuing competition from automobiles and trucks. These problems were coupled with even more-formidable forms of competition, such as airline service in

3600-646: The MC had a lease that ran for a few more years. The MC route from Chicago to Porter, Indiana , is mostly intact. The Kensington Interchange, shared with the South Shore Line , was cut out. These tracks now belong to Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad , and are overgrown stub tracks ending short of the interchange. Some trackage around the Indiana Harbor Belt's Gibson Yard has also been removed. The MC's South Water Street freight trackage in downtown Chicago

3700-563: The Michigan Central after dieselization. The station in Dexter, Michigan, has some railroad memorabilia around it, such as an old level crossing signal and a baggage cart. The Michigan Central, having been only a "paper" railroad for decades and not owning any track since the late 1970s, was merged into United Railroad Corp. (a subsidiary of Penn Central) on December 7, 1995. Today, Norfolk Southern owns most trackage not abandoned in

3800-518: The Mohawk River, paralleling the Erie Canal, to Utica . Of the ten early railroads bordering the Erie Canal, the U&;S was the most profitable. It was headed by Erastus Corning , future president of the consolidated New York Central. On May 7, 1844, the railroad was authorized to carry freight with some restrictions, and on May 12, 1847, the ban was fully dropped, but the company still had to pay

3900-645: The NYC from opening. This was a connection between Syracuse and Rochester, running from the main line at Lyons to the Auburn Road at Geneva. It was merged into the NYC in 1890. In 1885, the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway , a competitor since 1883 with trackage along the west shore of the Hudson River and on to Buffalo closely paralleling the NYC, was taken over by the NYC as the West Shore Railroad and developed passenger, freight, and car float operations at Weehawken Terminal . The NYC assumed control of

4000-515: The NYC's eastern trackage and NS acquiring most of NYC's western trackage. Extensive trackage existed in the states of New York , Pennsylvania , Ohio , Michigan , Indiana , Illinois , Massachusetts and West Virginia , plus additional trackage in portions of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec . At the end of 1925, New York Central Railroad operated 11,584 miles (18,643 km) of road and 26,395 miles (42,479 km) of track; at

4100-659: The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, re-forming the New York Central Railroad. From the beginning of the merger, the railroad was publicly referred to as the New York Central Lines. In the summer of 1935, the identification was changed to the New York Central System, that name being kept until the merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968. The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway , also known as

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4200-450: The New York Central Railroad were optimized for speed on that flat raceway of a main line, rather than slow mountain lugging. Famous locomotives of the system included the well-known 4-6-4 Hudsons , particularly the 1937–38 J-3a's; 4-8-2 World War II–era 1940 L-3 and 1942 L-4 Mohawks ; and the 1945–46 S-class Niagaras : fast 4-8-4 locomotives often considered the epitome of their breed by steam locomotive aficionados ( railfans ). For

4300-549: The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. This extended the system south from Albany along the east bank of the Hudson River to New York City, with the leased Troy and Greenbush Railroad running from Albany north to Troy . Vanderbilt's other lines were operated as part of the railroad included the New York and Harlem Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway , Canada Southern Railway , and Michigan Central Railroad . The Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad

4400-430: The Niles station is occasionally portrayed in film. Also the Dowagiac station is used by Amtrak which was built by M.C.R.R. In July 2007, Norfolk Southern was in talks with Watco , a shortline holding company, to sell the Kalamazoo-Detroit portion of the Michigan Central main line. The proposal was set before the Surface Transportation Board , and was officially endorsed by Amtrak in September 2007. In December 2007

4500-409: The STB rejected the plan, citing concerns over the relationship between the Norfolk Southern and Watco. Labor unions had raised concerns over the transfer of operations to a substantially non-transportation company, under which different labor regulations would apply. New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad ( reporting mark NYC ) was a railroad primarily operating in

4600-404: The Syracuse and Utica Railroad by building a more direct route, reducing travel time by a half-hour. The company was merged before any line could be built. Albany industrialist and Mohawk Valley Railroad owner Erastus Corning managed to unite the above railroads together into one system, and on March 17, 1853, executives and stockholders of each company agreed to merge. The merger was approved by

