CHICAGO — Amtrak will halt operations of its Blue Water and Wolverine services Sept. 15-19 to accommodate demotion of two coaling towers that straddle its rail lines.
An Amtrak service advisory indicates substitute bus service will be available for the Blue Water, a once-daily round trip between Chicago and Port Huron, Mich. For the Wolverine trips between Chicago and Pontiac, Mich., a bus substitution will be offered for only one of the two round trips on Sept. 15-18 and three trips slated for Sept. 19. Bus No. 3352 will replace train No. 352, a 2:18 p.m. departure from Chicago, and Bus No. 3351 will replace train No. 351, an 8:43 a.m. departure from Pontiac.
These cancellations come during a period when Wolverine service is already disrupted. Since May 5, one round trip has been suspended because of track work by Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation that will continue through Oct. 30. As of Sept. 2, the other trains are originating or terminating in Troy, Mich., rather than 8 miles away in Pontiac, to accommodate a Canadian National track project. That work is slated to continue through the end of September.
The cancellations will allow demolitions of coaling towers at Michigan City, Ind., and Augusta, Mich. Plans for the Michigan City project had been reported last year [see “Amtrak planning to tear down …,” Trains.com, Nov. 25, 2024]. At that time, it was estimated that service could be disrupted for up to two weeks while the former Michigan Central Railroad structure was torn down, although those plans also called for busing train passengers only between Chicago and New Buffalo, Mich.
The coaling tower in Augusta — about 10 miles west of Battle Creek, Mich. — is also a former Michigan Central structure dating to the 1920s, according to the Michigan Railroads website.
While at least one of the projects has been discussed since last year, a Michigan state legislator has expressed unhappiness over Amtrak’s late notification about its plans. WKZO Radio reports that state Sen. Sean McCann (D-Kalamazoo) said in a statement that it was “troubling and disappointing that a shutdown of two of the major Amtrak routes in Michigan for a week in September has not been communicated until yesterday by Amtrak … I am asking Amtrak to be transparent and provide better warning in the future regarding significant service disruptions.”
Should have been gone long ago, but no way to have taken it down without closing the main.
Trying to remember the date, sometime around 1980 to 1983, saw one of these, looked exactly the same, in Livernois Yard, Detroit (also ex – Michigan Central). But that’s not the same as hulking over the main line. Interesting artifact of railroad archaeology. But as a steam un-fan, it wouldn’t bother me if it’s gone or still there, either way.
Question for you steam fans, was it common to have a coaling tower over the main?
I don’t know what outfit is doing the demolition but they might think about getting a better contractor. Back when I was still working we had a coal tower taken down and it was all cleaned up before the end of day two and we weren’t happy about it taking that long.
Those coal towers are historical and part of the railroad heritage. If possible, one of them should be moved and preserved in a museum environment.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün