Hillsdale, MI: NI/?/Hillsdale/Conrail/NYC/LS&MS "Old Road"

I just learned this week that the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern was originally built to Lake Erie because it was envisioned as an enhancement of water transportation using Lake Erie by removing the need to navigate Lakes Huron and Michigan. But soon after this route was built, people learned that railroads replace water transport, not just enhance it. So a new route was built around Lake Erie instead of to it to remove 30 miles from the route between Chicago and Buffalo/New York. This made me appreciate the meaning of the phrase "Old Road" in this comment.

Albert Spencer posted
First day of operation, April 1, 1976 of the Hillsdale County Railroad at the LS&MS, NYC Depot Hillsdale, Michigan on the Old Road after Conrail.

My 1973 RR Atlas shows that Penn Central had already abandoned the route between Hillsdale and Hudson and it is now the Baw Beese Trail southeast of Lake Street. Penn Central still had the routes between Hinsdale/Jonesville and Hinsdale/Bankers. Contemporary maps show that those two routes still exist and that the route between Jonesville and Bankers has been abandoned. The Hillsdale County tracks have gone through several owners, but Hillsdale service now seems to be stable as the operational headquarters of the Indiana Northeastern system. In fact, this 2014 street view shows a couple of pieces of Maintenance-of-Way equipment and some fresh ballast. (I assume that the CSX engine has been "patched" for Northeastern Indiana.)

July 2014 Street View

Unfortunately, the flour mill that they used to serve that was east of their railyard now looks abandoned.

4 of 8 photos posted by Marty Bernard with the comment: "Hillsdale County Ry Co., Inc. was incorporated Jan. 27,1976 and the lines are now operated by the Indiana Northeastern."

1
Hillsdale County Ry Co., Inc. Map, Hillsdale, MI in 1988, a Karl Miller photo.

2
Hillsdale County Ry. Co., Inc. GP7 1602 built Aug. 1952 as RDG 606 and GP9 1603 built April 1954 as Cincinnati Union Terminal 5903 at Hillsdale Yard, MI in 1988, a Karl Miller photo.

3
Hillsdale County Ry. Co., Inc. GP7 1602 built Aug. 1952 as RDG 606 at Hillsdale, MI in 1988, a Karl Miller photo.
What are the two buildings?

Dennis DeBruler: The building in the foreground was the NYC division offices and is now used by the Indiana Northeastern Railroad.

https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

The building in the background was the NYC/LS&MS depot and it is now a church.

https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

Reference: http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../3243-hillsdale-mi...

The original mainline of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern is the east/west route through Hillsdale. It was one of the six railroads to build to Chicago in the 1850s. When it started, railroads connected bodies of water so this one went from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan. The LS&MS route that still exists across Indiana and Ohio was built after railroads replaced water transportation. NYC had branches from Hillsdale to the Northeast going to the Detroit and to the Southeast going to Fort Wayne.

4

Ray Schloss commented on the second photo
I love Karl’s photo. A good small town rail yard.
Amazingly, that boxcar on the far right is still there in the same spot. Photo below is 31 years later in 2019.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post
1953 Fort Wayne Quad @ 1:250,000

Worldwide Railfan Productions posted

Nickel Plate 765 Crosses Highway

Operating on Indiana Northeastern, the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society operated NKP 765, a 2-8-4 Berkshire, on 6/17 and 6/18. 

For the 2023 season, 765 is painted without the white-walled tires.

 Location: Hillsdale, MI

 By: Brandon Fiume 

 Taken on: June 18, 2023

 http://www.brandonfiume.com/photos/details/419