4700-490: The Tonawanda Railroad was authorized to build the connection, and it opened later that year. The Albany and Schenectady Railroad bought all the baggage, mail and emigrant cars of the other railroads between Albany and Buffalo on February 17, 1848, and began operating through cars. On December 7, 1850, the Tonawanda Railroad and Attica and Buffalo Railroad merged to form the Buffalo and Rochester Railroad . A new direct line opened from Buffalo east to Batavia on April 26, 1852, and

4800-532: The Vanderbilt railroad empire. The younger Vanderbilt took steps to separate the various railroad properties he controlled. On 1 January 1883, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) was able to lease the CSR to another Vanderbilt railroad company, the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR), on a 21-year renewable term. Vanderbilt, who owned all three companies, ensured that each one operated independently, through its own autonomous president and board of directors. In 1929, MCR subleased CSR to NYC, its parent company. The company

4900-462: The Water Level Route, could complete the 960.7-mile trip in 16 hours after its June 15, 1938 streamlining (and did it in 15 1 ⁄ 2 hours for a short period after World War II). Also famous were the NYC's Empire State Express , which traveled from New York City through upstate New York to Buffalo and Cleveland, and the Ohio State Limited , which ran between New York City and Cincinnati. At various times, beginning in 1946 and continuing into

5000-415: The better. Prominent New York Central trains: Trains left from Grand Central Terminal in New York, Weehawken Terminal in Weehawken, New Jersey , South Station in Boston, Cincinnati Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Michigan Central Station in Detroit, St. Louis Union Station , and LaSalle Street Station and Central Station (for some Detroit and CincinnatI trains) in Chicago. The New York Central had

5100-414: The building for redevelopment into a mixed use facility and cornerstone of the company's new Corktown campus. The Michigan Central station at Niles, Michigan , is also famous, having appeared in several Hollywood movies. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Michigan Central Railroad Depot (Battle Creek, MI) opened on July 27, 1888. Rogers and MacFarlane of Detroit designed

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5200-430: The building is of the Beaux-Arts Classical style of architecture, designed by the Warren and Wetmore and Reed and Stem firms who also designed New York City 's Grand Central Terminal . As such, Michigan Central Station bears more than a passing resemblance to New York's famed rail station. It was the world's tallest railroad terminal at that time. Last used by Amtrak in 1988, Michigan Central Station then become

5300-426: The car shop, beginning in 1882 and closed sometime after 1905. Types of locomotives made included: Initially all locomotives were built for use by CASO, but some ended their career with the New York Central Railroad . The CSR was never completely controlled by the New York Central (later part of Penn Central ) or the Michigan Central, as the two together held only about 107,000 of the 150,000 shares outstanding, and

5400-447: The coach and went off the track to the right; its pilot dug into the dirt, and the locomotive whipped around and slammed over on its side, facing in the direction from which it came. Both the engineer and the fireman were killed in the wreck, making the death toll 37. The MCR Jackson station in Jackson, Michigan, opened in 1873 and is the oldest continuously operated passenger station in North America. The Dexter, Michigan, train depot

5500-473: The conversion of motive power to diesel engines. The Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) operated mostly passenger trains between Chicago and Detroit. These trains ranged from locals to the Wolverine . In 1904, MCR began a long-term lease of Canada Southern Railway (CSR), which operated the most direct route between Detroit and New York. CSR's mainline cut through the heart of southwestern Ontario , between Windsor and Fort Erie . The new service, known as

5600-459: The crossing on the ties, and was rerailed by the crossing's frog, the tender and first several cars of the train remained derailed as they rode the ties. The train stopped with the Michigan Central locomotive about 400 feet beyond the crossing and the first coach fouling the crossing. The 'Interstate Express' locomotive (NYC 4828) hit the wooden coach broadside, demolishing it, killing 35 passengers, and injuring 11. Locomotive 4828 derailed upon hitting

5700-400: The depot, one of several Richardsonian Romanesque-style stations between Detroit and Chicago in the late nineteenth century. Thomas Edison as well as presidents William Howard Taft and Gerald Ford visited here. The depot was acquired by the New York Central Railroad in 1918, Penn Central in 1968 and Amtrak in 1970. The depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and

5800-412: The early 1980s. Lake State Railway now operates the remnants former Detroit-Mackinaw City line from Bay City to Gaylord , which is partially owned by the state of Michigan. What remained of CASO was mostly abandoned by Canadian National in 2011, after seeing little to no traffic for years. Amtrak owns the Detroit line from Porter, Indiana , to Kalamazoo, Michigan , while the state of Michigan owns

5900-408: The east side of the Hudson River. The Hudson River Railroad was chartered on May 12, 1846, to extend this line south to New York City; the full line opened on October 3, 1851. Prior to completion, on June 1, it leased the Troy and Greenbush. Cornelius Vanderbilt obtained control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, soon after he bought the parallel New York and Harlem Railroad . Along the line of

6000-414: The end of 1967, the mileages were 9,696 miles (15,604 km) and 18,454 miles (29,699 km). The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was the oldest segment of the railroad's merger and was the first permanent railroad in the state of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States . It was chartered in 1826 to connect the Mohawk River at Schenectady to the Hudson River at Albany, providing

6100-418: The equivalent in canal tolls to the state. The Syracuse and Utica Railroad was chartered on May 11, 1836, and similarly had to pay the state for any freight displaced from the canal. The full line opened July 3, 1839, extending the line further to Syracuse via Rome (and further to Auburn via the already-opened Auburn and Syracuse Railroad ). This line was not direct, going out of its way to stay near

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6200-421: The ferry, including the whistle, wheel, telegraphs, and furniture, are preserved by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission in Mackinaw City . Car floats also ran across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario, for high and wide loads that could not fit through the tunnels. The major competitors of the Michigan Central were: On June 22, 1918, the engineer of a Michigan Central troop train fell asleep, causing

6300-417: The first two-thirds of the 20th century, New York Central Railroad had some of the most famous trains in the United States. Its 20th Century Limited ( Century ), begun in 1902, ran between Grand Central Terminal in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago , and was its most famous train, known for its red carpet treatment and first-class service. Its last run was made on December 2–3, 1967. In

6400-482: The line from there to Dearborn, Michigan . This line is a projected "high speed" line; a portion of the line was converted to 110 MPH operation in early 2012 with further upgrades planned. Amtrak operates three Chicago-Detroit- Pontiac trains each way per day, under the old banner Wolverine . The Port Huron train (the Blue Water ) also uses this line as far east as Battle Creek, Michigan . Both Kalamazoo and Niles have retained their old Michigan Central Stations;

6500-422: The line is currently operated as the Falls Road Railroad . The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was chartered on April 27, 1852, to build a branch of the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls from Lockport towards Buffalo. It opened in 1854, running from Lockport to Tonawanda , where it joined the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad , opened in 1837, for the rest of the way to Buffalo. The Mohawk Valley Railroad

6600-409: The line to Kensington, Illinois , (now a south Chicago neighborhood) in 1852, using Illinois Central trackage rights to downtown Chicago. The completed railroad was 270 miles (430 km) in length. In the same year the first train ran from Detroit to Chicago. The first repair shops were built in 1851 and located on 20 acres of waterfront property in Detroit, Michigan . In 1873 they were moved to

6700-413: The mainline was extended to the Mohawk River in downtown Schenectady and the Hudson River waterfront in Albany. The Utica and Schenectady Railroad was chartered April 29, 1833; as the railroad paralleled the Erie Canal, it was prohibited from carrying freight . Revenue service began on August 2, 1836, extending the line of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad west from Schenectady along the north side of

