Railroading on Grosse Ile

Present day Grosse Ile visitors and island newcomers are often surprised to find a railroad depot on the island far from any railroad tracks. But for over five decades the sight of a train crossing Grosse Ile to discharge freight and passengers at the East Side depot was by no means a remarkable occurrence. Today, little remains but the depot to remind us of this exciting period in Grosse Ile's history.

In 1873, the Canada Southern Bridge Company, a subsidiary of the Canada Southern Railroad Co., completed and put into service it's portion of the freight route, initially planned as a link between Buffalo and Chicago. It had laid 3 ½ miles of track from Slocum Junction, just south of Trenton, to and across Grosse Ile and on to Stony Island. In the process, two bridges were constructed, one spanning the West Channel of the Detroit River and the other connect with the main line of the Canada Southern.

During the next ten years, Grosse Ile hummed with railroad activity. Structures which were built bordering the right-of-way included an engine house, machine shop, blacksmith shop, and customs house. A frame station stood just south of the tracks near East River Road. (The present brick and stone depot now used by the Historical Society as a museum, was not built until 1904.) A cattle yard was established on land now occupied by the Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club. Here cattle were unloaded for rest and refreshment and to await processing through customs. In addition, a variety of hotels and boarding houses sprang up to provide homes for the numerous railroad employees, mostly single men.

The Canada Southern, never strong financially, was in receivership by the early 1880s and being operated under lease by the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1882, William M. Vanderbilt, then president of the MCRR, started building a line from Essex Center to Windsor, and on December 31, 1883, inaugurated Ferry service between there and Detroit. Regular ferry service from Stony Island to Canada ceased the same day and was reinstated only occasionally during the next few years when ice blocked the Detroit-Windsor route. The crossing was abandoned entirely in 1888.

Nothing remains today of the bridge to Stony Island except a few deteriorating stone piers and abutments. These can still be seen off the East End of Grosse Ile Parkway. The last spans of the bridge itself were removed in 1913 during the construction of the Livingstone Channel. (The bridge crossing the West Channel was converted in 1931 for use by vehicular traffic and the tracks across the island were replaced by a roadway, now known as Grosse Ile Parkway.)

Although through service was discontinued, the Michigan Central continued to run an "accommodation train" for the benefit of Grosse Ile residents and visitors. The railroad provided a vital link to the mainland for businessmen traveling to and from work in Detroit, for students attending high school in the city, and for vacationers seeking escape from the heat and confinement of city life. Not until 1913, when the toll bridge was opened between Grosse Ile and Wyandotte, did another reliable means of transportation exist between the island and the mainland.

Railroad timetables provide a picture of the rise and ultimate decline of passenger service. In 1895, trains made two trips every day except Sunday between Grosse Ile and Detroit, giving passengers a choice of morning or afternoon travel. Trains left the east side station, stopped at Sunnyside Station on the west side, and continued on to Detroit with intermediate stops at Slocum Junction, Trenton, Sibley (now Riverview), Wyandotte, Ecorse, River Rouge, Delray, Woodmere, and West Detroit. The trip varied in length from 45 minutes to one hour.

By 1909, service had reached its height with three trains a day each way. In the succeeding years, this was reduced to two and finally to one train a day. The decline was no doubt influenced by the growing popularity of private automobiles and the availability of bus service to and around the island. Daily passenger service via MCRR was terminated on January 9, 1924, though occasional freight trains continued to visit the island as late as 1929.

The Railroad remains very much alive today in the memories of older Grosse Ile residents. For many, meeting the train each day was a social occasion when one could meet or deliver family members, collect mail, and catch up on the latest news.

Sarah Lawrence, 1987

Related Items:

Grosse Ile History

Grosse Ile Historical Society