Emmett, MI: Star of the West Milling Co.

(Satellite)

Street View, Jun 2023

Willie Mcphee, Jun 2017

Star of the West Milling Company posted two photos with the comment: "Throwback Thursday: Our Emmett facility was first built by Michigan Bean Company and later became Eastern Michigan Grain under the Lauwers family, who operated it from 1994 to 2007. Today, we’re proud to carry that history forward."

Jill Lewis: Know the place. Hello everyone in Frankenmuth. Keeping busy in my retirement.

Mike Steel shared

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The railroad was the Grand Trunk Western.

1944/44 Memphis Quad @ 24,000

Saginaw, MI: Michigan Sugar/Savinaw Valley Sugar

(Satellite)

Michigan Sugar Company posted

THROWBACK THURSDAY: We recently discovered this rare postcard that was distributed in the early 1900s by the Saginaw Valley Sugar Company. The image on the postcard was taken Nov. 4, 1905.

The Saginaw Valley Sugar Company factory was built in Carrollton and opened in 1902 with an original slicing capacity of 600 tons per day. It was one of six factories that merged to form Michigan Sugar Company on Aug. 20, 1906.

The Carrollton sugarbeet slicing operation remained until 2005 when it was shut down following the merger of Michigan Sugar Company and Monitor Sugar Company, which added the Bay City factory to Michigan Sugar's portfolio. The Carrollton warehouse remains in operation today as does a powdered sugar packaging line at the site.

We were very excited to find an item printed with the Saginaw Valley Sugar Company name in the archives.

The beet processing buildings were still standing in 2011.

Google Earth, Jun 2011

But some were gone that same month.

Google Earth, Jun 2011

And they were all gone by the next image.

Google Earth, Sep 2014

The railroads that went past the plant were Michigan Central and Grand Trunk Western.

1943/43 Saginaw Quad @ 62,500

Montrose, MI: 1888 Moved/GTW Depot

Original: (Satellite, based on the topo map and aerial photo below.)

Current: (Satellite)

Street View, Jul 2024

Larry W Harrell posted eight images with the comment: "Montrose Michigan former Grand Trunk Western depot on the branch from Durand to Saginaw and Bay City. The depot was moved and restored. Postcard photos from railroad history page. Photos by Larry Harrell, Mitrainnerd."

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This map implies that the depot was originally south of Maple Street rather than north of Vienna Road.

1969/71 Montrose Quad @ 24,000

This aerial photo confirms that location. So it was moved a block North.

May 1, 1954 @ 23,000; AR1VDI000050143

Edward Gross, Feb 2017

It is more of an event space than a museum. But that makes it a valuable resource for the town.

Shawna Fisher, Feb 2019

The Huron & Eastern now operates this former-GTW route.

Caden Michael, Dec 2022

 

gwrr

Lakeland, MI: Junction Tower: Ann Arbor vs. GTW

(Satellite, it was just north of the crossing.)

Tim Shanahan posted

Charles Geletzke Photograph:

The GTW 5043 & 5038 were seen heading a Michigan Railroad Club fantrip at Lakeland, Michigan on June 14, 1959.  Here they are passing the Ann Arbor Railroad's interlocking tower. (C. T. Stoner photo; C. H. Geletzke, Jr. collection)

By 1965, the GTW terminated in Lakeland. Now, the GTW route is a state park trail in both directions.

1965/65 Hamburg Quad @ 24,000

Charles' photo showed me that it was the building just north of the crossing.

Apr 21, 1963 @ 18,000; AR1VAUB00010032

Crumstown, IN: Lost/GTW Depot

(Satellite, Ernie's comment below confirms what I concluded from the aerial photo: it was in the southwest quadrant of the road and the tracks.)

Cindy Eufemi Gray posted
Grand truck railroad station in Crumstown, Indiana

Ernie Martin: south west corner of the railroad tracks and Crumstown highway.

1958/61 North Liberty Qud @ 24,000

Dec 1, 1951 @ 28,400; AR1PK0000040034

Perrinton, MI: Lost/GTW Depot and Drovers Caboose

(Satellite, based on the topo map below.)

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted two photos with the comment:

Today’s featured depot is the Grand Trunk Depot in Perrinton 🚂

Perrinton, located in Gratiot County, was settled around 1886 and quickly grew into a village by 1891.

The town sat about ten miles west of Ashley on the Grand Trunk Western’s Ashley-to-Muskegon line.

Perrinton was home to at least two different Grand Trunk depots over the years. The first photo shows an earlier version of the station. Unfortunately, neither depot appears to remain standing today.

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Sources:

"Station: Perrinton, MI".  Michigan Railroads. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../845-perrington-mi. Accessed 09 October 2025.

📸 Image 1 is from http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../845-perrington-mi

📸 Image 2 is from Durand Union Station's Margaret Zdunic Archives.

Craig Harris: The bottom photo is what it looked like at the end except it was painted in the brown and buff colors. The last time I was there many years ago it was not there. It either had been moved or torn down. I believe the two photos show the same building, the upper one showing the building remodeled into the lower view.

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MichiganRailroads

I could not find a grain elevator in the area. But I did find covered hopper cars in storage on a siding in town.

Satellite

1965/66 Perrinton Quad @ 24,000

My motivation for noting this town is the drovers caboose in the top photo above.

