-I-
Name index
Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo Interurban
Grand Rapids, Holland, and Chicago Interurban
Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon Interurban
Interurban overview.
- Name index -
An index of the names and graduation years of Godwin alumni from
1927 to 1963 has been completed. Left clicking on a name will take
you to the annual page for that person. In those years where no
annuals presently exist - 1932 to 1936, and 1943, you will be taken
to the class photograph, and if that doesn't exist, the graduation name
list. In a few cases even these don't exist. There is still some
confusion with class year 1931. I have no list at all for class year
1935, and the names for that class are not included at present.
For now I am primarily interested in errors. In almost all cases the names
were taken literally from the annual pages, and if those were not available,
from the class lists in the graduation announcements. Yet even there,
differences in spelling for same names occur. e.g., one sees "Vandenbrink"
and "Vanden Brink" even amongst members of the same family. In other cases
there are typos in the lists or annual entries. In a few cases these were
corrected.
Please contact me if you see any problems with the list.
Left click below for the index.
- Interurban overview -
Interubans were mostly, but not exclusively, Midwest phenomena, existing between
about 1900 and 1930. By 1930 the Great Depression, cheaper cars, and more and
better roads, put most interurban system out of business, and those same forces
were beginning to affect railroad passenger service. Only WWII kept railroad
passenger service viable for another decade or so. In their heyday, one could
rid interubans great distances, as shown in a map of the southern Michigan
interurban system below.
During their period of operation, interurbans were not allowed to cross standard
railroad tracks at grade level. So elaborate tressles had to be built to get
the interurban cars up and over any railroad tracks, and provide enough clearance
for the trains to go under them. The tressles were large, probably expensive,
and typically made of wood, as the ca. 1910 photograph of an interurban climbing
a tressle near Galesburg, MI, shows.
Left click on the image below for a larger version.
The Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo line used a steel section of bridge to cross 28th
street.
- Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo Interurban -
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Interurban coach - built 1914 for Michigan United Traction Company.
The image above, right, shows the interior. At the right, in front, is a
sign saying "St. Louis Car Co." Lower down, one could buy the Grand Rapids
Herald for 3-cents. The seats were covered in leather, and appear to be
quite comfortable. On the larger cars, a smoking section was located in the
back end of the car.
The interurban track that ran south, behind the old Rackett swimming pool
(apparently filled in as of year 2000), started operation in 1915,
and ceased operation in 1928. Connecting Grand Rapids and
Kalamazoo, the interurbans started out in Grand Rapids from a terminal that
was located on the site where the Civic Auditorium was later built. It is shown
in the photograph below, on the left. The terminal was clearly a spartan affair,
and in the 1913 to 1928 time frame within which the interurban operated, people
were willing to walk a few blocks, even in harsh weather, to get to their destinations.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The coaches headed west over the river, as shown in the right hand photo above,
and then headed left for Kalamazoo. The track curving to the right in the right hand
photo above went to Muskegon, with many stops along the way. The photograph at the
right probably shows the bridge and station after operations ceased.
The bridge, shown in a
postcard image,
still stands in year 2010, and is a footbridge.
The tracks crossed the river a second time on a second bridge, further south,
and eventually crossed 28th Street not far from the old
power sub station located on the SW corner of 28th and Buchanan.
According to Lewis Lull, class of 1940, there was a large steel bridge
structure at 28th Street that moved the interurban coaches over both
the road and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad tracks that run north
and south, and cut across 28th Street, in the same area. The tracks
later crossed Buchanan just before 32nd Street, then crossed 32nd Street, and
headed due south until at least 92nd Street. The tracks end at the Kalamazoo
terminal, which still existed as of 1988.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The images above show the Kalamazoo interurban station, just about
mid way in its operating period. The one on the left is from 1917, and the
one in the middle from 1920.
Looking strait ahead in the image on the right, many rail tracks and stations
converged in this area in the 1920s. One could have taken the interurban from
Grand Rapids and caught a train in Kalamazoo, or been right in the middle of
town for business or shopping.
On the Grand Rapids end the terminal
occupied the site later used by the Civic Auditorium.
In route, the interurbans sometimes reached speeds of 85 to 90 miles per
hour. The tracks were built to heavy rail standards, and the route between
Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo was straight much of the time. The coaches were
up to 70 feet long, weighed as much as 67 tons, and were some of the largest
used on any of the numerous interurbans of the time.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The image above of Michigan Electric's 802 is one of the coaches that plied
the run between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo between 1915 and 1928.
Unit 810, on the right, was one of seven especially large coaches, and had
a smoking parlor in the back. These coaches were as heavy as passenger cars
used on standard gauge railroads, and are probably some of the biggest ever built.
The image above shows a car on a Jackson/Battle Creek line, but it's
likely that the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo line was very similar in appearance.
One can see the third rail on the bottom far right of the photograph. In the
more practical, less densely populated world of the 1915 to 1930 time
period, a rail with 1,200 volts of D.C. was tolerated. Lethal, fences
apparently did exist in many places in an attempt to keep people off the
right of way. Built in 2004, if the land could be found, an OSHA
approved electric interurban would be hopelessly expensive.
It's possible that the interurban had an effect on the development of the
area along Division Avenue, between about 28th and 44th Streets. Starter
buildings, located near 32nd Street just south of the old Burger King,
and near about 42nd Street, sitting by themselves, and intended to be the
nucleus of rows of stores, like the old Burton Heights, Many of the streets
in this same area were begun in the 1910 to 1920 time frame. It's likely
that the intent was to use the interurban to get people to and from work in
Grand Rapids. The stretch between 28th and about 44th streets was in reality
a large real estate development effort, but until 1936 there was not a great
deal of industry in the area.
The extent of the interurban system in lower Michigan in and around the mid
1920s can be seen in the image below.
Left click on the image below for a larger version.
At its peak one could get to most of the major cities in lower Michigan
by interurban.
By the late 1920s automobiles were beginning to have a dramatic affect on
interurban and passenger train ridership, and many interurbans failed.
The Division Avenue Bus Line began in the 1920's, provided the transportation
between about 68th Street and Grand Rapids left vacant when the interurban
went bankrupt in 1928.
In many states the interurban right of ways were shared with power company
transmission facilities. It is no coincidence that the Grand Rapids to
Kalamazoo track is now occupied by high voltage towers. The tracks themselves
were torn out and sold, with the exception of a few streets, where they
were simply paved over. Hills existed on 34th and maybe 35th streets up
through at least the 1950's. When the roads were leveled later on the rails
and track ties were still there.
For a capsule summary of the Michigan Electric Railway company,
a view of what the Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo interurbans looked like, and a
fascinating description of what happened to many of them, see
Michigan Electric Railway #28.
The story is similar in other states, and a number coaches have been spared
total oblivion by spending years as cottages, restaurants, chicken coops,
and storage sheds. Car 28 was used as a cottage.
That, and the ingenuity, imagination, and skill of those railroad museum workers
who have restored and rebuilt what is left of many.
The photographs below show a few more views of Michigan Electric 28 during the
process of restoration.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Orange paint is being applied in the left hand photograph. Apparently orange was a
common color for interurban coaches, and might have been some kind of convention.
December 15, 1967, on a walk along the right of way, near 92nd Street, I
walked down below a bridge used by the interurban. The ground was frozen, so
what would have been swampy ground in the summer was quite firm. On the cement
wall some long ago vandal had scratched "T. Flannerary, Feb 4, 1913." This is
probably about the time the route between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo was being built.
I'm not sure there is a last name like "Flannerary;" maybe I got the spelling
wrong. It would be interesting to know who that person was (is?).
According to Robert Morris, father of Phyllis Morris, class of 1962, there were
a number of members of the Flannery family - with this spelling - in the area,
so perhaps the inscription is part of a boyhood prank of writing one's initials
in to fresh concrete.
On the same walk, I took a few photographs of the rail bed of the interurban.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The track bed was still fairly well defined after almost 40 years. Using satellite
images one can still see the outline of the right of way from Grand Rapids to
Kalamazoo. The right of way extended 50 feet either side of the track, leaving
plenty of room for the transmission towers and an access road that one can see
in the photographs above.
