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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Grand Rapids, MI |
| Locale | Michigan |
| Dates of operation | 1902–1928 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway was an electric interurban railway that operated in west Michigan [1] from 1902 until 1928.
The line was built and operated by Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Company, who organized the company with local promoters. [2] The Westinghouse group was a subsidiary of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. In addition to the GRGH&M, Westinghouse, Church Kerr and Co. owned the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad and was building that line at the same time. [3] In September 1902, the company was granted franchise to build and operate in Michigan and to purchase the Grand Haven Railway to access Lake Michigan. [4]
The GRGH&M operated on private right of way between Grand Rapids and Muskegon Heights, Michigan. In the cities of Grand Rapids and Muskegon, the line used the tracks of the local street railway systems. A branch line ran from Grand Haven Junction, just east of Fruitport, Michigan, to Grand Haven, where the line had its port connection. Between cities, cars took electricity from a third rail; [5] in towns and cities, power was received through overhead wires. [6] Power was generated by the Muskegon & Grand Rapids Water Power Co. via a generating station on the Muskegon River. [7]
Although the main purpose of the GRGH&M was carrying passengers and express packages between the major and minor cities on its route, a boat connection between Grand Haven and Chicago was a key feature. The Chicago connection allowed the line build a significant business bringing passengers to West Michigan resorts and fresh produce to Chicago markets. [8]
Rumors surfaced in 1911 that the railway was in talks with the Clark syndicate of Philadelphia surrounding a lease of the line; however these rumors were denied by Wallace Franklin, then secretary-treasurer of the company, although at the same time he verified "that our line may be sold very soon" to another party. [9] In 1912, Westinghouse, Church Kerr & Co. sold the line to the United Light and Railways Company (UL&R), a Grand Rapids utilities holding company. [6] [10] Under UL&R ownership, traffic continued to grow through the 1910s.
By 1920, the business environment was beginning to change. Private automobiles and paved highways were poised to cut into both passenger and freight traffic. And operating costs, which rose rapidly during WW I threatened to squeeze profits. Still, the "Lake Line", as the GRGH&M was called, managed to remain profitable during the early 1920s. Of all the operating interurban lines in Michigan, the GRGH&M, was the only one not in the hands of a receiver in 1925. [11]
After 1925, the fortunes of the GRGH&M changed quickly. Ridership declined dramatically, and profits plunged. United Light and Power transferred ownership once again, spinning the company off to a group of local managers. There was little the new owners could do. With insufficient funds on hand to pay the bondholders, the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon filed for bankruptcy protection in July 1926. Cars continued to run on a reduced schedule until April 18, 1928, when the line was officially abandoned, [8] and the passenger services were replaced by Greyhound Lines buses. [12]
One of the railway's original substations, the Coopersville station, and a passenger car have been preserved by the Coopersville Area Historical Museum in Coopersville, Michigan.
The Interurban is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 and 1925 and were used primarily for passenger travel between cities and their surrounding suburban and rural communities. The concept spread to countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Poland. Interurban as a term encompassed the companies, their infrastructure, their cars that ran on the rails, and their service. In the United States, the early 1900s interurban was a valuable economic institution. Most roads between towns and many town streets were unpaved. Transportation and haulage was by horse-drawn carriages and carts. The interurban provided reliable transportation, particularly in winter weather, between the town and countryside. In 1915, 15,500 miles (24,900 km) of interurban railways were operating in the United States and, for a few years, interurban railways, including the numerous manufacturers of cars and equipment, were the fifth-largest industry in the country. By 1930, most interurbans in North America were gone with a few surviving into the 1950s.
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake Michigan shoreline, but there is no official definition.
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The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad, more commonly known as the Laurel Line, was a Pennsylvania third rail electric interurban streetcar line which operated commuter train service from 1903 to 1952, and freight service until 1976. Its main line ran from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre.
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The Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan.
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The Indiana Railroad (IR) was the last of the typical Midwestern United States interurban lines. It was formed in 1930–31 by combining the operations of the five major interurban systems in central Indiana into one entity. The predecessor companies came under the control of Midland Utilities, owned by Samuel Insull. His plan was to modernize the profitable routes and abandon the unprofitable ones. With the onset of the Great Depression, the Insull empire collapsed and the Indiana Railroad was left with a decaying infrastructure and little hope of overcoming the growing competition of the automobile for passenger business and the truck for freight business. The IR faced bankruptcy in 1933, and Bowman Elder was designated as the receiver to run the company. Payments on bonded debt were suspended. Elder was able to keep the system virtually intact for four years, and IR operated about 600 miles (970 km) of interurban lines throughout Indiana during this period. During the late 1930s, the routes were abandoned one by one until a 1941 wreck with fatalities south of Indianapolis put an abrupt end to the Indiana Railroad's last passenger operations.
The Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad, or Y&OR, was one of the smaller interurban railways in the state of Ohio. Along with the Youngstown and Southern Railway, the Y&OR formed a traction link between Youngstown, Ohio and the Ohio River at East Liverpool. It served several coal mines in the area and it was distinguished by the unusual feat of electrifying a section of a steam railroad, the Pittsburgh, Lisbon and Western Railroad, as part of a trackage rights agreement. The Y&OR operated for 24 years.
Michigan United Railways (MUR) was an interurban which owned and leased numerous lines in the state of Michigan during the early twentieth century.
The Coopersville Station, built as the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway Depot is a historic railway station once used by the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway in Coopersville, Michigan. The Coopersville Area Historical Society and Museum is now housed in the station.
The Scranton Railway Company built and operated electric trolleys in and around Scranton, Pennsylvania, from 1896 until 1954.
The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway formed in 1901, is the earliest predecessor of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad.
Harbor Transit is the primary bus agency providing intra- and inter-city public transportation service for the Ferrysburg–Grand Haven–Spring Lake tri-cities region in northwestern Ottawa County, Michigan, which is considered part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. The primary year-round service is demand-responsive point-to-point transportation; in addition, Harbor Transit operates two seasonal deviated routes during the summer.
The Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway (WCF&N) was an electric interurban railway that operated in the US state of Iowa.
| Authority control: National |
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