Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad

The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad operated from 1905 to 1983 between its namesake cities of Detroit, Michigan, and Ironton, Ohio, via Toledo. At the end of 1970, it operated 478 miles of road on 762 miles of track; that year it carried 1,244 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

Early history

In 1901, the merger of the Detroit and Lima Northern Railway and the Ohio Southern Railway formed the Detroit Southern Railroad.[1] This company was purchased at foreclosure on May 1, 1905, by Harry B. Hollins & Company of New York, which reincorporated it in the state of Michigan under the name of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railway.

The president of the Detroit Southern, Samuel Hunt, was to remain as president of the reorganized road but died suddenly on May 15, 1905. He was followed by two short-term presidents: George Miller Cumming (a New York City lawyer who was a former first vice-president of the Erie Railroad and the former chairman of the board of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway) was elected in June and served for one month,[2]

End of service on southern portion

In April 1982, a collapse in Royersville Tunnel (the only tunnel on the old DT&I) prompted GTW to shut down the line between Jackson and Ironton. The tunnel had suffered collapses many times in the past but limited remaining business south of Jackson and the operational problems of the tunnel led to GTW's decision. At the same time, GTW bypassed the steep and treacherous Summithill section between Bainbridge and Waverly by rerouting trains onto Chessie System trackage from Washington Court House, Ohio to Waverly, then back onto the former DT&I to Jackson. In 1984 all operations south of Waverly and the C&O interchange at Glenn Jean ended with the closing of the Jackson Shops and abandonment of the remaining tracks from Glenn Jean to Jackson. GTW continued to operate to Waverly and Glenn Jean and in May of 1985 was forced to buy 10 miles of the B&O just outside of Washington CH South to Frankfort. The beginning of the end occurred in September of 1986 when a bridge outside of Chillicothe on the former B&O Renick Sub failed. The resulting detour around the bridge and the impending abandonment of the former B&O they used south of Washington CH to reach Chillicothe, GTW decided to end service south of Washington CH in March of 1987. Traffic to Waverly and Glenn Jean the last 12-18 months of service had shrank to coke off of NS and occasional unit coal trains off of CSX. The cost of purchase any of the former B&O up for abandonment wasn’t worth the cost.

A short section of the DT&I main west out of Jackson is still in place serving as a connection from industries to the only remaining line into Jackson. A short section of the DT&I north from the junction with the B&O Southwestern near Greenfield is still in place to serve local industry. Portions of the line between Greenfield and Washington Court House were purchased by Washington Court House with the intention of creating a rail-trail, but they were unable to acquire enough conjoined sections to build a trail.

railroad name	Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad
map caption	DT&I system before merger with the Ann Arbor Railroad
marks	DTI
locale	Michigan and Ohio
start year	1905
end year	1983
successor line	Canadian National Railway, Grand Trunk Western

Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad

Early history

Ann Arbor Railroad

The Pennsylvania years

The later years

End of service on southern portion

Central and northern portions

Cities and towns along the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton

External links

Video

References