Friday, August 9, 2024

South Lyon, MI: 1909-55+1976 GTW and PM "Witch's Hat Depot" and Lost Wood Feed Mill Elevator

1909 Original: (Satellite, northwest quadrant of the crossing. The GTW went north/south through here.)
1976 Current: (WebsiteSatellite, 93 photos)

Street  View, Apr 2023

The reproduction of a freight house was added in 1984 as a community meeting room and museum annex. [Plaque_Bitner]

Charles Carison, Aug 2023, cropped
 
Larry W Harrell posted
I ran across a photo of a print of an original painting by Paul Adams of the South Lyon train station as it appeared in the mid to late 40s. The former Grand Trunk line where the locomotive is at is gone and now a part of the Huron Valley Rail Trail. Former Pere Marquette Rail is still active for CSX. The depot was moved in the 1970s to South Lyon Historic Park and houses the SL Historical Society.


Dennis DeBruler commented on Larry's post
1965 South Lyon Quad @ 24,000
 
John Wright posted
The “Witch’s Hat” Grand Trunk depot in South Lyon, MI. At one time it stood at the junction of the Grand Trunk and Pere Marquette tracks
Steven Hooker shared
 
John Wright commented on his post

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted two photos with the comment: "Recently Mark Hinsdale posted photos of the CSXT in South Lyon, Michigan as it looks today.  For me this was a drastic change as the last time I worked there was probably in about 1985 (?).  Here are two South Lyon shots that I took.  The first was from GTW Train 547 passing the depot on May 31, 1963.  The second was taken from a westbound C&O passenger train in route to Lansing on December 29, 1964. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photos)"
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Mark Hinsdale posted four photos with the comment:
"The Source"
Most people with a passion for something in their life can trace that interest back to a single element that sparked their attention, be it an experience, an event, or perhaps, a place. My own passion has always been for trains, and this is the place that it all began; my own personal "Holy Grail" of railroading.  South Lyon, Michigan is a small town just beyond the fringe of metropolitan Detroit (or at least it was in my youth), where rail lines of Chesapeake and Ohio and Grand Trunk Western once intersected. I was blessed to have a grandfather who resided right next to this crossing, close enough that all the dishes rattled whenever a train hit that "diamond" crossing.  In later years, the town would identify itself by the "Witches Hat" depot that stood at the crossing, across the side yard from my grandfather's house.  It was this proximity to the railroad, coupled with frequent visits, and even some long term stays at this house that cemented my passion for the railroad, and the people involved with it. Although it doesn't look the same anymore, with the GTW line now a bicycle trail, and the depot long ago removed and relocated to the town's McHattie Park, the importance of South Lyon to much of what inspired me to start my own career in railroading some 46 years ago, will never diminish.
Mark Hinsdale shared
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Frederick Buike commented on Mark's post
Thanks for the posting, Mark. Of all the hours spent hanging around 'The Hat', I never saw a Trunk! Many C&O/Chessie. I lived in new Hudson, and no train was safe from my camera! Took a complete set of photos of the station, with yardstick, for future layout model. Never built.

Here is the wood part of the elevator that we see in the background of Frederick's photo.
Street View, Oct 2008

A comment indicated that this was a feed mill. I see they have removed the steel bins that we see in Frederick's photo.
Street View, Oct 2008

A Flickr photo that shows more bins and Master Mix signage.

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