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Warsaw Daily Times Feb. 12, 1912

BOATS HELD FAST IN ICE

Five of Them Are Prisoners on Lake Michigan

Grand Rapids, Mich., Feb. 12 – Five Lake Michigan boats are frozen solid in the lake. Three of the boats are Ann Arbor railroad car ferries plying between Frankfort, Mich., and Manitowoc, Wis.

Ferry No. 3 is fast in the ice outside the piers at Frankfort. No. 4 is several miles out of Manitowoc and No. 5 is frozen in the ice near the Manitou Islands. All three boats are in wireless communication with Frankfort.

Pere Marquette car ferry No. 5 and steamer Pere Marquette No. 15 are fast in the ice twelve miles off Ludington.

The Evening Argus March 18, 1912

TO PUT MOTOR CARS ON AGAIN

Those on North End of Ann Arbor Line Being Prepared for Service

Announcement was made this morning at the Ann Arbor offices that the gasoline motor cars will be put back in operation in a short time. It will be remembered that the cars were taken off the north end of the line several weeks ago because they were unable to give satisfactory service with deep snow on the ground. Those on the south end of the line have been kept in operation, however.

H. J. Sychler,a gasoline engine expert, and Harry Gamer, an electrical engineer, are in the city looking over the cars, and directing or making such repairs as are necessary to put them in first class condition. The men will also instruct the Ann Arbor employes in the care of the cars and it is expected that much of the trouble experienced in operating them in the past, will be eliminated this year.

The Evening Argus March 25, 1912

SKETCH PREPARED

Tentative Blue Print Gives Idea of Magnitude of Ann Arbor Plans

YARDS WILL HAVE EVERY CONVENIENCE

New Shops Will Be Buildings of Large Proportions – What the Blue Print Shows

J.K. Howard, chief engineer of the Ann Arbor railroad, has completed a blue print perspective of the shops and yards the company expects to build between Owosso and Corunna, which gives a very comprehensive idea of what is to be done here. The plans will be sent to the board of directors of the road.

The plans show that the round house, machine shop, paint and car shops in the order named, will be located just east of Caledonia avenue, better known as the Alken road, and will stand about 200 feet back from Corunna avenue . The frontage at this point, on Corunna avenue will be approximately 2,000 feet. The machine shop will be about 250x150 feet in dimensions and the paint shop about 250x100 feet. The transfer table which will be between the paint shop and the machine shop will be about 90 feet feet long, and allowance is made for about 75 feet between the table and the two buildings.

The round house, which will be located at the south end of Caledonia avenue, will contain 22 stalls, but is so located that this number can be greatly increased when necessary. The turntable will be in front of the roundhouse. At the east of the paint and car shops will be the repair tracks, with a capacity of 100 cars. Almost directly east of the repair tacks, is what is called the hump switch and scales. The cars of incoming freight trains are run up on the hump and onto the scales where the tonnage is secured, and from there they drift into the sorting yards, just west of the scales. The sorting yards will consist of low tracks and will have a capacity of 200 cars. Trains coming from the north will be run east to the hump switch, be switched onto the scales and then sent into the sorting yards. East of the humping switch is a set of tracks several hundred feet long, that are intended for general work. There are also two sets of tracks, north of the sorting tracks which will be used for light repairs.

West of the sorting yards, and directly south of the round house, will be located the make up yard, with a capacity of 300 cars. At the end of the make up tracks is a switch leading onto the main line. The distance from this switch to the scales is 8,000 feet, or nearly one and one-half miles.

The shops will be shut off from Corunna avenue by a high board fence. A modern coal chute will be installed near the road house, and it will be unnecessary to handle any of the coal by hand in unloading it from the cars and in coaling the tenders.

The yards will have a total capacity of over 600 cars, as compared with slightly over 200 at present.

The Toledo News-Bee April 9,1912

GET A WRECK CRANE

Partions of the engine coming apart caused a wreck scare on the Ann Arbor near Milan, Mich., Monday night at 8:30 o'clock. The accident happened to train No. 52, which was coming from Ann Arbor to Toledo. Several Toledoans were on the train. No one was injured.

The Evening Argus April 26, 1912

PREVENTS ACCIDENT

New Steel Derrick of the Ann Arbor Sort of Mascot

Since the Ann Arbor railroad purchased the new 100 ton steel derrick some three months ago not an occasion has presented itself whereby the derrick has had to be used. “the new derrick seems to have corrected the old time box car that has had a tendency to roll off the track without slight provocation,” said Roadmaster C. L. Lindsay this morning. But it is a remarkable fact that since the derrick has been on the road no accident of any consequence has taken place. – Cadillac News

The Toledo News-Bee April 30, 1912

COACHES LEAVE TRACK

Spreading rails caused two coaches of an Ann Arbor southbound train to leave the track three miles south of Ann Arbor, Monday. No one was injured. A new train was made up here and brought the passengers to Toledo

The Evening Argus July 30, 1912

TACKLE BIG JOB

Ann Arbor Railroad Co. Will Move Owosso Building To Vernon Sunday

PROPERTY OF MICHIGAN MILLING CO.

