MSCR HISTORY

THE MICHIGAN SOUTH CENTRAL HISTORY

The one thing about modeling a freelance railroad is that you have to write the railroad's history to the point that it could have existed. In my case with the Michigan South Central it was easy because of some key factors in history.

The Central Factor.

DT&M was controlled by predecessors of the New York Central Railroad. Instead of being abandoned in the early 1930s it could have easily been merged and operated by the NYC (later Penn Central) as the DT&M Branch.

The Conrail Factor.

New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad on February 1, 1968 to form the Penn Central Railroad. This was done with the intention of strengthening both railroads but had the reverse effect. By 1970, Penn Central was in bankruptcy and track conditions and service deteriorated. Conrail was formed to keep up rail service on parts of Penn Central and several other bankrupt eastern railroads.The creation of Conrail in 1976 was a milestone year for railroading in Michigan. Thousands of miles of branch lines owned by Conrail's predecessor roads were to be cast off and abandoned. The DT&M branch could have been one of those branches.

The State of Michigan Factor.

Unwilling to see many communities left without rail service, the State of Michigan stepped in to maintain this service. Initially, the state acquired several segments of track (which became the Hillsdale County Railroad and the Michigan Northern), and on others supplied a subsidy for Conrail to keep operating them. This factor would have kept the DT&M Branch alive as a new railroad.

The Michigan South Central Railroad.

The Michigan South Central Railroad (MSCR) was formed in December 1975 to take over operation of the DT&M Branch of the former New York Central Railroad between Battle Creek and Dundee, Michigan. The line was not slated for inclusion in Conrail and it was purchased by the Michigan State Highway Commission to maintain rail service in the area. The MSCR began operation on April 1, 1976, which was also start-up day for Conrail.

The MSCR was given a 10 year lease from the State of Michigan and the money to rebuild the entire 96 mile rail line. Four F7As acquired from Penn Central provided the motive power for the line.

Operations were straight-forward. Train MB-1, Moscow to Battle Creek, operated  Monday-Saturday to interchange cars with Grand Trunk Western in Battle Creek, while switching industries along the way, then returning immediately as train BM-2. After any necessary switching in the Moscow yard, a new crew boards train MD-2, Moscow to Dundee, where cars was interchanged with the Michigan Interstate. Train DM-1 would then head back to Moscow, switching a few industries on the way.

In 1982, Conrail filed to abandon most of what remained of the Michigan Air Line Branch, between OD Tower near Jackson and Three Rivers. Seeing an opportunity for expansion and to gain new traffic, the MSCR was able to convince the state to purchase the line from Homer to Three Rivers Jct. Trackage rights was granted from Three Rivers Jct., over Conrail's Kalamazoo Branch to get into Conrail's Elkhart Yard, to interchange cars. 

The MSCR operated the Three Rivers line with train ME-1, from Moscow to Elkhart, on Mondays and Thursday nights with the crew tying up for a rest. They return east as EM-2, from Elkhart to Moscow on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

In 1986, MSCR renewed its contract with the State of Michigan by signing two 10-year extension to continue to operate the lines for the state. When this contract became effective in 2006, another two 10-year contracts was signed calling for the MSCR to be the designated operator of the lines through the year 2026.

HISTORY

My Michigan South Cetral in based on an actual railroad that was abandoned in the early 1930s called the Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee Railroad.

The Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee Railroad was a road which probably should never have been built. It was a loser right from the start, because;

1. Though it was over 100 miles long, it ran through only one city which was over 10,000 people, Battle Creek
2. It had no major terminal on each end
3. It handled almost no "bridge" traffic.

 The DT&M was created in the 1880's, as the east-west line of the Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railroad. The CJ&M came north from the Ohio line through Waldron, Hudson to Addison Jct. The line from Addison Jct. to Jackson was built in 1895. The CJ&M was in and out of receivership several times after its incorporation in 1886. In 1897, the east-west line from Dundee to Allegan was sold to the DT&M. Soon thereafter, it came under the control of the Vanderbilt (NYC) interests. (The line from Ohio to Jackson was sold to the Cincinnati Northern, which also came under Vanderbilt control).

The DT&M leased the line from 1897 to 1902 to the Cincinnati Northern (assigned to the Big Four). In 1905 the Big Four lease was cancelled and the route was leased to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern (east of Homer) and the Michigan Central (west of Homer). In 1913, the line west of Battle Creek (to Allegan) was sold to the Michigan & Chicago Railway, and electric interurban route and a re-division was made between the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Michigan Central of the remaining mileage, the new dividing line being near Moscow, Michigan.

The line was operated in pieces during the early 1900's. Beginning in Dundee, the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton used the Dundee to Tecumseh route as a part of its main line to Springfield, Ohio. According to early NYC time tables, the DT&I dispatcher actually controlled the Dundee-Tecumseh section, even though it was owned by the Lake Shore. At Britton, the railroad crossed the recently built Wabash Railway. At Tecumseh, the DT&I left the main line of the DT&M south to Adrian. (The DT&I stopped using the route between Dundee and Tecumseh in the 1920's after Henry Ford bought the DT&I and straightened out the main line). From Tecumseh to Moscow, the route was operated by the Lake Shore. There was a non-interlocked crossing at Tecumseh (the Lake Shore's Jackson Branch), and at Addison Jct. (with the Cincinnati Northern Railroad, affiliated with the DT&M).

At Jerome, the route crossed the Fort Wayne & Jackson Railroad and came under MCRR control at Moscow. It then went northwest through Homer (crossing of the Air Line branch and the Lake Shore's Lansing Branch), through the south side of Marshall, and then roughly parallel to the MCRR main line to Battle Creek.

Even though the route west of Battle Creek had been sold to an electric interurban railroad, it came back into the NYC fold as a part of the Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw (CK&S) Railroad. The CK&S, which had been under Michigan Central control since 1906, apparently took over a small part of the Battle Creek to Allegan route, from Doster to Richland, with a crossing at a place known as Richland Jct. This route was operated by the NYC into the 1960's as the CK&S branch.

Interesting Notes About the DT&M:

The crossing at Britton was interlocked with a two-story interlocking tower. When the DT&M was abandoned in the early 1930's, the Britton interlocking tower was moved to Milan, just up the Wabash about 10 miles. It served at that location until it was torn down in the 1990's.

At Marshall, a roundhouse existed for the maintenance of steam locomotives (common in most towns

in the late 1800's). This roundhouse, which was no longer used after the DT&M closed in the 1930's, fell into disrepair. In the 1990's, The Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum moved parts of the roundhouse to the Village, and a roundhouse, based on the Marshall design, was reconstructed in 1999-2000 (around a former PM turntable from Petosky, MI).

What's Left of the DT&M?

Not much. Some of the road bed is recognizable. It can be seen near Addison Jct., but both routes at the junction have been gone for over 20 years. The "diamond" crossing of the DT&M at Tecumseh Junction is still in the track where the route crossed the Lake Shore's Jackson to Lenawee Junction Branch. The route is now owned by the Southern Michigan Railroad Society. The diamond piece of track can be seen on South Evans Street. Other remnants of DT&M grade can be seen throughout the length of the line.

Of course, a recreation of the Marshall roundhouse can be toured at Greenfield Village. As of a couple of years ago, the DT&M depot was still standing in Marshall, about 50 yards south of the NS main line.

This information is from the RRHX - Railroad History of Michigan Website

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------