Time Line - 1945

Last Year | Next Year

• June 10: The Pere Marquette places into service a reconstructed drawbridge over the Saginaw River. It was built by the American Bridge Company. The total length of the bridge is 60 feet with trestle approaches of 103 feet for a total length of 763 feet. [PM45]

• July, 1945: PM opens a replacement tower and interlocker at Delray. The new tower has a 56-lever electromechanical interlocking machine with 36 mechanical levers and 20 electric levers.  All signals are electrically operated. [PM45]

• September 1: The Quincy (Copper) Mine closes. It produced so much copper over the years, it was known as the "Old Reliable". [MSL]

• September: The Copper Range Company closes mining operations. [CRH]

• December: The Grand Rapids division of the Pennsylvania takes delivery of its first diesel locomotive, an EMD SW1 which was at first exclusively used at the GM Fisher Body plant south of Grand Rapids. [PRRHS-W/2000]

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• World War II continues until summer.

• The Grand Rapids Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad begins to be dieselized.  This was the first PRR division to be totally converted to diesel power. [PrTHS-W-2000]

• Pere Marquette reconstructs bridge over the Saginaw River in Saginaw. [PMHS]

• Pere Marquette launches river ferry Pere Marquette 10. [PMHS]

• Vista-dome passenger equipment is introduced. [STOV]

• The Michigan Central abandons part of the Lansing Branch from Jonesville to Albion. [MRC-5/1981]

• Nationally, there are 226,696 miles of railroad track. [STOV]

• The New York Central Railroad and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads incorporate the Lakefront Dock & Railroad Terminal Co. in Toledo, in order to operate coal and ore docks. Lakefront was on the east bank of Otter Creek and east of Presque Isle. It was served by the Toledo Terminal Railroad. [COHS-10/98]

• SNAPSHOT: The Fort Street Union Depot yard contains nine tracks with a capacity of 66 cars; 90 lb. rail. [PM45]

• The Board of Wayne County Road Commissioners begins development of a plan which proposes that the so-called John C. Lodge Expressway will pass under the tracks of the Fort Street Union depot Co. just west of the present station. If carried out, it will require a railroad grade separation and some changes in present railroad facilities in the area. [PM45]

• SNAPSHOT: The Detroit Union Produce Terminal occupies approximately 28 acres and consists of two 2-story brick and concrete produce warehouses and office buildings which cover an area of 175,000 feet. The facility uses 35 tracks with a capacity of 795 cars. An average of 55 cars per day are handled through this facility, including 34% for the PM, 62% for the Wabash and 4% for the Pennsylvania. [PM45]

• SNAPSHOT: Pere Marquette's Ottawa Yard, just north of the Ohio State line, is PM's freight yard serving Toledo Ohio and connecting roads at Toledo. The yard is of the semi-hump type with a car standing capacity of 3,589. The freight puller runs operate between Ottawa Yard and the several connecting lines at Toledo. Ottawa Yard is also the terminal of freight runs operating between there and Detroit, Saginaw and Grand Rapids. An emergency icing station is located at Ottawa Yard, as is a water treating plant for locomotive water supply. The yard has a 16 stall round house which handles 17 engines daily. The turntable is 100' long. The yard has a 3-chute, 300-ton capacity coal dock, built in 1923.

• SNAPSHOT: On the Pere Marquette line between Alexis and Carleton, Pennsylvania rail traffic produces 30% of the total car miles, compared with the PM's 70%. [PM45]

• The first red and white portable oscillating light for the rear end of trains was developed by the Mars Signal Light Company. [SAM]

• Wood walkways are outlawed on all new rail cars. [SAM]

• The CB&Q builds the first "vista-dome" passenger car, an idea which was patented in 1891 by T. J. McBride of Winnipeg, Canada but never built. [SAM]

• The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad takes deliver of two Alco RS1's (No. 101 and No. 102), which were ordered the previous year. These 1,000 hp diesel electric locomotives drew a lot of attention when they arrived in Marquette. They were used in a variety of functions, but usually remained in the east, handling trains from Houghton to Marquette, St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie. Five additional RS1's arrived in 1947 which had steam generators for passenger operation. The units were retired in the 1960's.  No. 101 is being restored at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. [SOO-Summer/06] 

Time line Key:

• Railroad event in Michigan
• Event relating to mining
• Event related to car ferries
• Event outside of Michigan
• Improvement in Technology
• Railroad built or extended
• Railroad abandoned and/or removed
• Economic panic or depression