This cache is located near the former crossing of the Pere Marquette Railroad and the Grand Trunk Railroad. The cache is hidden on Muskegon County road right-of-way.
TS&M - PM Diamond at Simpson, 2000 Courtesy, Benjamin Higdon
Toledo Junction, later known as Simpson, was the crossing of two early railroads. The first, was the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore, which was constructed through here in 1871. The other line, the Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon, came later in 1888. The TS&M constructed an interlocking tower at the crossing. At one time, there were three crossing diamonds here, as the PM had 2 sidings off it's main line here. In 1919, the interlocking tower was replaced by swing gates.
The Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad was chartered in 1869 and built a 27-mile line between New Buffalo and St. Joseph, which opened on February 1st, 1870. Also in 1870, The C&MLS built the Grand Rapids & Lake Shore between what would become North Yard in Muskegon, and Nunica, connecting with the D&M. Running rights were negotiated with the D&M to gain access to Grand Rapids. The GR&LS was consolidated into the C&MLS, on August 15th. The line from the south was extended from St. Joseph to Grand Junction in northern Van Buren County on February 28th, 1871, and through Holland to Waverly by June 30th, 1871. In 1871, the C&MLS built the link from Waverly to Nunica and extended the line north from Muskegon to Montague and eventually Pentwater and Big Rapids.
The C&MLS went into receivership and was reorganized on December 20th, 1878, as the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad. On September 1st, 1881, The C&WM, the Grand Haven Railroad (formerly Michigan Shore Line) and two other lines were reorganized into the Chicago and West Michigan Railway, The new C&WM had two redundant lines between Holland and Muskegon and chose to abandon the original C&MLS line between Waverly and Fruitport in favor of the more direct Michigan Shore Line route. The portion of the line from Fruitport, through Simpson, to North Yard in Muskegon remained active. In late 1899, the C&WM and several other lines were merged into the Pere Marquette Railroad, which began operating on January 1st, 1900. In 1934, the PM abandoned the remainder of this line from just south of Simpson to Fruitport. The rails from North Yard to Simpson remained in service for much longer as yard tracks to service Muskegon industries.
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In 1887-89, the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon, was constructed between Ashley and Muskegon. Rails reached Carson City in September of 1887, Greenville in November of 1887, Cedar Springs and Muskegon by the end of the year. Construction continued in 1888 for ballasting, sidings and depots. On August 1st, 1888, a lease of the TS&M to the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada was completed. A mail and express train and a mixed train (freight with passenger service) was operated daily between Owosso (over the Ann Arbor Railroad to Ashley) and Muskegon. The line was known as the Turkey Trail because it meandered like a turkey and also because it allegedly never made money.
In 1928, GTC was merged with other Michigan Grand Trunk subsidiaries into the Grand Trunk Western, itself a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway. In 1930, GTW secured trackage rights between Grand Rapids and Muskegon over the Pennsylvania Railroad (former Grand Rapids and Indiana) Muskegon Branch. Service on the Turkey Trail was reduced to way freights and mixed trains. In 1946, with heavy service operating over the PRR, the portion of the line between Greenville and Muskegon was abandoned. A short portion through Simpson was maintained until the mid 1970s to service nearby industries.
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