Toledo Division

The Toledo Division was the southern half of the Pere Marquette Railway's main line, which ran from Ludington, Michigan (on the coast of Lake Michigan) to Toledo, Ohio (on the coast of Lake Erie). The Toledo Division encompassed the portion which ran from Toledo north to Saginaw, Michigan, where it met the Ludington Division. The line was built by a predecessor of the PM, the Flint & Pere Marquette, and is currently owned by CSX Transportation.

v t e Pere Marquette-Toledo Division
Legend
Ludington Division Bay City Branch Loop Line 0.0 Saginaw Saginaw-Bad Axe Branch 1.1 Michigan United Railways 2.18 Hoyt for Michigan Central 2.6 Saginaw-Port Huron Branch 4.1 Standard Mine 6.1 Michigan United Railways 6.28 Bridgeport 12.15 Blackmar 13.1 Smiths 15.47 Birch Run 21.28 Clio 22.1 Pine Run 23.4 Michigan United Railways 26.1 Mount Morris Fostoria Branch 28.6 Horton 29.5 McGrew Junction Flint Belt 31.89 North Flint 33.31 Flint for Grand Trunk Western 35.1 Thread 38.36 Atwood Junction 40.64 Grand Blanc 45.05 Newark 50.15 Holly for Grand Trunk Western 54.76 Rose Center 58.24 Clyde 61.27 Highland 65.06 Milford 70.34 Wixom for Grand Trunk Western 74.54 Novi 78.1 Detroit United Railway 78.51 Northville 82.03 Plymouth for Detroit Division 82.4 Detroit United Railway 83.1 Detroit United Railway 90.0 Detroit United Railway 90.17 Wayne for Michigan Central 93.84 Romulus for Wabash 97.93 New Boston 101.2 Willow 102.4 Waltz 105.16 Carleton for DT&I 106.8 Grafton 109.98 Steiner 111.7 Toledo Junction Monroe Branch 115.15 Monroe for LS&MS 119.5 Winchester 125.37 Erie 130.35 Alexis, OH

Structure

The main line of the Toledo Division ran south from Saginaw to Alexis, Ohio, just north of Toledo, for a total length of 130.35 miles (209.78 km). Toledo marked the southern extent of the Pere Marquette; north of Saginaw the main line continued as the Ludington Division.

The tracks of the Toledo Division crossed numerous other railroads between Saginaw and Toledo, including:

• The now-abandoned Saginaw Branch of the Michigan Central at Hoyt, Saginaw.
• The Chicago Division of the Grand Trunk Western at Flint.
• The Detroit Division of the Grand Trunk Western at Holly.
• The Jackson Subdivision of the Grand Trunk Western at Wixom. The Grand Truk Western abandoned the westward portion in 1984 and sold the eastern segment to Coe Rail.
• The Detroit Division of the Michigan Central at Wayne. This line is now operated by the Norfolk Southern.
• The Main Line of the Wabash at Romulus. This line is now operated by the Norfolk Southern.
• The Main Line of the DT&I at Carleton. This line is now operated by the Grand Trunk Western.
• The now-abandoned Monroe Branch of the LS&MS at Monroe.

Current status

In 1947 the Pere Marquette merged into the Chesapeake & Ohio, which in turn eventually became CSX Transportation. CSX still owns the Toledo-Saginaw line, which forms the Saginaw Subdivision, but in 2005 leased the section from Mount Morris to Saginaw to the Saginaw Bay Southern Railway, a short-line railroad. CSX continues to operate the Flint-Toledo segment directly.