Flat Rock, MI: CN/DT&I Roundhouse & Railyard and Depot

Roundhouse: (Satellite)   IORY, as well as CN, use this route today.

Depot: (Satellite, based on the aerial photos below.)

Ron Piskor posted
“FLAT ROCK ROUNDHOUSE” ... this is an old drawing that was in a hardbound book a friend of my Dad’s gave me when I was 5 years old. The book was published in 1947.
Bob Stefanski Orren Thomas Jr. Do you remember the track names? Looking from the turntable left to right...
Orren Thomas Jr. Bob Stefanski #8 - #1.
Mike Cade Very cool I work on the turn table tracks a lot. The round rail the table turns on broke and a few inches broke out and Ray Barns and I welded it back took a while.

Jody Barrons shared

3D Satellite

Joe Greyzck posted two photos with the comment: "1982."

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Clare Union Railroad Depot posted

THREE SISTERS HANGING OUT IN 1960s FLAT ROCK 

Even though the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad (DTI) owned the Ann Arbor Railroad (AA), the railroads operated separately under common management. In May 1967, DTI management transferred all ten of the Ann Arbor’s GP-35’s over to the parent DT&I. To replace those ten locomotives the DT&I assigned five new 2000 horsepower GP-38s and five old 1500 horsepower GP-7s to the Ann Arbor. 

Theee more GP-7s followed the next month. The AA’s 2500 horsepower turbo-charged GP-35s were assigned to the hottest of the DT&I freight trains for their speed and horsepower. The new GP-38s lower power and dynamic brakes were more suited to the AA’s slower speeds and hilly profile. 

In the uncredited and undated photo we see two of the AA’s GP-35 locomotives(387 & 392)along with DT&I GP-35 (357) at the Flat Rock, Michigan, Roundhouse sometime in the late 1960s. All three were built in January 1964 under separate builder’s numbers. They were nearly identical except the AA locomotives rode on “trade-in trucks” off retired and scrapped ALCO locomotives traded in to the Electro Motive Division of General Motors salvageable parts yard. The AA locomotives also had shorter fuel tanks installed in order to accommodate the longer ALCO trucks. 

One further difference was that AA 387 sported  mounted Pyle-National Gyrolite (Red,White) above the cab windows. 392 still had black number boards with white lettering. Black number boards were then in the process of being replaced with white number boards for better visibility. Note also that the DT&I  GP-35 357 lacked nose mounted headlights. 

It seems over the years locomotives develop personalities of their own. One wonders what those three sisters were conversing about when this photo was snapped. 

Some may say that they are just machines, built to haul freight…

But still.   

Article by Robert I Warrick. Photo from author’s collection

Joe Greyzck posted
1985 coming in to Flat Rock yard from the south.
Kenny Cook I remember a flat car sitting there with one truck removed to be used as a ramp at the end of one track. I'm assuming for the maintenance dept.
Thomas Simpson No cars in the yard anymore, like a dust bowl, been that way for yrs now, no jobs , nothing left.

Satellite

Craig Hensley Photography posted
CN's Flat Rock terminal one of the larger yards in the area. A view from the hump tower looking South into the main bowl. Several road trains and local jobs originate and terminate here which makes for a pretty active yard. This shot was taken with permission.
 CN Flat Rock Terminall - Flat Rock, MI - May 2023

Craig Hensley Photography posted

Yard Ops

A GTW unit pulls a cut of cars forward past the hump tower at CN's Flat Rock Terminal. Photo taken with permission. 

CN Flat Rock Terminal - Flat Rock, MI - April 2023.

[According to some comments, this is another hump yard that is now just flat switching.]

Gary Sturm posted five photos with the comment: "The DT&I yard at Flat Rock, Michigan in 1982."

Bryan Russell: Was it a hump yard, or did it do flat switching?

Conan A Brooks: Bryan Russell Hump and still in use.

[A comment indicates it is now a CN yard.]

Martin Burk shared

Depot

Brownstown Historical Society posted
The DT&I Depot in Flat Rock, MI (n.d.). This station was located on the north end of the village on Telegraph Rd.

Jun 1, 1951 @ 23,600; AR1PN0000030118

I should have read the comments before getting the aerial photo.

Brownstown Historical Society commented on their post
Here is an excerpt from the 1876 map showing the location.