South of 84th Street, and along the old 131, the interurban track bed is well
defined yet in year 2010, some 82 years after operations ceased. In some areas
the culverts and roadbed appear to be in very good condition, having the appearance
that track could be laid again. For much of this stretch, the owners of the land,
Consumers Power, has not graded to the property. Just east of 124th Street and
the old 131, there is the foundation of a terminal. See below.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
As shown on the map, the stop is near a spot on the map called Shelbyville.
Shelbyville was also served by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad at one time.
The satellite view at the right, above, shows the outline of the terminal.
Projecting the path of the track, at the top of the image, shows that the track
would have passed to the left of what appears to be a platform.
Why the foundation was never removed, since it is now in pasture, land is unclear.
Hopefully someone has a photograph of the stop, or at least a list
of the stops along the interurban route.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Both photographs above are copyrighted year 2010 by Tim Shanahan, Interurban
Junkie, Kalamazoo, MI.
The images above a bridge near Plainwell, MI, on the left, and
another at Wayland, MI, on the right. Apparently whatever creek or river the
Plainwell bridge crossed has largely dried up in year 2010, save possibly
during heavy rains. While the Plainwell bridge has clearly attracted vandals,
the Wayland bridge has apparently not, possibly because it is higher off the
stream it crosses.
- Grand Rapids to Holland Interurban -
The Grand Rapids, Holland, and Chicago interurban operated between about
1916 and 1924. Note the entry "Ivanrest" on the plaque
below. Until the 1960s, at least, the Ivanrest stop station, on 28th Street,
still stood.
Material provided by Lewis Lull, class of 1940, scanned and sent by Craig Lull, class of 1970.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The photograph at the left, above, shows a Grand Rapids and Holland interurban
coach using a trestle to cross a Lake Shore and Michigan Southern track, perhaps
some time between 1915 and 1920. Railroads would typically not allow interurbans
to cross their tracks at grade level, leading to a number large, and probably
expensive, trestles. It appears the interurban coach was heading west.
The location of the crossing is shown in the middle image. The trestle as
just southwest of the intersection of Byron Center Road and Porter Street.
The interurban track went along what is today Lee Street. The track bed of
the LS & MS track is delineated by the foliage now covering the old track bed,
and to some extent by the location of street relative to the old track. This
is a phenomena known to archaeologists, who use satellites to discern features
in the ground to suggest old structures and roads. After 85 years one can
still see the track beds of all the interurbans that were in the area in satellite
images.
The photo on the right shows the depot at Wyoming Park. The same design
was apparently used for all, or most, of the depots were of the same design.
The Ivanrest depot was located on the north side of 28th Street, was still
there in the 1960s, although in year 2012 it is long gone.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The 2012 satellite views above illustrate that even after close to 85 years
some parts of the Grand Rapids to Holland interurban track bed can seen. As is
often the case, the tracks paralleled existing railroad tracks, as did later
roads and interstates. So in many cases the interurban track beds have been
obliterated. In some cases the right of ways were taken over by power companies
for their transmission lines, an example being the Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo
line. Often as not the transmission lines and the interurbans coexisted for a
while. For those cases it's still easy to discern the locations of the right of
ways yet.
Both systems are now long gone. The GR & Holland interurban since about 1928,
and the LS & MS since a little after WWII. It was easy to see the LS & MS track
bed in the early 1960s as one drove west on 36th, just before Grandville. Like
the interurban track bed that ran through Frank Rackett's property, and
was familiar to most of us in the 1950s, the LS & MS track bed was just as
prominent in the early 1960s. Nothing can be seen in year 2012.
In the bottom row, left, above, one can see that part of the Grand Rapids to
Holland route is a walking path today. The bride that crossed the Grand River
still exists, as does the bridge further east, which once ran into the side of
the Civic Theater, and is now a foot bridge.
- Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon Interurban -
The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon Railway Company operated from
1902 to 1928, although much of the line was closed by 1926.
Like most interurban companies, growth was rapid in the
first couple of decades, after which the mode of transportation collided with the
growth of the automobile, and taxpayer funded roads.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The map and schedule above show the extent of the system. At one time, connections
could be made in Grand Rapids with Michigan Railway stops in Kalamazoo, and then
then Battle Creek, Jackson, and Detroit, and on up to Flint.
Had the entire interurban system be implemented as invisioned, one might have
eventually be able to connect with the Indiana and Ohio interurban systems,
which were quite extensive. Note that Berlin, between
Walker and Coopersville, was renamed Marne in 1919 because of anti-German
sentiment during WWI, and to honor US soldiers who fought in the Battle of
the Marne.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
The photographs above are construction photos - just where is not known.
The photograph at the left shows that in conditions of sandy soil a two man crew
and a steam powered shovel could be used to make the necessary cuts and fills.
One can see that the steam shovel is at the very end of the tracks. After a cut or
fill was prepared within the reach of the shovel, another length of track would be
laid.
Steam powered pile drivers were used in the same way to get through wet areas.
At times the fills could be quite high. Between 32nd and 36th Streets earth
along the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo interurban line, which follows Riser Street,
and then cuts through Frank Rackett's property before crossing 36th Street,
was piled quite high to give the track a uniform grade. Up though the 1950s yet
one saw trenches on both sides of the track where a steam shovel likely picked up
the dirt and piled it in the middle. Houses along Riser Street used those trenches
as private dumps up to the time Consumers Power topped the berms and filled in
the trenches.
The building which houses the museum is called a generating station. It, and
another facility in Fruitport, MI, converted A/C electricity into the D/C electricity
used by the interurban cars. The Coopersville station is shown below.
Notice that the tracks are essentially right in front of the generating station.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Another generating station in Fruitport, MI, is shown below.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
In year 2012 the building above houses a company named Modular Systems. One has
to use a bit of imagination to see what additions were made to the original
generating building over the years. Looking at the photograph in the first row,
above, at the right, the tracks were located to the left, about one quarter mile.
The track bed can still be seen in aerial photos.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Material supplied for scanning by Lillian Annis, class of 1941.
Above, left, a 1912 photograph of interurban car number 8 on the
Grand Rapids to Muskegon
line stopping at Nuniga, MI. Middle, above, is an undated photograph of the
Nuniga depot. One notices a building behind the depot either does not exist yet,
or is gone for some reason. At right, above, is another look at car 8. It's not
clear what "special" means.
At one time the system had 16 interurban cars.
Car number 8 still exists, and is in the process of slowly being restored,
at the Coopersville, MI, railroad museum. The car was likely in horrible
condition when the project started. It now depends on donations to help the
work along.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Some of the other cars are shown below. Other than car number 8, it's not
clear that any exist as of year 2012.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Left click on the image below for a larger version.
The photograph above shows an interurban car somewhere near Fruitport, Michigan,
in February, 1920. This line came out of the Grand Rapids interurban station, and
turned to the right after crossing the interurban bridge to the west, out of
Grand Rapids. The interurban cars were heavy, and could deal well with the
February conditions. Special pneumatic shoes on the electric rails helped make
contract during icy conditions.
Left click on the image below for a larger version.
The photograph above shows the interurban station at Spring Lake, MI. Often very
modest wood affairs, with a loading platform, this station is more elaborate, if not
as much so as a typical railroad station.
Although Michigan interurban systems have been gone for 84 years or so, as of
year 2012, it is still possible to locate many of the track beds from satellite
images, a technique also used by archaeologists now. The pattern of the vegetation,
buildings, and roads, that developed along the right aways can still be seen in
many areas. In some cases power companies took over the old right of ways for their
transmission lines. All of this is true, for example, for the Grand Rapids to
Kalamazoo line, along Riser Street, near Godwin. In other cases, the right of ways
were turned in to walking or bike paths. In other cases the right of ways
paralleled railroad tracks, and were covered over by interstates in the 1950s
and 1960s. In other cases, more recent housing and business developments have
completely erased the old track beds.
Below are some examples of what can still be seen of the old Grand Rapids,
Grand Haven, and Muskegon line.
Left click on the images below for larger versions.
Fruitport
|
Spring Lake
|
Coopersville
|
|
Muskegon
|
The satellite images above seem to be winter views, so the tracks show up
as brown lines, which one can discern in places where the land has not been
altered too much. The line from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo could be still viewed
in this way essentially in year 2000. The track on the Grand Rapids end, in and
around the river, has been almost totally obliterate in year 2012. One can
follow the line somewhat today yet because of the Consumers Power transmission
lines.