6800-477: The mid-1930s, many railroad companies were introducing streamlined locomotives; until the New York Central introduced the Commodore Vanderbilt , all were diesel-electric. The Vanderbilt was the NYC's first streamlined steam locomotive. The railroad hosted the streamlined steam-powered Rexall Train of 1936, which toured 47 states to promote the Rexall chain of drug stores and to provide space for company conventions. The steam-powered Century , which followed

6900-561: The mid-1950s, the Century and other NYC trains exchanged sleeping cars in Chicago with western trains such as the Super Chief and the City of San Francisco . The cars, which contained roomettes , double bedrooms and drawing rooms , provided through sleeper service between New York City and Los Angeles or San Francisco ( Oakland Pier ). Despite having some of the most modern steam locomotives anywhere, NYC's difficult financial position caused it to convert to more-economical diesel-electric power rapidly. The Boston and Albany line

7000-492: The old line between Depew (east of Buffalo) and Attica was sold to the Buffalo and New York City Railroad on November 1. The line was added to the New York and Erie Railroad system and converted to the Erie's 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) broad gauge . The Schenectady and Troy Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened in 1842, providing another route between the Hudson River and Schenectady, with its Hudson River terminal at Troy . The Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad

7100-431: The opening of the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, this formed a complete line from Albany west via Syracuse to Auburn. The Auburn and Rochester Railroad was chartered on May 13, 1836, as a further extension via Geneva and Canandaigua to Rochester , opening on November 4, 1841. The two lines merged on August 1, 1850, to form the rather indirect Rochester and Syracuse Railroad (known later as the Auburn Road ). To fix this,

7200-436: The railroad with T-rail of not less than sixty pounds to the yard and also to replace the poorly built rails between Kalamazoo and Detroit with similar quality rail, as the state-built rail was of low quality. The new owners met this obligation by building the rest of the line some 74.84 miles (120.44 km) to the shores of Lake Michigan by 1849. However, rather than go to St. Joseph, instead they went to New Buffalo . This

7300-405: The railway industry in the category of "North America: Facilities & Structures." All major Michigan railroads except the Michigan Central operated a rail ferry service across Lake Michigan . The MC had the most direct route across Southern Michigan from Detroit to Chicago. The Michigan Central also had the best access to Chicago of any Michigan railroad. The Michigan Central did own part of

7400-529: The rest of the line to Attica opened on January 8, 1843. The Attica and Buffalo Railroad was chartered in 1836 and opened on November 24, 1842, running from Buffalo southeast to Attica. When the Auburn and Rochester Railroad opened in 1841, there was no connection at Rochester to the Tonawanda Railroad, but with that exception there was now an all-rail line between Buffalo and Albany. On March 19, 1844,

7500-498: The rest were publicly held. The shareholders had received dividends in every year from 1887, and an extraordinary dividend in 1976 triggered a legal dispute that was not resolved until 1983. On April 30, 1985, the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway jointly purchased the former CASO from Conrail in order to acquire the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel under the Detroit River and

7600-713: The same summer, the Canada Division was moving 2,300 through passengers per day. By the end of the decade, a fleet of 205 J-1 class Hudsons – one of the most powerful locomotives for passenger service yet designed – was hauling passengers along the CSR mainline. However, by the 1930s the Wolverine was making stops in the Canadian section of the route. Also, by the late 1940s, the Empire State Express passed from Buffalo into Southwestern Ontario; however, it terminated at Detroit. While Michigan Central

7700-445: The south bank of the new canal. A bridge was built southeast of downtown, roughly where the old main line crossed the path of the canal, to keep access to and from the southeast. West of downtown, the old main line was abandoned, but a brand-new railroad line was built, running north from the NYC main line to the NYC's former Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad , allowing all NYC through traffic to bypass Rome. Steam locomotives of

7800-521: The state legislature on April 2 and, on May 17, 1853, the New York Central Railroad was formed. Soon the Buffalo and State Line Railroad and Erie and North East Railroad converted to 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge from 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) broad gauge and connected directly with the railroad in Buffalo, providing a through route to Erie, Pennsylvania . The Rochester and Lake Ontario Railroad