Is to Be Transported on Flat Cars Will Make Way for New Owosso Depot

A novel experiment in building moving is to be made Sunday by the Ann Arbor Railroad company when the big frame structure of the Michigan Milling Co., which is situated west of Washington street, abutting the railroad right of way, will be transported almost intact to Vernon and unloaded there if plans are carried out.

He building is 30 feet wide, 60 feet long and the cupola will be 43 feet above the earth as it rests on the cars. It will be readily seen that the task is not a small one, even as set forth on paper. There will be many wires to move to permit the building to pass under and the work of loading and unloading, as well as other stages of the undertaking, presents difficulties. The railroad company estimates the coast of the moving will be nearly $1,000.

The company is now conducting a business in Vernon and when the building to be moved Sunday, is added to its property there, the Ann Arbor will run a sidetrack to the building to be moved.

It is expected that early next week a gang of workmen will begin excavating for the new Owosso depot, the last obstacle being about to disappear with the removal of the milling company's building.

Rundell Brothers are moving from their building on South Washington street, to the Legg building on South Water street. They have occupied part of the latter building for some time, with their poultry business. The building on Washington street has been purchased by Albert Todd & Co. and will be moved from its present site, probably over near the Ann Arbor freight house, where it will be used as a warehouse.

The Ann Arbor owns the land on which Fred Welch's elevator is located, and intends to eventually utilize that ground for park purposes. However, Mr. Welch will not be disturbed for present.

The Toledo News-Bee Aug. 7. 1912

BEACH TAKES FIGHT TO U. S. COMMISSION

Washington, Aug. 7 – (Special) – As a result of competition between Michigan summer resort promoters, Hirman B. Beach of Toledo, owner of lands and privilages at Hamburg, a few miles from Toledo on the line of the Ann Arbor, filed a complaint with the interstate commerce commission alleging prejudice and undue discrimination against him.

Beach declares that Whitmore Lake, Hamburg and Lakeland are all on the line of the Ann Arbor road, distant from Toledo in the order given. They are all summer resorts on or near inland lakes.

Beach avers that a charge of $1.25 a round trip is made to Whitmore Lake and Lakeland, against a tariff of $2 a round trip to Hamburg, where he owns a lake. He declares passengers to Lakeland are carried a greater distance than to Hamburg, and that this discrimination is hurting his business.

South Frankfort Alert Sept. 27, 1912

Ann Arbor No. 5 has gone to the dry dock for an overhauling and No. 3 is again in commission.


Another wreck on the Ann Arbor yesterday morning near Carland knocked out the train schedules. Train 54, the one that was wrecked near Marion recently, was the unlucky one again. Details are hard to obtain, but it is reported that a large amount of damage was done to track and roadbed.


"It is rumored but we have heard no confirmation of it," said an Ann Arbor railroad man today when asked if the company was going to remove trains No. 57 and 58 from the service between Cadillac and Mt. Pleasant and place them on the runs north of Cadillac. The reason given for the proposed change is that the motor car service is sufficient for the work south of here.—Cadillac News and Express.

The Evening Argus Nov. 11, 1912

WORK ON ANN ARBOR DEPOT PROGRESSING

Expected Now it Will Be Completed By February 1 – Park to Be Provided

Work on the new Ann Arbor depot is being pushed rapidly and the structure will be completed, it is believed now, by February 1. The roof is practically all on the building and the plumbers began work this morning.

The first floor will be used for station purposes, while on the second floor the general superintendent, chief engineer, and chief train dispatchers, with their corps of assistants, will have offices. A blue print room will be located in the tower which overlooks the entire building, where the light will be excellent. The waiting room on the first floor of the building is extraordinarily large.

The large elevator owned by Fred Welch, and the offices of Albert Todd & Co., will be moved away before spring and when warm weather comes again, work will be started terracing the land between the new depot and the river, and transforming it into a small park.

The Evening Argus Dec. 9, 1912

RECONSTRUCT ENGINE TENDERS

Ann Arbor Railroad Co. Thus Plans To Avert Wrecks

The reconstruction of all the engine tenders has been resorted to by the Ann Arbor railroad, as a preventative of wrecks caused by the derailment of the coal cars. Two tenders have already been reconstructed, and the rest of them will undergo the change as rapidly as they can be brought into the shops.

In the past the tenders have been built with extremely high boxes, quite short. When the train is in motion they begin to rock, and their derailment, in a majority of cases is due to the rocking, according to the railroad men. The new plan is to make the coal box and water tank longer and reduce their height.

Engine No. 200, is one of the two which have had their tenders remodeled. The engine and tender have been entirely repainted.

The Toledo News-Bee Dec. 20, 1912

TO MANAGE THE ANN ARBOR

A. W. Towley, superintendent of the Chicago &Northwestern railway, Friday was elected a director, vice-president and general manager of the Ann Arbor Railway company and of the Manistique Railway company at a meeting of the directors of the two roads in New York. He will assume his joint duties Jan. 1, with headquarters in Toledo.