Fester

Youngster posted some questions on another site, reposted below: One of my more recent fascinations is with the Bridge Street Signal Tower at the corner of Bridge St. and Seward Ave in front of El Sombrero. Some questions that can hopefully get some answers: 1. Any photo's out there of it throughout it's history? Photo's of the tower seem very few and far in between. 2. What was the tower's ACTUAL USE? I've heard anything from an interlocking tower (which makes no sense to me) to a tower for controlling early electronic crossing systems (before relays). 3. When was the tower decommissioned and what railroad last owned it? PC? Conrail? MIGN? 4. When did the tower last receive any upkeep? It's condition is starting to deteriorate, pieces of the cupola are laying on the ground under the tower. 5. How has this tower, 125 years young (built in 1890) survived being torn down where as other Grand Rapids Landmarks such as Union Station have succumbed to the wrecking ball and scrappers torch? 6. Who owns it now and when was it sold? 7. Any interest in restoring the tower or have any attempts been made?

Well, if what Amtrak & NS says is true about train delays in the Midwest, Detroit, Port Huron and Grand Rapids trains should start being more on time, starting NOW (actually, a few days ago). Englewood flyover opened recently, strangely without any press. Odd for being CREATE's first completed Passenger project. Here's a YouToob video of a Metra train using the flyover. NS line it used to meet/cross appears at 2:20. Flyover elinites interference betwixt a two-track mainline and a three-track mainline. Poster had also put up multiple videos over time of the project, and they're worth doing a "sort by post date" and checking them all out if you're inro major building projects and that sort of stuff.

FINALLY! THis posted on the Amtrak.com website: Effective October 27, 2014, the Grand Rapids, MI station will move to a new facility at 440 Century Avenue, Southwest, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 about a half mile east of the current stop.

Trackwork is done and the new passenger station lead track is now connected to the main line at Pleasant & Buchanan. yay!

Two switches delivered to the area, waiting to be installed. One at Buchanan and the tracks where it turns 90dergrrs, and another one closer to the tower.

Remaarks concerning the new train station: One station track will be in place at first, the other will be added later. The new signal system's last project, the "Grand Rapids Terminal SUbdivision", is being worked on now. Photograph the old Godfrey cantilever signal bridge from the 1930's now, if you're into that kind of thing. I was told this (nothing in print, so don't quote me), that there'll also be an "Amtrak signal". The PM (today) either rolls in on the West leg of the eye, or proceeds past the wye to Pleasant Street signal, gets an approach signal, then backs down the main line, changes tracks (either to or from), and takes the east leg of the wye to the sattion. The extra distance is a safety thing; CSX won't allow a passenger to back up without a signal to tell it to do so. After unloading, it moves to Fuller Junction for overnight storage. With the new station, the train will roll down to Pleasant Street, get the proper signal, then back into the station, and stay overnight. Process reversed in the morning when it leaves. Station has a real platform, so it won't be such a climb to board the train. Second track will be added when there's a need for two trains on the property at tgeh same time. Someone said something about the old siding; the curved pavement scars on Century are from the old "Union Station Leads" that went to the station (duh) and the Less-Car-Load warehouses. It would have been too sharp of a curve there at Century, plus the right-of-way is blocked by a large building at the elad's West end, and also by the West wye that's used by ConRail/Norfolk Southern to get to scrap metal businesses by Wealthy West of the river. As an aside, if you stand on Wealthy at the scrapyard, there's one spur track that's absolutely straight for a fair distance. It's one of the last reamaining pieces of intact rail from the old Interurban system. I'd check the rails and find/record the rolling marks on the sides, but I have this phobia about getting arrested. If original, it's over 100 years old.

Michigan's railroads DID start out as government railroads. Three lines out of Detroit and Toledo, Michigan. Yes, Toledo, MI. Michigan Territory was a hotbed of "internal improvements", and it started the Southern Line, Central Line, and Northern Line. They were given bank charters to use to generate capital, which failed miserably, sparking the Panic of 1837. To meet bond obligations, Michigan had to agree to the resolution of the Toledo War to become a state, which was desparately needed in order to collect a huge cash handout from the Federal Gov't's budget surplus at the time-- which only went to States. Still not enough money to cover bonds, the public lines were sold to the few companies around with available capital, which stil wasn't enough. Bankruptcy was a regular occurrance. The three lines, all relavively east-west: Southern Line became the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern (LSMS) . Toledo/Monroe to Chicago, along what's now US-12. This is the crossing you see at US-131 and the Indiana border. Much of it is abandoned, with the rest as short lines. The switch in the highway is the branch to Grand Rapids, which is long gone, Kalamazoo to G.R. (Kent Trails) Central Line became Michigan Central, Detroit-Chicago. Roughly parallels I-94. Now the new State passenger line with Amtrak service. Northern Line attracted money from London and it gradually became the Grand Trunk Western. This is the line along Ann Street, the Coopersville & Marne line along I-96, along M-21, and serves Amway in Ada. Not much left; it was never a big main line. The result of all this was that Michigan had a long aversion to transportation funding until just before World War One. It took some serious work to get the first highways financed. Even as late as post-WW2, Michigan was reluctant to sink a stake into large transportation projects. Mackinac Bridge had some huge funding obstacles, and MI nearly sat out participating in the Interstate system. And, we had to give up the Toledo Strip. By the way, don't believe the story that the Toledo War's casualties were limited to a pig getting killed. To answer a following post, most Michigan railroasds weren't Land Grant Railroads, annd those that were Land Grant were required to haul gov't traffic at a hugely reduced rate. States and the Federal Gov't made a huge amount of money off this. The discount was finally eliminated after the Korean War. A very large amount of this land was never sold, and the railroasds ended up paying grossly inflated taxes on what turned out to be unsellable land. There's a reason small towns in MI died when the railroad pulled up the rails, and it wasn't the loss of freight access-- it was the removal of tax revenue, especially in places where the reilroads paid almost all the school taxes.