7900-596: The steam era, almost all equipment was lettered for New York Central. Many common New York Central locomotives and rolling stock are preserved in places like Illinois Railway Museum and the National New York Central Museum, in Elkhart, Indiana. The latter includes a sample passenger train in NYC livery, although the two coaches are actually of Illinois Central heritage. The E8 and observation car are original NYC equipment and very likely served on

8000-421: The train to run into the rear of a Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus train that was stopped near Hammond, Indiana. The accident resulted in 86 deaths, with another 127 people injured. On February 27, 1921, the Michigan Central's 'Canadian' ran a red signal at Porter, Indiana, and entered a diamond crossing in front of the New York Central's 'Interstate Express'. The 'Canadian's locomotive hit the derailer, slid through

8100-543: Was an independent subsidiary of the New York Central System, passenger trains were staged from Illinois Central's Central Station (in Chicago) as a tenant. When MC operations were completely integrated into NYC in the 1950s, trains were re-deployed to NYC's LaSalle Street Station home, where other NYC trains such as the 20th Century Limited were staged. IC sued for breach of contract and won because

8200-475: Was because they had decided to extend the road all the way to Chicago. With this, the first crossing of the state of Michigan (Lower Peninsula) was completed. This involved passing through two other states and getting leave from two state legislatures to do so. To facilitate this process, they bought the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad in 1851. Thus they reached Michigan City, Indiana , by 1850 and finished

8300-495: Was built to replace a former station that had burned down. It served passenger trains until the early 1950s. Today, the station is home to the Ann Arbor Model Railroad Club, which hosts open houses the first Wednesday of each month. It also has some railroad memorabilia such as an old crossing signal and baggage cart. Michigan Central was the owner of Michigan Central Station in Detroit. Opened in 1913,

8400-712: Was chartered in 1851. The first stage opened in 1853 from Canandaigua on the Auburn Road west to Batavia on the main line. A continuation west to North Tonawanda opened later that year and, in 1854, a section opened in Niagara Falls connecting it to the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge . New York Central Railroad bought the company at bankruptcy in 1858 and reorganized it as the Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua Railroad, merging it into itself in 1890. The Saratoga and Hudson River Railroad

8500-467: Was chartered in 1864 and opened in 1866 as a branch of the railroad from Athens Junction, southeast of Schenectady, southeast and south to Athens on the west side of the Hudson River. On September 9, 1876, the company was merged into the railroad, but in 1876 the terminal at Athens burned down and the line was abandoned. The primary repair shops were established in Corning's hometown of Albany along with

8600-502: Was chartered in 1869 and opened in 1871, providing a route on the north side of the Harlem River for trains along the Hudson River to head southeast to the New York and Harlem Railroad. Trains could head toward Grand Central Depot , built by NYC and opened in 1871, or to the freight facilities at Port Morris . From opening, it was leased by the NYC. The Geneva and Lyons Railroad was organized in 1877 and opened in 1878, leased by

8700-467: Was chartered on January 21, 1851, and reorganized on December 28, 1852, to build a railroad on the south side of the Mohawk River from Schenectady to Utica, next to the Erie Canal and opposite the Utica and Schenectady. The company didn't build a line before it was absorbed, though the West Shore Railroad was later built on that location. The Syracuse and Utica Direct Railroad was chartered in 1853 to rival

8800-482: Was completely dieselized by 1951. All lines east of Cleveland, Ohio were dieselized between August 7, 1953 (east of Buffalo) and September 1953 (Cleveland-Buffalo). Niagaras were all retired by July 1956. On May 3, 1957, H7e class 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotive No. 1977 is reported to have been the last steam locomotive to retire from service on the railroad. But, the economics of northeastern railroading became so dire that not even this switch could change things for

8900-446: Was established in 1853, consolidating several existing railroad companies. In 1968, the NYC merged with its former rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad , to form Penn Central . Penn Central went into bankruptcy in 1970 and, with extensive Federal government support, emerged as Conrail in 1976. In 1999, Conrail was broken-up, and portions of its system were transferred to CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), with CSX acquiring most of