The drovers’ caboose was a unique part of American railroading tied to the shipment of livestock such as cattle and sheep. In 1906 Congress passed a law that required the feeding and watering of livestock on trains every 28 hours. Since most such shipment took longer than that, the railroads had to carry drovers, men who handled the livestock, along with those trains to comply with the law.

The drovers’ caboose was much longer than a typical caboose, because it served not only the train crew, but also the drovers assigned to watch after the livestock in shipment from the ranch to the processing plants. These cabooses had two separate sections. The rear section was the standard railroad crew portion with cooking and sleeping accommodations as well as the cupola or bay window. The front section was reserved for the livestock drovers.

These cabooses appeared usually in stock trains where the entire train was made up of livestock cars. They were also used on occasion when large shipments of livestock were mixed in with other freight. The drovers’ cabooses were always kept on the rear of the train since the cars’ primary purpose was still to serve as quarters for the conductor and brakemen and only secondarily as quarters for the drovers. – Martin E. Hansen

[Facebook post]

Flushing, MI: Museum/GTW Depot

(Satellite)

That is a fancy depot for a relatively small town.

Street View, May 2022

Scott Smith posted
Flushing Grand Trunk Depot

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted two photos with the comment: 

Today’s featured depot is the GTW station in Flushing 🚂

Flushing, located in Genessee County, was settled about 1835 approximately ten miles northwest of downtown Flint. A local saw mill was established at the same time, boosting economic and population growth. 

Flushing was located on the Grand Trunk Western’s (GTW) branch from Durand to Saginaw/Bay City. The GTW depot was built around 1888. The depot served the community until the early 1970s. It was briefly a restaurant, but a fire ended that venture. 

The depot is now home to the Flushing Area Historical Society & Museum , who took over ownership in 1984 and began restorations shortly thereafter. 

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Sources listed in comments ⬇ Image sources are in the caption of each photo. Click the photo to view.

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Image Source:

Flushing Area Museum. Flushing Depot with Christmas Lights [photo]. Flushing Area Museum. flushinghistorical.org/gallery/. Accessed 30 January 2026.

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Image Source:

Flushing Depot with Passenger Train 1155 [photo]. 1908. Michigan Railroads. https://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../89.../785-flushing-mi. Accessed 30 January 2026.

FlushingHistorical

Vickeryville, MI: Lost/GTW Depot

If you are here because of "Ephrata, PA: Visitors Center/Reading Depot and Pennsy Caboose," then you need to go there.

(Satellite)

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted

Today’s featured depot is the GTW station in Vickeryville 🚂

Vickeryville, located in Montcalm County, was settled about 1856. It was located approximately five miles west of Carson City, and originally called Vickory Corners but renamed in 1869. This area was sometimes referred to as Vickerville as well. 

Vickeryville sat along the Grand Trunk Western (GTW) railroad. The town was flourishing around 1900, but progress slowed over time and the town declined. To the best of our knowledge, this depot no longer exists. 

Sources:

"Station: Vickeryville, MI". Michigan Railroads. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../1530-vickeryville-mi. Accessed 13 May 2026. 

Image:

"A GTW passenger train approaches the Vickeryville depot..." [photo]. Circa 1900. Michigan Railroads. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../1530-vickeryville-mi. Accessed 13 May 2026.

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum shared

Vickeryville Station

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above share

The photo shows a curve in the track, but I don't see that curve on the map. There is a curve further to the west. But if we assume the photo was taken from the road, that curve does not match the photo.

1967/69 Butternut Quad @ 24,000

The depot was a little west of Vickeryville Road.

Nov 5, 1965 @ 13,000; AR1VBGT00010128

Sparta, MI: 1888 Museum/GTW/Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon Depot

(Satellite)

Street View, Aug 2011

Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted two photos with the comment:

Today’s featured depot is the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon station in Sparta 🚂 

Sparta, founded in 1848, is a small town north of Grand Rapids. Sparta was a crossing of the east-west Grand Trunk Western line to Muskegon and the Pere Marquette line north to Baldwin. 

The depot functioned as both a passenger and freight station, staffed by a station agent/telegrapher. In 1928, the TS&M was absorbed into the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. The building was vacated in the 1940s, then purchased and restored by the West Michigan Railroad Historical Society in 1973.

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Sources:

Lambrou, J.T.. “Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon Railway Depot”. The Historical Marker Database. 29 September 2021.

www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=182794.

“Station: Sparta, MI”. Michigan Railroad History. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/.../105.../1157-sparta-mi. Accessed 22 August 2025.

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MichiganRailroads, Charlie Whipp collection

Robin W, Jun 2019

Noah Haggerty posted five photos with the comment:

Photos of the former Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon (later GTW) depot in Saginaw, Michigan on July 10, 2025. The TS&M connected from other railroads in Muskegon to the Ann Arbor at Ashley, never reaching the other two cities named.

I'm glad I got photos, as talk has been happening regarding the depot. I've heard this building being relocated in town, though plans seemed to have fallen through and a replica is being built. I hope something fortunate comes to the current depot and museum pieces.

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The GTW route is abandoned and the Pere Marquette route is now operated by the Marquette Rail (G&W).

1918/18 Cedar Springs @ 62,500

MQT =- Marquette Rail (G&W)

MDOT