Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2007 » Info on Detroit, Lakeshore & Mt. Clem Railway, 1898 ?? « Previous Next »
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Danjo444
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Username: Danjo444

Post Number: 13
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 1:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I found a reference on a Web based time line: September 28, 1898: Detroit, Lake Shore and Mt. Clemens Railway opens electric line from Detroit to Mt. Clemens, via Grosse Pointe Farms. [MRRC]

I'm looking for more info, incl. photos of the trolleys that ran through Grosse Pointe and Mt. Clemens circa 1899-1900. I'm buying the Jack Schramm book "When Eastern Michigan Rode the Rails Vol. 2" about the Detroit United Railway (DUR) but don't have it yet. Anyone have pics or can point me to a web site, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
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Ookpik
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Username: Ookpik

Post Number: 161
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 2:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mt. Clemens Fast Line:

http://www.davesrailpix.com/od ds/mi/mi.htm#mcfl
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 3223
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 2:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Have patience, Schramm's book will provide you with plenty of pictures and information.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 3953
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 3:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If it weren't for that railway, Grosse Pointe Farms and Grosse Pointe Shores would not have the wonderful vista of Lakeshore Drive today...
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Danjo444
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Username: Danjo444

Post Number: 16
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 4:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok, think you're right. I went to a slide show / lecture on the DSR system given by historian Ken Schramm and he said the fact that it was not routed along the lake the entire route through the Pointes was because wealthy land owners lobbied to have it moved back so it would not obstruct their view and because there were concerns about privacy, safety etc.

Upon leaving Detroit, it went along Jefferson, earlier named Grosse Pointe Road, until Fisher Road, then took a left (note the wall along Fisher Road that is still there), then took a right turn at current Grosse Pointe Blvd, on to Moross, where it headed left, then took a right at Kercheval, over to Provencal or Weir, then back down to the lake where it took a left and continued along the lake, and on to Mt. Clemens. As above, Ken's Father Jack Schramm wrote a book on the DUR years, and will have it soon.

I'm sure it will give info about the route, and the original street names at that time. I'm curious if the current GP Blvd. was created by the route, or was an existing road. I'm sure all that will be more clear when I get the book When eastern Michigan Rode the Rails Vol. 2.
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Danjo444
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Username: Danjo444

Post Number: 17
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 4:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok, think you're right. I went to a slide show / lecture on the DSR system given by historian Ken Schramm and he said the fact that it was not routed along the lake the entire route through the Pointes was because wealthy land owners lobbied to have it moved back so it would not obstruct their view and because there were concerns about privacy, safety etc.

Upon leaving Detroit, it went along Jefferson, earlier named Grosse Pointe Road, until Fisher Road, then took a left (note the wall along Fisher Road that is still there), then took a right turn at current Grosse Pointe Blvd, on to Moross, where it headed left, then took a right at Kercheval, over to Provencal or Weir, then back down to the lake where it took a left and continued along the lake, and on to Mt. Clemens. As above, Ken's Father Jack Schramm wrote a book on the DUR years, and will have it soon.

I'm sure it will give info about the route, and the original street names at that time. I'm curious if the current GP Blvd. was created by the route, or was an existing road. I'm sure all that will be more clear when I get the book When eastern Michigan Rode the Rails Vol. 2.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 3958
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 4:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the info Danjo444. That explains one thing I was always wondering about... that wall along Fisher Rd. Although it is still there, it is in need of some delayed maintenance.

And it helps to explain why Grosse Pointe Blvd. is so very wide.
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Danjo444
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Username: Danjo444

Post Number: 18
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 5:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Right. Neat stuff Gistok. I'm also curious about Provencal between GP Blvd and the lake, whether the tracks ran along the current Provencal, or in a right-of-way behind the current homes on south/west side of the street. I should know soon once I get the book mentioned above.

Sorry about the double post above...I shouldn't try to type and talk on the phone at the same time.
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Harsensis
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Username: Harsensis

Post Number: 212
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 7:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The tracks went beyond Provencal, if you drive to the end of Kercheval past Provencal, you will find the same wall that is along Fisher. That is where the interurban went back to the lake. It was along the Schlotman (might have the spelling wrong) Estate.

Also there are some poles from the interurban along GP Blvd. There are two rusty steel poles at Moross that you don't even notice unless you look for them and there is a decorative post on somebody's front lawn on the side of the Blvd that is closer to the lake at about Cloverly? I think that is about where it is. I don't know for sure this was from the interurban, but I would think that that it where it was from. I can't think of another reason for it being there. I think that one is painted gray now, and it is nicer like it was a sign post.

I also heard a story from Hennings about somebody finding a bunch of electric insulators from the Grosse Pointe Line buried near the jefferson Ave Chrysler plant.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 4016
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 8:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just as long as they don't find any buried leeching transformers (PCBs), like they may find if they ever dig up the area around Harper & Bon Heur, which may have contaminated the Lange & Revere Canal in SCS.
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Bob_cosgrove
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Username: Bob_cosgrove

Post Number: 490
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have my copy put away, so I can't quote Graydon Meints "Michigan Railroads and Railroad Comapnies," MSU Press, East Lansing 1992. but it probably has corporate information on the Detroit, Lake Shore and Mt. Clemens Railway.

Do Meints book is a must for anyone interested in Michigan railroads be they steam or electric. I believe it's still in print.

Bob Cosgrove
Glancy Trains Curator,
Detroit Historical Museum

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