Jackson Michigan News and Information, News for Jackson MI
By way of background, there used to be a grade-level railroad crossing on I-94 north of Albion. This was the New York Central Railroad branch tracks from Albion to Springport. This line was what remained of the old Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad which was laid in 1872 from Jonesville to Lansing. When I-94 was built in the late 1950s, the Michigan Highway Department wanted the tracks removed, but the railroad still had customers in Springport and Devereaux. So, the tracks remained and a grade level crossing was installed. The crossing bells were manually turned on and off by the train crews as they crossed each side of I-94. It was not the safest situation, as cars that were driving 70 mph would have to slow down, stop, and wait for the trains to cross.
On the morning of Friday, January 1, 1965 between 9 and 10 am, I-94 was snow covered and slippery north of Albion, and several minor accidents were occurring during a snowstorm. Wayne Garrison, 46, of Jackson, was driving the Jackson County Road Commission scraper salt truck westbound on I-94 past the M-99 bridge. As he approached the railroad crossing ahead, he slowed down to 15 mph to raise his scraper blade in order to safely clear the tracks. He had only 50 feet to go before reaching the nearby Calhoun County line, where he would have customarily turned around and headed back east on the other side of the highway.
Unfortunately, quickly approaching him from behind was a car driven by William Smithson, 20, of Detroit, who was traveling west enroute to Chicago. The car was pack with seven persons, including several members of the Horton family. Suddenly approaching the slow-moving salt truck, the car was unable to stop in time, and plowed into it at 60 mph. The impact broke the tailgate and spilled the salt contents onto the car. Killed were Clinton Horton, 65, and his wife Lillian, 62 (she died the next day of her injuries at Sheldon Memorial Hospital in Albion). These were the parents of Detroit Tigers rookie baseball player Willie Horton. The latter at the time was in Puerto Rico playing winter baseball with the Mayaguez winter league team. Willie was notified and immediately secured a plane back to Detroit.
A group of traveling nurses from Canada happened to come upon the accident scene and provided first aid to the injured until help arrived. The others in the vehicle were severely injured and taken to Sheldon Memorial Hospital in Albion for initial treatment; some were subsequently transferred to bigger hospitals.
This accident no-doubt provided impetus to put further pressure on the NYC to either build an expensive trestle over the highway, or to abandon the line. Furthermore, business along the line declined as a natural gas pipeline was laid to Springport in 1966, eliminating the need for railroad coal cars. There was also an embargo on shipments of Michigan wheat by rail at the time. So, in 1966 the railroad applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the line, and received approval two years later. On August 31, 1968, the final Penn Central switch engine left Springport for Albion with a car full of grain from the Springport Elevator, and the tracks were then officially abandoned. The removal of the rails occurred over the next several weeks.
The state highway department reconstructed I-94 in late 1969 and early 1970, by removing the tracks and bringing the level of the road up to match the rest of the highway. Unfortunately, the reconstruction area was deemed dangerous, and there were numerous accidents in the lane cross-over areas by motorists who ignored the “reduce speed” and “form one lane” signs. Very early on Saturday October 4, 1969, Albion resident Barry Hubbard, 19, was struck and killed by an auto when he got out and tried to replace a vital barricade sign in the reconstruction zone that had been knocked away. Thus, this crossing claimed its third victim.
A ten-minute video entitled “Crazy Highway Railroad Crossings” has just been produced by railroad enthusiast Drayton Blackgrove, formerly of Jackson. Much of it is about the history of this crossing. I encourage my readers to view this. Go to Youtube, then type in “Delay in Block Productions” in the search engine. You’ll get their homepage, and then choose this video’s name to access it. The video has already been shared on some Facebook Michigan railroad sites.
From our Historical Notebook this we present a photograph of the former railroad crossing along I-94 north of Albion. This view looks east, and you can see the M-99 bridge over I-94 in the distance. How many of our readers remember this crossing? Please drive safely this coming New Year’s weekend.
