This cache is on the former grade of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now the White Pine Trail, near Tustin. The cache is on the original grade paralleling the second grade that was built to elevate the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad over the Manistee and Grand Rapids Railroad, south about half a mile from of Tustin. Parking is available downtown Tustin.
Tustin station on the GR&I.
Tustin was first settled in 1871-2 by William J. Townsend. Shortly after, a colony of Swedes recruited by J.P. Tustin as laborers for the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was established and called New Bleking. The village soon became known as Tustin. It was incorporated as a village in 1893. By the early twentieth century, the population was 400.
For a few years, Tustin was the crossing of two Railroads. The first to arrive, and thrive, was the Grand Rapids and Indiana in 1872. The second railroad was the Manistee and Grand Rapids in 1900, but only lasted until 1921.
Stone viaduct (filled in) that carried the GR&I over the M&GR, from beside the M&GR grade west of the GR&I grade.
M&GR grade west side of stone viaduct (filled in) that carried the GR&I over the M&GR, from on top of the viaduct.
1900 plat of Tustin, Michigan
The GR&I began service between Grand Rapids and Cedar Springs on Christmas Day, 1867. By the middle of 1869, the rails were down as far as Morley and on to Paris in the fall of 1870. Trackage was also completed between Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1871, the GR&I acquired the Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad Company, extending the GR&I to Cincinnati. Trackage was extending northward as well. By late 1872, a branch was completed between Walton to Traverse City. By the end of 1873, the line reached Petoskey and in 1882, Mackinaw City, becoming the longest north-south line in the country, at that time. As such, it had a large role in the settlement of northern Michigan. In 1886, the railroad also built a line connecting Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
The primary business in the early years was timber and lumber. This shifted to tourism and the GR&I advertised itself as "The Fishing Line". In partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad, the company built and opened the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in 1887. In 1918, the GR&I was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which operated it until 1975. The Michigan DOT purchased it and leased it to the Michigan Northern Railroad until 1984.
Today, most of the line is gone. The portion of the line between Grand Rapids and Cadillac has become the White Pine Trail. The trail, a state park, is open to hikers and bicyclists in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter.
The Manistee and Grand Rapids Railroad was built over a thirteen year period from 1892 to the first of January, 1906. The line started at Manistee and made it to Peacock, on the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad by the end of 1892, Canfield by 1895, Tustin and Dighton by the end of 1900 and Marion by the end of 1905. While the line had big ideas of getting traffic between Manistee and Grand Rapids or Southeast Michigan, but the traffic never really developed. The line was reorganized in 1913 as the Manistee East and West Railroad, but was abandoned in 1921.
Sources:
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad depot photos
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad
Manistee and Grand Rapids Railroad
Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, L.H.D., © Wayne State University Press, 1986
Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies, Graydon Meints © 1992, Michigan State University Press
Michigan RailroadLines, Graydon Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press
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