9000-441: Was general partner) failed, and its bonds were subsequently protested , although some observers felt that the move was unnecessary. CSR subsequently became insolvent, as it was unable to redeem the bonds. Within two years, it was taken over by the railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt at essentially no cost other than taking on the guarantee of them. When Cornelius died in 1877, his son, William Henry Vanderbilt , became head of

9100-423: Was less common. Prior to the automobile, Michigan Central was mostly a carrier of natural resources. Michigan had extensive reserves of timber at the time, and the Michigan Central owned lines from east to west of the state and north to south, tapping all resources available. After the advent of the automobile as one of the most dominant forces of commerce, with Detroit at the epicenter, the Michigan Central became

9200-574: Was met with strong opposition from Detroit resident Stanley Christmas, who in turn, sued the city of Detroit to stop the demolition effort, citing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 . The station shows up in the first part of the Godfrey Reggio movie Naqoyqatsi and is frequently used by Michael Bay in such films as The Island and Transformers . In May 2018, Ford Motor Company purchased

9300-441: Was organized in 1852 and opened in fall 1853; it was leased to the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad , which became part of New York Central Railroad, before opening. In 1855, it was merged into the railroad, providing a branch from Rochester north to Charlotte on Lake Ontario . The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was also merged into the railroad in 1855. It had been chartered in 1834 and opened in 1837, providing

9400-471: Was originally authorized to construct a railway line between Fort Erie and Sandwich ( Windsor ), with a branch line to Amherstburg . A second branch line was authorized in 1869 between St. Thomas and Sombra the following year. Other significant subsequent legislation included: There was an attempt in 1883 to amalgamate the CSR with the Credit Valley Railway , which was dropped when

9500-422: Was originally incorporated on April 24, 1834, to run from Lockport on the Erie Canal west to Niagara Falls ; the line opened in 1838 and was sold on June 2, 1850. On December 14, 1850, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, and an extension east to Rochester opened on July 1, 1852. The railroad was consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853. A portion of

9600-420: Was originally planned in 1830 to provide freight service between Detroit and Chicago by train to St. Joseph and via boat service on to Chicago. The Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad was chartered in 1831 with a capital of $ 1,500,000. The railroad actually began construction on May 18, 1836, starting at "King's Corner" in Detroit, which was the name by which the southeast corner of Jefferson and Woodward Avenue

9700-499: Was renamed the Central Railroad of Michigan . By 1840 the railroad was again out of money and had completed track only between Detroit and Dexter, Michigan . In 1846, the state sold the railroad to the newly incorporated Michigan Central corporation for $ 2,000,000. By this time the railroad had reached Kalamazoo, Michigan , a distance of 143.16 miles (230.39 km). The new private corporation had committed to complete

9800-551: Was switched out from steam to electric at that point as trains approached New York City. The generally level topography of the NYC system had a character distinctively different from the mountainous terrain of its archrival, the Pennsylvania Railroad. Most of its major routes, including New York to Chicago, followed rivers and had no significant grades other than West Albany Hill and the Berkshire Hills on

9900-447: Was then known. However, this is not the location of Michigan Central Station , which apparently replaced this building. The small private organization quickly ran into problems securing cheap land in the private market, and abandonment of the project was discussed. The City of Detroit invested $ 50,000 in the project. The State of Michigan bailed out the railroad in 1837 by purchasing it and investing $ 5,000,000. The now state-owned company

10000-591: Was then referred to as the Big Four Route. In 1930, New York Central Railroad acquired a 99-year lease of both Michigan Central and the ''Big Four'' (Cleveland, Chicago Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad). The back shops at West Albany, New York were unable to keep up with repairs to rolling stock, so additional shops were established east of Buffalo at Depew (1892), Croton-on-Hudson (Harmon Shops, 1907), and Oak Grove, Pennsylvania (Avis Shops, 1902). The Harmon Shops were particularly important as locomotive power

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