Station: West Detroit Tower/Grand Trunk Junction, Detroit, MI

Grand Trunk Junction, later known as West Detroit, was located on the Michigan Central main line (Detroit to Chicago), about 1.5 miles west of the Michigan Central depot. This was the crossing of the MC with the Grand Trunk Western main line (Port Huron to West Detroit) and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern line (from Toledo to Detroit).

This was one of Detroit's busiest interlocking towers, staffed in the mid-1900's with a train director and at least two leverman. The location had at least two towers, the most recent a brick building built around 1930. This was an electric interlocking. During the late 1960's, the depot towers (15th and 20th Street), Bay City Junction, West Detroit, Waterman and a number of smaller interlockers were combined into a CTC operation which was housed in the tower (and the other locations were closed). At some point, all of these operations were controlled by the Michigan line dispatcher and West Detroit was finally closed as a tower. The tower remains and is used by the railroad signal department.

Photo info: Top, West Detroit tower was at the crossing of the Conrail main line to Chicago, with the NS/Detroit & Toledo Shore Line. In the early days before the consolidation of the NYC, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern also crossed the MCRR here. This Chessie System engine and caboose are proceeding west across the Wabash diamond on the Conrail. 1984. 2nd photo, the inside of West Detroit tower. The interlocking levers of the plant were operated by two "levermen" who were supervised by a "train director". This was a GRS No. 5 interlocking machine. West Detroit was probably the busiest interlocking tower in Michigan during from 1900 to 1980. 3rd photo, taken in March, 1989 as sunset approached. [All, Charlie Whipp], 4th photo, a Conrail track diagram of West Detroit in 1997. 5th photo, a map of Grand Trunk Junction in 1885. Note the nearby industrial facilities. [SBM-1885].

Notes

Also known as Detroit Junction and Grand Trunk Junction.

Location: 42^o19.525'N / 83^o06.400'W.

Time Line

1879. Nineteen hundred cords of ice have been taken from ponds near Grand Trunk Junction under one contract to fill ice houses in the city. Double that amount has been gathered to fill ice houses in [Springwells] township. [DFP-1879-0126]

1903. West Detroit interlocking was a Saxby-Farmer Lever crossing, installed by the Union Switch & Signal Co. [MCR-1904]

1907. A second interlocking tower replaces the first at West Detroit.

1930: The Michigan Central replaces their interlocking here with a GRS machine which had 79 levers controlling 73 switches. [RSC-1930]

1930. March 17. The Michigan Public Utilities Commission inspects the new interlocking at this location and it is approved for general use. [MPSC-1930]

1953. West Detroit begins remote control of the interlocking at Vinewood. For an article describing the improvements at Vinewood in 1953, click here.

Editor's Note: Retired railroader and historian Jim Harlow has written several detailed articles about the West Detroit crossing for The Semaphore, a quarterly publication of the Grand Trunk Western Historical Society. Please see the Spring and Summer, 2021 editions. They are excellent articles.

Name Changes of West Detroit

Detroit Junction (in 1856) → Grand Trunk Junction (in 1859) → then West Detroit

Railroads Arriving at West Detroit

• 1838 - Southern Line, State of Michigan - Became Michigan Central in 1848
  • Original line through a rural area west of downtown, roughly paralleling the Chicago Road (Michigan Avenue) to Dearborn and beyond.
• 1856 - Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana - Became Lake Shore & Michigan Southern in 1869
  • One of the first railroad crossings in Michigan. At this time, likely one track on the MC crossed by one track on the MS&NI.
  • Michigan Southern crossed the MC to Beaubien Avenue, then curved southwest to access trackage rights on the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad to Brush Street station.
  • This route was likely selected because it was outside of the City of Detroit, very rural at the time.
• 1859 - Chicago, Detroit & Canada Grand Trunk Junction - Became GTW
  • Came south from Port Huron, but stopped short of the MC and didn't cross.
  • They had a yard here and interchanged with the MC.
• 1871 - Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan - Became Pere Marquette in 1899
  • Came east from Lansing and Grand Rapids into Detroit. Didn't cross any line here.
  • Connected with the MC here with passenger trains using the MC Third Street Station
  • Had a yard in the NW quadrant of the crossing. Interchanged freight with MC and other railroads.
• 1873 - Toledo, Canada Southern & Detroit - Became Michigan Central
  • Came north from Toledo and Grosse Isle. Parallel to and east of the Michigan Southern line.
  • Didn't cross any other line at West Detroit. Junction with MC, used their Third Street station.
  • Had a yard here in the southeast quadrant of the crossing. Interchanged freight here with other lines.
• 1873 - MC begins construction of Junction Yard.
  • Freight lead to the yard begins here.
  • Junction Yard becomes the largest in Detroit. Eventually includes locomotive and car shops, hump yards, and stock yards.
  • Has second entrance near Waterman Avenue, south of West Detroit.
• 1881 - Detroit Butler & St. Louis - Became Wabash in 1881
  • Came north from Fort Wayne via Delray. Parallel to and west of the Michigan Southern line.
  • Crossed the MC and connected with the CD&CCGTJ for a through north-south route. 
• 1903 - Detroit & Toledo Shore Line - Owned by GTW/Clover Leaf - Became GTW
  • Built from Toledo to River Rouge, then trackage rights on the Wabash and GTW across the MC
  • A "bridge" railroad owned by the Grand Trunk and the Clover Leaf. Clover Leaf became part of the Nickle Plate Road.

Railroad Crossing Protection and Towers at West Detroit

• 1856. First crossing protection by a gates, crossing tender, target man and switch tenders on foot with flags. Shanty at crossing, south of MC, just west of Michigan Southern. MC has three E-W tracks in 1884. [SBM]
• 1893. First interlocking tower built in northeast quadrant of MC and Lake Shore & Michigan Southern diamond. MC has four E-W tracks in 1897. [SBM]
• 1907. Second interlocking tower built in southeast quadrant of crossing. MC has 5 E-W tracks, Wabash and Lake Shore each have one. MC Toledo Branch merges into MC using a laddered junction east of the crossing controlled from the tower. [SMA]
• 1930. A third interlocking tower, built in southeast quadrant of crossing. Brick construction.
• 1966. Remote control. 15th Street Tower, 20th Street Tower, Bay City Junction Tower, Scotten, and Waterman Avenue interlockings are remote controlled from West Detroit Tower. All of these were eventually remoted by Conrail's Dearborn dispatching office.