Grand Trunk Hot Spot

ll oor'r" ever riilden the GrandTirik w".t"rrr, l,ou've heard ofDurand, Ivltchl

Unless you are aboard the GrandTrunk's westbound IttenlationaiLirrrited, yr-rur train remains along-side the big depot at Dur:rnd longenough for even the most boredpasseng€r to show sorne interestin thi, identity of the torvn, Thedeparture of a considerable Per-ceituge oI t}e passengcrs frunr thctrAin and their replacemtnt bYanother horde never fails to cleateinterest.

For Durand is the Place wherethe maln line of the Crand Trunk'Western,

runDing between Chi-cago and Port Huron, Mich.,crosses the Grand Trunk's DetroitDivision, rvhich connects Detroitwith Michigan's second largestcity, Grrnd R;rpids, and continteson to Muskegon. on the shores ofLake Michigan.

To odentate yoursel{, Durandis 253.5 miles from Chicago. TheCrand Trur*'s main line nrns ina curving arc across southern andcentral Micl gan to connect atPoIt Huron with the rails of theCana&lan National, owner of theGTW, Pot Huron is 80 2 mileseast of Durand with Detroit 67miles to the southeast.

PHOTOS BY BURDETTE SHATIUCKARTICIE BY CTETAND' WYI.TIE

Durand's population is 3127, in those days as a hotel and res-but each weet ftom 1600 to 2000 taurant The Junction House ispassenge$ board trains there, no longer in €xistence, -bu! w-ar_

kansfelling crowds around Durand's depot atkansfening fiom one train to an- crowds arouncl l)urand s cl€pot atother. Thii ffgure qsed to run ap- train time These crowds hailDlrxinratelv l-000 lr icher pet *oik g,o*n rhin during lhe late

'20's,

LcI"re inci"ased trcvcl caus"d the but an upwcrd trend was visibleGrand Trunk to resume operation rvhen fares were leduced in 1936,of through coaches between Ch! aDd the big suige upward brought

"ngo "trd D"t oit on trains Nos, on by the war is still being- main_

Gt8 and 57-5. L4ter on, throrgh tained in the early months follow-corches also were pnl in operai ion ing neircP.between Chicago and Detroit on High spot in the day for a bigtrains 20-56 and 21-17. Holidav crowd at the Duand depot comestrar,el also causes a considerable every afternoon between 3:30 indincrease in the ffgue. 4 when iour passengel trains al-

Chan[ins trcins hr" been o r ive and deparl, exchangjng lxrgecustorn

-,rt -D"r,rnd Fver \ ince lhe quanti l iPi of passengers. mail , ex-

rails of the C&NE crossed those press and baggage. Two mainlineof the Detroit, Crand Have$ & hains, No' 17, t}le Inter-City Lim-Milwaukee, Michigan's pioneer ited, from Montreal to Chicago,rail line, in 1B77. Both of these and No 90, the Maple Leat' east-lines are norv incorporated into bound to Montreal, meet with Nos.the Grrnd Trunt Westetn. Bact 2t ald 56, operating between De-in the days when railroads were troit and tr'luskegon. No.2I brin-gsthe only means of travel, it was a tlrough coach from Detroit fo!said that everybody in Michigan No. 17 while a coach ls cut ofichanged trairx at DuranlC some- ftom No. 20 to be sent tllrough totime during his 1ife, Detoit on No. 56. A mixeil train

The Junction House, operated leaves at 4:15 for Bay City'

by the Thomas family and aptly Whil€t this aftemoon shorl is

rri-"d sin"" it rvas a sl,ort iii- the best, it is only one of three

tance from the poiot where the perfolmances during each 24 hous

two railroads crossed, r"as fxrnous atkDuand; il:*"*

tili;"ffi:

and 2rl5 a.m. with tluee trainsinvolved. No. 5, the LaSalie, pullsin from Montreal loaded dou'nwith passenge$, mail and exPress.This train leaves Durand with aneven heavier load since it Picksup one or two Pullmans, a throughcoach from Detroit to Chicago,and one or more express calswhich come in on No. 57 fromDetroit. The other train in thisel.rlv morning show is the east_bound Internationai Limited, No.14, from Chicago.

Nearly two hours after this busyperiod at the Durand station, No.15, the westbound InternationalLimited, comes racing in from theeast to make only a momentaryhalt before rattling acmss thediamonds on its way td Chicago.This traln picks uP passengers at

either itrrLinc tlreir rail iourney or time trsvel brought back bigtransfcrrinc irom one trnin to an- nrowds around Durand's depot at

D. w, Yut3oeyer, 5116 Dol.h.6ler Ave.' ohldgo 15, rl.

crond Trunk Westotn No. 56 leov6! Muskagon tor Derroil vic Durond.

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All rh€ ksleidoscop€ of mid-qfrernoon odion or rh€ GTw trorion, Durond, Mich.. i5 ccushr in rhi! monrcse,16€ |rdn or ro!' h rhe wesihouod lnl€r-city fimired from Monrr.ol to chi.ogo. Detroir hoins oie in middte phoro.

Troins - December, 1945 45

D rand or y il cascs of feal Arbor's two passen!{cr trains whichemcrgency. operlte on lcisurely daily except-

TG third performalce at Du- Surdlv schedules betrvcen Frankrrnd is set betwcen thc hours of fori, lvlich., ond Toledo The Anr5:30 a.n. anrl 7 a.m. rvhen thrcc Arbor uses the Grand Trunk'strains depart for Detroit, and No. passenger facilities at Durand. A6. the llter-Crtv Linritecl, comes lone perforrner on dre Grand Trtnkin from Chicago. A Pullman, is No. 19 which runs on a latecodch and express caL are de- a{ternoon suburban schedule otlttached from No. 6 at Durand and oI Detroit and reaches Durand athookcd onto No. 28 for Derroit. 7 p.m each dav except Sundal'.

Less spectacular a[ivals at Du' Long troop trains are also now-:Lrand are- staged by a mixed train regular feafure of passenger trafffcfrom Bay City, Mich., lvhich ar- tlrough Drrranclrives over a branch line of the While the passenger trains drawGrantl 'frulk each aftemoon ex- the cro\tds, Durands major role iscept Sunday, and by the Ano " in handling fteigl'lt trafffc Freight

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With troin5 to ond fron Chicos.ond troins to dnd from Derroir, wirho mixed rroin for Boy City th.ownin for sood medsure, rhe ninutesiulr before 4 p.m. pre5enr d busyspe(iqcl€ on rhe plotforms of Dursnd.

cars to and fronl Detroit, Pon_tiac, Grand Rapids, Muskegon,Ilay City and Saginaw, All citiesoI finportance nr Michigan in-dustry, are cither nlirlgled orcxtricated lrolr the heavy flolt'of freight between Chicago,Canacla and tbe Eastem UnitedStates. Cers handled on GrrndTrunk car ferries between Mil-waukee and Muskegon, plusinterchangc rvith the Ann Ar-bor, rvhich runs six scheduledfrejghts through Durand, con-tribrte to the volume of car-shandlcd in the Durand yard.Nineteen scheduled freight

trains :ue made up or brokennp at Duiand, and 12 scheduledfreiElhts on the mlrin line, plussix to eight cxtr:ts, pjck up :rncl setofi cars there.

All of tlis requires a lot oIswitching in th€ extensive yardsrvhich spread olit in all directionsfrorn the Durand depot. Ten yardassignments work daily. Since thewartime output of Michigar's {ac-tories is less bulky than the peace-time hafic from the autorrobilefactodes, the daily average of carshandled at Durand is about 1500c:us, some 700 to 800 bel0rv thepeacetime level. The record daY

A streonlined 4-8.4 pulls rhe tnrer-Ci iy in f rom Conqdo whi le c Pd. i f i .wairs wirh No. 2l trom Detroit roMuskegon. Eelow i3 No. 2 l leovins.Depdrture of nixed fuoin for Soy Cirydr 4:15 ends Durond's busy hol f ho ' r r .

was set on N{axch 12, 1937, wheD2698 cars were switclting at Du-rand with 37 freights arrivi|g and38 departing.

Railroad fans ffnd Dur:rnd aninteresting spot, and postwar cam-era addicts will ffnd a vadety ofmotive power to photograph. Onthc rnain line, 4-8-4's predominatewith streamlined 6400 series en-gines on passenger trains and 6300sedes on freights, although tJremore powerful 6300's can be usedon passenger trains if necessary.The Dehoit Division features2-8-2's on freights with Paciffcsfor passenger service,

Ancient AdaDtics haul the passenger tmins on the Arrlr .{rborwith 2-8-2's on freights. Othermotive power to be viewed in-chdes a light Pacilic on the mixedlun of the Crand Trunk betweerrDurand and Bay City al$oughthis may be displaccd by Dieselpower before this aticl€ is pub-lished, and 0-6-0 and 0-B-0 steanrswitchers as well as two Dieselswitchers.

Besides the big depot, CraDdTrunl facilities in Durand includea 37-stall roundhouse, a car de-patment, building departmeat,and a large freight transfer dock.

Trq ins - December , 1945 47