Nostalgia & History > Paw Paw Michigan

 Here's a few photos of a railroad company that was once located in Paw Paw Michigan. The railroad connected to CSX at Hartford and ended in Paw Paw. They ran excursion, dinner and some freight trains. Rather than ride in the passenger cars (very unique PRR low-slung equipment) we decided to ride in the locomotive instead.  Much to my surprise a new company named West Michigan RR is again operating some of the line!

1. KLSC GP7 #85 (ex ATSF 2110) Dolton, IL Sept.  1987

2 and 3.  Paw Paw, Michigan  6-9-91

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 4. NRRC #2066 Paw Paw, Mich 6-9-91

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Truely rare. Thanks for sharing these.
Bob

What a bunch of interesting stuff.    Marty

The low slung (low center of gravity) ex-PRR stainless steel cars were built by Budd Co in Philadelpha in the mid-fifties for The Keystone that ran between New York City and Washington DC.  Although pulled by GG-1's, the train had its own generator car (shown in the last photo).  Vesrtibules were at raised station platform level and passengers then stepped down into the coach seating area. 

Wow! I had no idea this is where the Keystone set wound up, are they still around or did they go to scrap?

Are there any good shots of the cars?   Marty

Atlpete Wrote:
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> Wow! I had no idea this is where the Keystone set
> wound up, are they still around or did they go to
> scrap?

I'd sure like to know! To answer Marty's question, I wish I had paid more attention to the cars but these are all the photos I have.......

Paw Paw is the home town of my Grandfather, Lewis A. Moon, who became an Express Agent for the Great Northern throughout Montana.
He later boomed into Jerome, Arizona around 1910 or so working for the Verde Tunnel & Smelter Railroad.
Opportunity knocked and in the 1920s an offer to join Standard Oil in the Baldwin Hills near Los Angeles brought my mother to live in Inglewood, eventually meet and marry my father  --Long Story-- and so, here I am!

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

One of the former PRR cars is on the Mexican "Dr Vagon" train, I believe it is a power car.

Michael

Weird!

I rode the KeyStone cars on another dinner train operation in a northern Detroit suburb (Walled Lake?) back in the 1980's or early 90's but don't recall the name of the operation. 

 As an added bonus here's a story regarding this railroad. When we rode the train it went directly through the beach of Lake Cora in Wildeys, Mich. We waved to the beach-goers and residents in the area and they either turned their backs on us or gave us the middle finger! As stated, we rode in the locomotive and the engineer explained the resentment towards us and the railroad in general. The reason is because the property owners thought that CSX had basically abandoned this branchline and assumed the land between their homes and the beach was now theirs free of charge! When KLSC started up they were met with legal issues from the property owners. Eventually in a court of law (courtesy of CSX) it was determined that most of the beach and some additional property is technichally still railroad property----to the point that the beachfront property owners are in violation of encroachment!! I'll bet it was a real shock to them!!

  Due to the fact that the railroad is now abandoned between Lawrence and Paw Paw, I have just read that the same residents in the area are now opposed to a hiking/biking trail stating the same reasons.----it's their land!

 Corrections and comments regarding this story are welcome.........

Was it Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train or something to that effect??

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> I rode the KeyStone cars on another dinner train
> operation in a northern Detroit suburb (Walled
> Lake?) back in the 1980's or early 90's but don't
> recall the name of the operation.

What class one RR served Paw Paw years ago ? Some of my distant relatives are from there. THANKS !! --  Kelly

 

My AUGUST 1936 Digital Edition of the Officiak Guide states thar Paw Paw, Michigan was served by the Pere Marquette Railway, which was mercged into the C&O in 1940s,

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

ATSF 2110/KLS&C 85 was the very first ex-Santa Fe GP7 to go to a shortline.  It left the Santa Fe roster in late 1984 around the time the purge of the CF7 fleet was getting underway, but while the CF7's were all gone within the next three years, the GP7's and 9's were retired and sold off over the course of two decades, stretching well into the BNSF era.