Elmdale was settled in 1889 on the Pere Marquette main line between Lansing and Grand Rapids in Ionia County. An early PM north-south branch line crossed here. The south leg was abandoned and the line north became a freight link for the PM between Grand Rapids and Saginaw.
This was a junction of the Detroit-Grand Rapids main line, with the Elmdale-Saginaw line.
The operator at Elmdale operated one of the first CTC (centralized traffic control) machines in Michigan, controlling signals and switches between Elmdale and Sunnyside east of Grand Rapids.
See Elmdale, MI in Kent County for additional information.
1945. Elmdale housed the CTC control panel which controlled Lake Odessa to Seymour (Grand Rapids). The west end of the passing track here had a spring switch. [PM45]
The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:
