Monday, July 22, 2019

Creenville, MI: Lost/GTW and PM Depots

If you are here because of "Fort Wayne, IN: Valbruna/Slater/Joslyn Stainless Steel," then you need to go there.

GTW: (Satellite, based on the aerial photo below, there used to be several tracks and buildings in this area.)
PM: (Satellite, this building probably reused the depot's land.)

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted
Today’s featured depot is the Grand Trunk Western depot in Greenville 🚂
Greenville, now a city in Montcalm County, was originally settled about 1844. Greenville served as an important junction for three railroad lines. The Pere Marquette’s (PM) north-south Elmdale to Saginaw line crossed the GTW’s east-west branch line between Ashley and Muskegon here. Another PM line to Howard City also began here at Greenville. 
Greenville had an interlocking tower. An interlocking tower was a small building by the railroad tracks where a signal operator controlled track switches and signals to safely guide trains through crossings, junctions, or busy areas - to put it simply. 
In the 1980s, the tower and the depot were both removed. This was roughly around the same time the GTW line was abandoned. 
Source:
“Station: Greenville, MI”. Michigan Railroad History. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../1513-greenville-mi. Accessed 15 August 2025.
Maxwell Crosby: The interlocking tower was saved about 15 years ago and is now on display in Coopersville.
Bryan Losen: The tracks are all gone now in Greenville sadly.

MichiganRailroads
"The Pere Marquette station at Greenville with a passenger train alongside. Local dray carriers are picking up passengers and freight. [Alan Loftis collection]."

GTW to the West and PM to the Northwest were already abandoned by the oldest topo map that I could find, 1954.
1972/74 Greenville West and East Quads @ 24,000

Apr 1, 1969 @ 20,000; AR1VCBT00010236


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