Ralph Raymond Sr. commented on the above post

New Haven, IN: NKP East Wayne Yard and Backshops

Yard: (Satellite)
Turntable: (Satellite)
Coaling Tower: (Satellite, it is now gone without a trace of the foundation)

Backshops: (Satellite)

Jim Pearson Photography posted
Norfolk Southern 1160 leads a northbound freight as it crosses over the diamond at the NS East Wayne Yard on the NS Huntington District on September 24th, 2022, at New Haven, Indiana. The train would eventually set out cars at the East Wayne Yard before continuing their trip north toward Detroit, Michigan.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 100.
https://fineartamerica.com/.../norfolk-southern-1160...
[The train is on the former Wabash mainline. It is crossing the former NKP mainline.]
Christopher Allen Howe: As a native New Haven resident, I can expand upon what you see in the photo. Off to the left is the remains of the old Erie Haven Cement plant, and in the upper left is Del-Mart plaza. The road running across both mains is Hartzell Road and the road running back to the yard is Nelson Road. Almet steel is off to the right of the photo and in the upper right is Central States grain elevator. What really caught my attention is what appears to be an old diamond in the woods in the bottom middle of the photo. It's close to where the original crossing of NE used to be located.
Jason Cook: Christopher Allen Howe - Central States sold out to ADM last year. I was shocked the first time I saw the ADM logo on the side of the building.

Tommy Lee Fitzwater posted three photos with the comment: "Original photographs by Onerio L. Sabetto that was taken on May 25, 1958 (developed June 1958) of NKP Nickel Plate Road S1 & S2 Lima (1943/44) in New Haven, Indiana."
Nancy Parker average 30 trains a day thru New Haven.
Ruthie Rhodes Snyder No wonder crossings held up traffic so often, back when!!! Not that much, now.
Nancy Parker use the bridge if in a hurry, that is the average now, with 2 tracks.

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The oldest historical aerial I can find is 1951 because Indiana charges to see their 1938 aerials. That photo shows the same rectangle building we see today with a fanout of tracks into the building from the turntable. The fanout of tracks is now a parking lot, but the building still stands. I can tell by the skylights that this building also existed in 1951. This building also existed in 1951. Those three buildings also existed in a 1962 aerial photo that has a good image of the coaling tower. Those buildings allowed me to determine the location of the coaling tower in today's satellite image. It appears that the track fanout and tower were removed between 1981 and 1998.

NS still uses the buildings for their mechanical department. And they must still have at least one local train that switches industries because a caboose has been converted to a shoving platform.

Tman22face_a, Oct 2019

I knew the Fort Wayne Historical Society stored their NKP 765 steam locomotive at New Haven. But I see they have their own facility in an industrial park east of New Haven.

Satellite

FortWayneRailroad
[The design of their web site is incredibly bad. I poked around it trying to find information on their steam locomotive. Fortunately, Google found this page about the locomotive. I'm also disappointed that I had to use Google instead of their homepage to find their Headwaters Junction page, which is what they want to build and to which they want to move this locomotive.]

Viral Media posted

NS Shops at East Wayne Terminal

Fort Wayne is a part of Norfolk Southern’s Lake Division, which includes Indiana and Ohio and lines that reach into Michigan and Kentucky.  The East Wayne Yard contains a locomotive service area (called the roundhouse or pit), crew facilities, as well as a turntable that is still used. There is also a Freight Car Maintenance facility that repairs about 350 cars a month.

Christopher Allen Howe: The big brick building was built by the NKP in 1951 and served as a roundhouse until NS converted it into division and dispatching offices in the late 80s. The diesel pit behind it(the black covered building behind the big brick one)still does light service to power there at East Wayne. The smaller brick building to the right of the diesel pit is the yard office. Looking further west(the photo was taken looking west as this yard runs west to east), the next brick building you see is the maintainer office and then behind the large building with the white roof is the car shop which was built in the early to mid 90s. To your left, out of photo, if you went a half mile as the crow flies you'd see my childhood home in New Haven which is one reason I know so much about this yard.

Tim Shanahan shared

Justin Gillespie: Not a big yard, but a very busy yard.

Peoria, IL: P&PU Union Station

(Satellite, the headhouse was where the WTVP studios are now. The trainshed was on the river side of the headhouse.)

