The Detroit Line is a freight railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of Michigan and Ohio.
| Detroit Line | |
|---|---|
 Map | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Active |
| Owner | Norfolk Southern |
| Locale | Michigan |
| Termini | |
| Service | |
| Type | Freight rail |
| System | Norfolk Southern |
| Operator(s) | Norfolk Southern |
| Technical | |
| Number of tracks | 1-2 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Description
editThe line begins south of Gibraltar Road in Gibraltar, Michigan as a continuation of the Conrail Detroit Line, and runs southwest to Toledo, Ohio, consisting of two separate and parallel tracks.[1] Track #1 is the southbound track originally owned by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. Track #2 parallels Track #1 to the east running from adjacent to 0.5 miles (0.80 km) apart, and is the northbound track originally owned by Michigan Central Railroad.[1] Track #2 is paralleled directly to its east by the CN/GTW Shore Line Subdivision from the start of the line at Gibraltar Road to Vienna Junction just north of the Michigan–Ohio state line.[1] The Detroit Line's southern end is at the Chicago Line at Air Line Junction in western Toledo.[2]
History
editThe Detroit, Monroe and Toledo Railroad opened a line from Detroit to Toledo in 1856. The Toledo, Canada Southern and Detroit Railway opened a parallel line, just to the east, in 1873. With the 1930 lease of the Michigan Central Railroad by the New York Central Railroad, both lines were placed under NYC operation.[2][3] The lines passed to Conrail, and were assigned to Norfolk Southern in Conrail's 1999 breakup; they are now used through a directional running setup, in which southbound trains use the old DM&T and northbound trains use the old TCS&D.
References
edit- ^ a b c Knorek, Jeff. "Detroit Line Territory". Conrail Detroit Shared Asset Area. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ a b Trackside Guide No. 3 - Detroit, Trains, June 2003
- ^ History of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company Archived August 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine