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 over pass 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
west of this village. It seems that soon after the hands commenced work, dirt caved off one side, and slid
rapidly down, burying two of the 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 is 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 and 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 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 the firemen
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 at 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 enabled 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 too great to leave anytime 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 to be 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.
WEST OF IONIA,MI.
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.
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.
on the "Big Hill."West Main overpass was
just around this curve. I took this photo in
1996.
No.20 made numerous trips up the
"Big Hill."
 |