Predecessor: (Satellite)

P&PU = Peoria & Pekin Union Railway. It was formed by four of the city's railroads in 1880 and this depot was completed in 1882. [PeoriaMagazines]

Roger Kujawa posted
Union Depot Peoria, Illinois Railroad Station 1909 Vintage Postcard
Roger Kujawa shared
Dennis DeBruler While trying to determine which railroads owned the P&PU and thus used this depot, I discovered this map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ie=UTF&msa=0...
It appears the ownership of the P&PU changed as time marched on.
David Jordan Dennis DeBruler P&PU was owned by six carriers until 1965 - C&IM, C&NW, IC, NKP, NYC and PRR.
Bill Pearsall The P&PU still exists to this day but only on paper and owns the land and leases the track to TZPR. It is currently owned by the UP, NS, and IC railroads.

Ross Brocksmith posted

Union Station

In The 1890s

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From Grassel’s volumes titled LOOP

Imagery via the Ernest Grassel Collection - Local History Collection - Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

Richard Fiedler shared

Fans of Rock Island Lines commented on a post

Larry Miller III commented on Roger's share
And from the rail side.

Larry Miller III commented on Roger's share
1931 Train Wreck Shed Collapse Union Depot Peoria 1930s
David Jordan Train wreck that demolished Union Depot's train shed occurred October 22, 1927.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's share
I would expect the tracks to disappear since 1949. But I'm surprised how much the bridge and roads changed. As a reference, the building in the upper-right corner was the old Rock Island Depot, now The Blue Duck Barbecue Tavern.
1949 East Peoria Quandrangle @ 1:24,000
David Jordan Dennis DeBruler The last passenger train departed Union Depot in 1955, and it appeared the old coach yard was likely in place until at least that time.
Dennis DeBruler David Jordan According to the topo maps, things still looked the same through 1972. By 1979 the two freight houses are gone. The next high-res map is 1996. By then, the tracks had been removed and the Post Office and the new bridge were built. Evidently Dozer Park was built after 1996.
David Jordan Dennis DeBruler One freight house burned in 1971, the other in 1972. The last customer to use these sites - Grawey Oil Co. - moved to TP&W in East Peoria in 1973. The current post office opened in 1980, and land for it had been acquired in February 1977. This included old coach yards. I'm sure old tracks were quickly removed as construction began. Dozer Park opened in May 2002.

Roger Kujawa posted
1961 Peoria Illinois P&PU Railroad depot photograph after great fire.
Photographer unknown.
[The fire was Aug 5, 1961.]
Andy Zukowski posted
The Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad Depot After a Devastating Fire in Peoria, Illinois. 1961

A different exposure:

Andy Zukowski posted
Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad Depot Photograph After the Great Fire. Peoria, Illinois. August 5th, 1961.
Richard Fiedler shared
Andy Zukowski also posted with the same comment

Comments on Andy's second post

Andy Zukowski posted

The Peoria Union Station Fire in Peoria, Illinois on August 26th, 1961. Photo by Monty Powell.

The Peoria Union Station was a passenger rail station that served multiple railroads, including the CRIP.

The fire started in the baggage room and quickly spread to the rest of the station. No one was injured in the fire, but the station was heavily damaged.

The cause of the fire was never determined.

The CRIP ceased operations in 1980, and the Peoria Union Station was demolished in 1981.

Harold J. Krewer: Peoria Union Station was owned by the P&PU (and housed its General Offices). It served all the Peoria railroads EXCEPT the Rock Island and interurban Illinois Terminal. The RI always had their own station on the riverfront (still extant) that they used until 1967, when the moved to a smaller facility at the foot of Morton St. adjacent to their freight yard and engine terminal (also still extant).

The last regular passenger service was Peoria & Eastern's Trains 11-12 to Indianapolis, which were cut back to Pekin in 1955, leaving the depot without trains.

The 1961 fire was the end of the building and the remainder was demolished shortly thereafter. P&PU built a new General Office Building next to their yard across the river in Creve Coeur, IL. An annex to the main Peoria Post Office was built on the old depot site, with the studios for PBS station WTVP (Ch. 47) right across the tracks.

