CSX Plymouth Subdivision

The CSX Plymouth Subdivision is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Michigan. It connects the Plymouth Diamond at milepost CH 24.5 to Grand Rapids at CH 148.1, passing through the Lansing metropolitan area en route. Other towns served include Brighton, Howell, Williamston, Grand Ledge, and Lake Odessa. Operationally, it is part of the CSX Chicago Division, dispatched from Calumet City, Illinois.

CSX Plymouth Subdivision
Overview
Statusactive
LocaleMichigan, United States
Service
Typefreight railroad
SystemCSX Transportation
History
OpenedAugust 31, 1871 (1871-08-31)
Technical
Line length124 mi (200 km)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Highest elevation1,000.4 ft (304.9 m)

History

Construction of what is now the 124-mile CSX Plymouth Subdivision was attempted in the 1860s by a succession of short-lived and undercapitalized railroad companies, including the Detroit and Howell Railroad (organized 1864), the Ionia and Lansing Railroad (organized 1865), the Howell and Lansing Railroad (organized 1868), and the Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad (created by merger 1870). Principal construction on the Lansing–Detroit segment was completed by the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad (created by merger 1871), with operations commencing on August 31, 1871.

In 1896 control of this east–west mainline through the state capital passed to the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad (DGR&W), and subsequently by merger to the Pere Marquette Railroad (later Railway) in 1900. Though never among the most profitable railroads, the Pere Marquette persevered until it merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) in 1947. The C&O became part of the Chessie System in 1972, and was absorbed into CSX Transportation in 1987.[1]

Route

For most of its length the Plymouth Subdivision crosses gently rolling farm and forested terrain, passing through small towns and the state capital. The high point east of Lansing is 1000.4 feet above sea level at Canwell (CH 51), and the low point 830.6 feet at Beck (CH 27), for an elevation change of 169.8 feet. The steepest grade in this segment is 1.2% west of Canwell. The high point west of Lansing is 883.1 feet at Saddlebag Road/M-66(CH 116), and the low point is 690.7 feet at the Thornapple River (CH 139), for an elevation change of 192.4 feet. The steepest grade west of Lansing is 1.8% in the vicinity of Jordan Lake Avenue on the eastern side of the town of Lake Odessa.[2] Despite the relatively modest grades, trains occasionally stall climbing Salem Hill west of Plymouth and coming east out of the Thornapple River valley.

The route of the Plymouth Subdivision has the following waypoints:

Thornapple River bridge on CSX Plymouth Subdivision
  • Plymouth Diamond – CH 24.5 – the Plymouth Subdivision joins the CSX Detroit Subdivision and is crossed by the dual track north-south CSX Saginaw Subdivision at mile marker CC82.
  • South Lyon – CH 36.2 to CH 37.7 – 6750-ft passing siding, south side
  • Green Oak – CH 39.1 – defect detector
  • Brighton – CH 45.3 to CH 46.8 – 7000-ft passing siding, north side
  • Ann Pere – CH 52.8 – junction (single wye) with the Great Lakes Central Railroad
  • Howell – CH 52.8 to CH 54.2 – 5450-ft passing siding, north side
  • Fowlerville – CH 60.7 to CH 62.0 – 7060-ft passing siding, south side
  • Fowlerville – CH 64.0 – defect detector
  • Williamston – CH 71.5 to CH73.0 – 7150-ft passing siding, south side
  • Okemos – CH 79.9 – defect detector
  • Trowbridge – CH 83.1 to CH 84.8 – 8000-ft passing siding, south side; the MSU power plant spur is near the west end of this section
  • Trowbridge Diamond – CH 84.9 – the Plymouth Subdivision is crossed by the CN Flint Division (dual track) just west of the East Lansing Amtrak station on Harrison Road; there are no wyes for interchange
  • Michigan Avenue – CH87.2 – junction with Jackson and Lansing Railroad (formerly Norfolk Southern's Lansing Branch)
  • North Lansing – CH88.3 – begin double track to west end of Ensel Yard at CH90.0
  • Grand Ledge – CH 97.8 to CH 99.1 – 5650-ft passing siding, north side
  • Grand Ledge Yard – CH 98.5 – access from siding
  • Sunfield – CH 111 to CH 112.3 – 5750-ft passing siding, north side
  • Lake Odessa – CH 120.4 to CH 121.7 – 5400-ft passing siding, north side
  • Elmdale – CH 130.4 to CH 131.7 – 5500-ft passing siding, north side
  • Fox – CH 141.8 to CH 143.3 – 7000-ft passing siding, south side
  • Seymour – CH 148.1 – joins Grand Rapids Terminal[3][4]

Notable bridges are a three-span Warren deck truss bridge over the Thornapple River (42.878264°N 85.477524°W / 42.878264; -85.477524),[5] the 1887 "High Bridge" trestle over the Grand River at Grand Ledge (42.758195°N 84.755470°W / 42.758195; -84.755470),[6] and a deck plate girder bridge over the Red Cedar River and Lansing's River Trail (42.7227021°N 84.5158731°W / 42.7227021; -84.5158731).

Traffic
A CSX local heads east along the Plymouth Subdivision through Lansing

When it was the Pere Marquette's primary route and the mainline between Michigan's two largest cities, the Plymouth Subdivision's rails were bustling with traffic. Even as late as the mid-1980s, in the first years under CSX, the line saw a dozen CSX and four Soo Line freights daily, in addition to numerous locals and commodity trains. Over time, however, much of that traffic moved southward, using Norfolk Southern's tracks from Detroit to Chicago via Butler, Indiana and CSX's own B&O route between Toledo and Chicago through Garrett, Indiana. As of June 2011, only two pairs of symboled trains are regularly seen on the Plymouth Subdivision, giving it the character of a branch line rather than a mainline. Current and former trains include:


Current trains:

(East of Lansing Ensel Yard)

  • CSX D705 - Rougemere (Detroit Sub) to Grand Rapids. Mixed manifest between Rougemere and Grand Rapids, stops at Lansing Ensel Yard. Runs every other morning, alternating with D706.
  • CSX D706 - Grand Rapids to Rougemere. Mixed manifest between Grand Rapids and Rougemere, stops at Ensel Yard. Runs every other morning, alternating with D705.
  • CSX D708 - Lansing Ensel to Howell* - Local, services east of Lansing to the GLC interchange at Ann Pere, sometimes works Peaker Services in South Lyon.
  • CSX V764 - Occasional grain empties from Rocky Mount, NC to Webberville, MI or Grand Ledge, MI

Empty grain west to Webberville or Grand Ledge, and their eastbound loaded counterparts usually run as V7xx, they are not on a set schedule. Late trains are renumbered from D70x to D90x.

Locals operating west from Plymouth Yard, east and west from Ensel Yard, and east from Wyoming Yard in Grand Rapids switch customers along this line. A nightly local (CSX D707) shuttles traffic off Q326 from Wyoming to Ensel. D708 further shuttles cars from D707 to interchange with the GLC railroad at the AnnPere diamond interchange track near Howell.

Full and empty commodity trains (grain/coal/lime/potash/stone) operate over the Plymouth Subdivision on an irregular basis.

Former trains:

  • CSX Q326- Chicago-Grand Rapids-Detroit (Now a Chicago-Grand Rapids run, replaced by Q328 on the Plymouth Sub.)
  • CSX Q327 - Detroit-Grand Rapids-Chicago (Now a Grand Rapids-Chicago run, replaced by Q329 on the Plymouth Sub.)
  • CSX Q328 - Eastbound, Grand Rapids to Detroit. Switches Ensel Yard. (Eliminated 2020. Traffic now runs via Toledo and Chicago)
  • CSX Q329 - Westbound, Detroit to Grand Rapids. Switches Ensel Yard. (Eliminated 2020. Traffic now runs via Toledo and Chicago)
  • CSX Q334 - eastbound, Barr to Toledo via Grand Rapids (reinstated to daily service in September 2017, abolished in October 2017)
  • CSX Q335 - westbound, Toledo to Grand Rapids to Chicago. BRC section of train continued onto Clearing Yard in Chicago (reinstated in September 2017, abolished in October 2017)
  • CP X500 - Chicago to Detroit via Grand Rapids (rerouted over Norfolk Southern effective October 2010)
  • CSX N956 - Powder River basin (western) Coal from BNSF interchange in Chicago to Consumers power West Olive, MI
  • CSX E945- Empties returning from N956
  • CSX D701 - Flint - Grand Rapids. 6 times weekly Mon-Sat. Operated May 2017 only.
  • CSX D702 - Grand Rapids - Flint. 6 times weekly Sunday-Friday. Operated May 2017 only.
  • CN x501 - Brighton - Detroit. operated April 12 2017 only
  • CSX D901 - Grand Rapids - Brighton - Operated Late December 2020/Early January 2021, temporarily took over D708's GLC Interchange duties.

Signaling and Dispatching

All CSX operations in Michigan, including the Plymouth Subdivision, are managed by dispatchers in Jacksonville, Florida

The Plymouth Subdivision is CTC signaled from Plymouth diamond west to Lansing Ensel yard. A 30-mile portion west of Lansing Ensel yard to Lake Odessa is track warrant controlled by CSX form EC1 authority. The track warrant section is protected by automatic block signals in addition to the track warrants. CTC signals resume at Lake Odessa and continue west to Grand Rapids Wyoming yard.

The track warrant controlled section previously consisted of five ABS DTC controlled blocks (Cash, Ledge, Field, Jordan, and Lako). The DTC blocks were discontinued in favor of the form EC-1 authorities during the summer of 2011.

Passenger Service

There is no passenger service on the Plymouth Subdivision as of 2017, but surviving depot buildings in towns along its route are reminders of a different era.

A postcard depiction of Pere Marquette's passenger trains in Michigan

In 1946, the Pere Marquette introduced the nation's first post-war lightweight streamlined passenger trains, operating between Detroit and Grand Rapids over the Plymouth Subdivision.[7] These were the first diesel-powered trains on the Pere Marquette system, with power provided by EMD E7As pulling Pullman Standard cars. By 1947, there were three daily trains in each direction, an evening and a morning express and a mid-day (late evening on Sundays) local. The expresses had a scheduled trip of 2:40, with intermediate stops in Plymouth and Lansing. The local had a scheduled trip of 3:00 due to additional stops in Brighton, Howell, Fowlerville, Williamston, Grand Ledge and Lake Odessa.[8] The service was continued by the Chesapeake & Ohio under the Pere Marquette name following the 1947 merger. The final passenger train ran on the Detroit-Grand Rapids route in 1963.[9]

The Union Depot at Michigan Avenue, just blocks from the state Capitol, survives and was Clara's Lansing Station restaurant until the restaurant closed in 2016.[10] The Williamston Depot was moved a half mile to Grand River Avenue in 1979, where it now houses a museum and the city Chamber of Commerce.[9] The Fowlerville Depot is still owned by the Pere Marquette successor CSX and used as a base for track maintenance crews. As in Williamston, the Lake Odessa Depot survived through relocation and repurposing as a museum.[11]

References
  1. CSX Transportation (2012). "Interactive Timeline". Archived from the original on 2011-10-10.
  2. Track Chart of the Chesapeake and Ohio Michigan Division, 1984, pp 414-426
  3. "Chicago Division Timetable No. 1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  4. Michigan Department of Transportation (March 2017). "Michigan Rail Map" (PDF).
  5. "Thornapple River Railroad Bridge". HistoricBridges.org.
  6. "Grand Ledge Railroad Bridge". HistoricBridges.org.
  7. Shafer, Mike; Welsh, Joe (1997). Classic America Streamliners. MBI Publishing. p. 43.
  8. Pere Marquette Railway Timetable, February 9, 1947
  9. Lutzke, Mitch (2013). "The History of Williamston". Williamston Area Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09.
  10. "History: Clara's Lansing Station, Lansing, Michigan". Clara's Lansing Station. Archived from the original on 2011-05-02. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
  11. Van Winkle, Louis (October 1998). "Lake Odessa, MI". Michigan Passenger Stations. Archived from the original on 2011-05-17.
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