by AmtrakFan
Did the C&O serve Detroit before the B&O merger? Where was their yard and Station?
John
John
Railroad Forums
Did the C&O serve Detroit?
- Discussion relating to the B&O up to it's 1972 merger into Chessie System. Visit the B&O Railroad Historical Society for more information. Also discussion of the C&O up to 1972. Visit the C&O Historical Society for more information. Also includes the WM up to 1972. Visit the WM Historical Society for more information.
by LI Loco
The Sportsman had a Detroit section that split from the main train at either Russell or Ashland, Kentucky. It handled through coaches and sleepers from Newport News. Also, in the late 1940s, the C&O acquired the Pere Marquette, which ran streamlined passenger trains called Pere Marquettes from Detroit ot Grand Rapids (and Grand Rapids to Chicago). C&O retained the name for the trains.
C&O passenger service operated out of Detroit's Fort Street station, which it shared with the Pennsylvania and Wabash RRs. B&O's trains (Ambassador, Cincinnatian and Night Express) used Michigan Central station and ran on New York Central track between Toledo and Detroit until 1964.
C&O passenger service operated out of Detroit's Fort Street station, which it shared with the Pennsylvania and Wabash RRs. B&O's trains (Ambassador, Cincinnatian and Night Express) used Michigan Central station and ran on New York Central track between Toledo and Detroit until 1964.
by BaltOhio
First off, to clear up one bit of apparent confusion, the B&O never entered Detroit on its own tracks. It terminated at Toledo, and passenger trains entered Detroit on trackage rights over the Pere Marquette, C&O, and NYC, depending on the period you're talking about. Any Detroit (or other Michigan) freight traffic was handled strictly on an interline basis -- no trackage rights involved.
Before 1947 C&O also terminated in Toledo; its passenger trains used Pere Marquette track to enter Detroit, and freight similarly was handled on an interline basis. But the C&O directly controlled the PM, dating back to the mid-1920s, so that the two railroads essentially operated under a single executive management.
In 1947 the C&O fully absorbed the PM, so afterward the entire PM system in Michigan and Ontario became C&O. C&O/PM's primary Detroit freight yard was Rougemere, which still exists as CSXT's yard. Back in the Detroit River carfloating days, there was also a large waterfront yard under the Ambassador Bridge. C&O passenger trains always used Fort St. Union Depot. B&O used Fort St. until some time in the 1950s when it switched to the MC station. After C&O took control of B&O in 1963, B&O was switched back to Fort St.
Before 1947 C&O also terminated in Toledo; its passenger trains used Pere Marquette track to enter Detroit, and freight similarly was handled on an interline basis. But the C&O directly controlled the PM, dating back to the mid-1920s, so that the two railroads essentially operated under a single executive management.
In 1947 the C&O fully absorbed the PM, so afterward the entire PM system in Michigan and Ontario became C&O. C&O/PM's primary Detroit freight yard was Rougemere, which still exists as CSXT's yard. Back in the Detroit River carfloating days, there was also a large waterfront yard under the Ambassador Bridge. C&O passenger trains always used Fort St. Union Depot. B&O used Fort St. until some time in the 1950s when it switched to the MC station. After C&O took control of B&O in 1963, B&O was switched back to Fort St.