Ross Brocksmith posted two images with the comment:

Illinois Central #1024

In Last Trip

March 15, 1939

Mattoon - Peoria Local

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Image Source/Credit: 

Ernest Grassel Collection

Only seen in-person in the Local History Collection

Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

#peoriapubliclibrary  #peorialocalhistory  #ernestgrasselcollection

From Grassel’s volumes titled TRANSPORTATION

Richard Fiedler shared

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Bill Molony posted
This is a post card picture of Union Depot in Peoria.  Undated, but circa 1900.  From the Blackhawk collection.
Bill Molony posted
This is a POST CARD picture of Union Depot in Peoria, Illinois - undated, but circa 1890. From the Blackhawk collection.
Carter B Morris Sr.: The station was last used in 1955, and was destroyed by fire 1961.

Jim Kelling posted
Unused postcard of Union Depot in Peoria, IL circa 1910

Howard Keil: The covering either blew or burned down way back. I believe it also had a clock tower. There was also Rock Island depot.

Jim Kelling also posted with the same comment

Larry Miller III posted
Union Depot with canopy still standing.

Ross Brocksmith posted two images with the comment:

Union Station

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From Grassel’s volumes titled LOOP

Imagery via the Ernest Grassel Collection - Local History Collection - Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

Richard Fiedler shared

Robert Sullivan: Was the trainshed on the river side or the city side?

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Richard's share

River side. I finally realized that I could not find the trainshed on this 1939 aerial photo because it was destroyed on October 22, 1927. I included Cedar and Washington Streets in the photo because that is about the only thing that hasn't changed down by the river. I highlighted the headhouse in red. I believe that would be in the south quadrant of the intersection of today's State and Commercial Streets, https://maps.app.goo.gl/DUnjvMNUqHkZrqGg7.

Aerial photo: https://clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu/webdocs/ilhap

/county/data/tazewell/flight3/0bxi04098.jpg

Robert Sullivan: Dennis DeBruler the things I have found written placed the station where the PBS studio is now.

I couldn't be sure about the trainshed because some of the pictures I have seen were reversed negatives.

Dennis DeBruler: Robert Sullivan Is WTVP your public station? That is the building in the south quadrant of the intersection of today's State and Commercial Streets, https://maps.app.goo.gl/4nzgfewMGWGWNcUH8

David Jordan: Dennis DeBruler Robert Sullivan The present WTVP (PBS) TV studio structure was built by O'Neill Bros. Transfer & Storage Co. at the old Peoria Union Depot site in 1966.

Ross Brocksmith posted three images with the comment:

Union Station

Train Shed Collapsed In 1928

Negative Was Reversed In Printing

This Picture Was Taken From The Southwest.  

Building Should Be At The Left Of The Tran Shed Rather Than The Right.

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So I provided a flipped image.  Ah, the ease of an iPad.

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From Grassel’s volumes titled LOOP

Imagery via the Ernest Grassel Collection - Local History Collection - Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

David Jordan: Collapse occurred October 22, 1927.

Richard Fiedler shared

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Ross Brocksmith posted

Waiting Room

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Since these images were adjacent to Union Station images in the Grassel binder, I presume this was inside Union Station. 

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From Grassel’s volumes titled LOOP

Imagery via the Ernest Grassel Collection - Local History Collection - Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

Richard Fiedler shared

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Predecessor Union Station

Ross Brocksmith posted two images with the comment:

Old CB&Q Passenger Station

C 1900

Ft of Walnut St

(E State & Water St’s)

Burlington Route

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Image Source/Credit: 

Ernest Grassel Collection

Only seen in-person in the Local History Collection

Downtown Branch of Peoria Public Library

#peoriapubliclibrary  #peorialocalhistory  #ernestgrasselcollection

From Grassel’s volumes titled TRANSPORTATION

David Jordan: This building was Peoria's original "union station." It opened in 1865 and continued until CB&Q moved its passenger trains to nearby P&PU Union Depot on January 1, 1899. The depot was razed in the early 1900s. it was located just above State Street (Walnut Street) where the TP&W mainline from the east just crossed the river and entered P&PU trackage.

[The CB&Q Depot was not built until 1952.]

Richard Fiedler shared

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Richard's share
This diagram by David Jordan shows where the TP&W mianline used joined the P&PU. Source: https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../tp-illinois...
David Jordan: Dennis DeBruler I believe the Ernest Grassel photo looks north toward downtown Peoria. The highrise at right is probably the Gipps Brewing Co. Illinois River out of photo at right.