To sort out your confusion with the Central Line. Follow just where it says "Central" on the map. You missed that the Central Line, once taken over by private interests, switched their destination from St. Joseph to Chicago. At this point they had only built to Kalamazoo. So they angled south and never made it to St. Joseph. They ran via Niles and into Indiana at Michigan City, looped around the lake and came in from the South. The line to St. Joseph was a New Buffalo-Grand Rapids line built by a predecessor to the Chicago & West Michigan, itself a predecessor to the Pere Marquette, which was a merger of the Flint & Pere Marquette (as seen on your map), the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western, along with the C&WM. The Southern Line wound up as part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, which is why it ended up in Elkhart, Indiana, where it joined with the "Water Level Route" which became famous in the New York Central Era connecting Buffalo, NY to Chicago via Cleveland, Toledo, Elkhart. You're right that Lake Michigan was important, and there were ferry terminals at least for some time in most ports with rail access, but later shrunk to primarily Grand Haven, Muskegon, Ludington and Frankfurt. However the original intention with the E&K and Southern Line was to bridge Michigan so you could ride the ship across Lake Erie to Michigan, then rail to Lake Michigan, and then back on the ship to Chicago. Once it was clear that railroads from the east would develop eliminating the need to float on Lake Erie, it was game over for this strategy, and is why the Southern Line never fully gained the prominence that the Central Line did. The Central is now owned by Amtrak west of Kalamazoo and MDOT between Kalamazoo and Dearborn.
@8:06 you say the Northern Line starts at St. Clair. Actually it starts at Port Huron. This yard is still very active today as it serves Ontario Canada via the world's first underground international railway tunnel.
Michigan Central went had two major yards in Niles, MI and Jackson, MI. The MCRR one of the only direct Amtrak lined today. Read the American Collossus. A small town, river, and railroad yard. I would love to see you make another video if Michigan railroad history.
As someone who's researched MI railroad history on and off for the last few years, I spent the majority of this video wondering where you got your information, or if you just made it up yourself.
This guy needs to learn how to read a map. Michigan Central RD clearly shows on the actual line going from Kalamazoo to Niles and then to New Buffalo. It then connected to an Indiana RR . Th Michigan Central then had an agreement with the DR in Indiana to.use it's tracks to go to Chicago. I know this because I use to live in Niles and learned about the Railroad in both school and people that worked for the Railroad.
The guy is doing a video about the Michigan Central. He doesn't know where it even is on the map! Hello! Kalamazoo, Battle Creek! Doesn't even think about looking there for the line. Also, points to the Pere Marquette and calls it the Central. WTF.
Where can I view this map or get a copy of it ? Nice job, cool map, it will help me with my metal detecting. I all ready hunt one spot on the map. What year is it ?
Thanks for watching and the kind comments! Nice let me know what you find at those spots I'd love to talk about it in a future video. Love these maps they are littered with information.
Where can I find this map at ? Look for Colby station in Montcalm county I have hunted that a little bit, all the old foundations are still there. It is state land now, found some relics there going back this spring. But I need a copy of the map or some place I can view it please.
Oh for got to tell you I do have a link to a train car that I found in my yard that dates to the 1840, 1850s. the train track went just south of me from where I live. See I did not no how close it came until I look at the map. I also have two or three rail road buttons that I have found around here 1850s 1860s.
