| THE BIG HILL |
| 1875 MAP SHOWING THE BIG HILL WEST OF IONIA,MI. |
| This photograph was taken during the extension of the Lowell & Hastings Railroad from Lowell to Belding in 1899. These men are working on digging through a cut with hand tools and loading dirt into a dirt car. This is the same type of car used on the "Big Hill" west of Ionia. Photograph from the Fallasburgh Historical Society. |
| This photograph I took in 1996 showing the old Ionia & Lansing Railroad grade on West Main Street. This is a west view showing where the railroad went over West Main Street west of Ionia. The old railroad grade is on the left. |
| Southeast view of the old railroad grade on the "Big Hill."West Main overpass was just around this curve. I took this photo in 1996. |
| Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan No.20 made numerous trips up the "Big Hill." |
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| State Prison |
| The "Big Hill" west of Ionia was one of the biggest obstacles in the construction of the Ionia & Lansing Railroad. In May, 1869, a large force of men were put to work grading on the hill west of Thos. Cornell's. The early part of the work was started at four or five different points. In July, 1869, sufficient iron arrived in Ionia to lay one mile of track. This rail was delivered west of Ionia to be put down for some dirt cars on the hill. Chubb & Bignell got the job of constructing some dirt cars that would be drawn by horses. At this time the road is graded a distance of over a mile north of the hill. In October, 50 more men were put on for grading and in February, 1870 when the work force was reduced between Ionia and Greenville because of nearing completion of the road, the work force was not reduced on the big hill. An overpass to go over West Main Street also had to be built. This overpass was built twice as the first time it was built out of line. On February 19, 1870 the Ionia Sentinel reported: "A fatal accident occurred, yesterday morning at the big cut, on the Ionia and Lansing Railroad, one mile east of this village. It seems that soon after the hands commenced work, dirt caved off one side, and slid rapidly down, burying two hands. One of them threw himself under a hand car before the dirt reached him, which protected him, so that when dug out, he was living, but seriously, perhaps fatally injured. The other one named Doyle, was buried standing. His companions at once commenced digging him out, and had uncovered the whole upper part of his body, when another mass of sand came down, and buried the unfortunate man five or six feet deep, smothering him to death." There were approximately 9 dirt cars at work carrying dirt back east of the hill towards Ionia to reduce the grade. On the 19th of September the construction train from Ionia reaches Greenville. In August, 1871, the grade on the big hill was again being reduced when the Ionia & Lansing Railroad, which at this date is now the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan, bought seventeen acres north of the big hill to provide fill for their new car shops in Ionia and on the grade west of town. Again in November, 1872 the railroad company was reducing the grade on the "Big Hill." After the line was completed to Howard City, the grade on the big hill still required "pushers" on the heavy trains going north out of Ionia. On Friday, May 23, 1873 the Ionia Sentinel reported this incident on the road that could have been very serious: "On Saturday last, the freight going north on the D.,L.&L.M.R.R. met with a curious and rather serious accident, but with results that seems fortunate in view of all the circumstances. The train had stopped just this side of the Stanton Junction, about three miles from town, and the extra locomotive that had been pushing up the heavy grade was on its way back. In starting the train, a coupling pin broke, and the rear part of the train---nine cars in all--- commenced a backward movement down the grade. |
| It so happened that not one person was left on this part of the train, the conductor being at the forward end, the brakeman having just passed in the same direction, and there being no passengers in the caboose, there was no one to check the rapidly increasing speed of the train. The cars with constantly increasing momentum gained rapidly on the locomotive, but owing to the frequent curves of this part of the track, neither the engineer nor fireman could see the pursuing cars until they were coming down the steepest part of the grade, near the Cornell farm. Instantly comprehending the cause of the accident and its probable catastrophe, the engineer crowded on all steam, and whistled for the switch to be opened at the station, for there was another train standing at the depot, and if the two trains came together, with the locomotive in the center, the crash would be awful. Fortunately some one in the yard had presence of mind enough to know what was wanted. All the sidetracks in the vicinity of the shops were crowded with cars, so the best thing that could be done was to open a switch and run both locomotive and the train following off the track. On came the racers at the rate of sixty miles an hour, with utter indifference to the city ordinance regarding the speed of trains through the city. Fortunately no teams or little children were in the way, as pursuers and pursued rushed along Front street with the speed of the wind and the noise of several thunders. The engineer, fireman and Peter Smith, who was on the engine for a free ride, all jumped off near the shops, and none of them sustained any serious injury, although one or two of them did some remarkable feats on the ground and lofty tumbling line. The damage was not as bad as might have been supposed. The track was torn up some, the caboose was badly smashed, and the head of the locomotive was considerably shattered. Fortunately workmen and tools were handy, and soon afternoon the track was cleared, and the mail train, which had been delayed here since nine o'clock, was able to proceed. About the time of the catastrophe a dispatch was received at the office from the conductor at Stanton Junction saying the train had parted and warning them to look out for its approach. The speed of the train had been to great to leave anyone to act on the cautionary advice of the telegram." In June of 1878, when the railroad is the Detroit, Lansing and Northern, the company is busy reducing the grade on the big hill again. This time a temporary track was built to one side of the old grade and then the old grade was reduced eight feet. Forty men were hired from the Ionia House of Correction at 60 cents a day. These men worked under guard of men armed with Spencer rifles. One man, excused for a moment to enter a wheat field, escaped but was recaptured right away. This was cheap labor for the railroad company. If they hired civilians they would have had to pay 75 cents to $1.25. |