Lake Shore and Michigan Southern

This post card is a picture of three trains parked at the Lake Shore Depot in Hillsdale, Michigan. This is part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad (LS & MS RR).

We can see that there were at least three tracks at the station, but I know from another source that there were at least four tracks. If you look in the very front part of the crowd between the two steam engines you can see a water standpipe. It was used to fill the tenders of the steam engines.

Take a look at the telephone poles. That is a lot of wire on those poles!!

Here is the history of the LS & MS RR as found in Wikipedia: "The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833 and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie (in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio) and across northern Indiana. The line's trackage is still used as a major rail transportation corridor and hosts Amtrak passenger trains, with the ownership in 1998 split at Cleveland between CSX to the west and Norfolk Southern in the east." By 1873 Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt had purchased the LS & MS and incorporated it into the New York Central Railroad. He needed this line to connect New York to Chicago.

The post card was made by the Union News Company.

The following information is from the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City: It was based in New York between 1908 and 1969 this was a wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Company they became major distributors of postcards and other printed items through their newsstands at hotels, rail and subway stations. Their cards were published by a variety of different companies including American News, Curt Teich, Robbins Brothers, and Valentine & Sons. Sometimes only their logo appears on a card, but it is often hand stamped on cards not originally published for them.

The post card was received in Norwalk, Ohio on September 5, 1911. There is no postmark to say when it was sent. Evidently, a young lady is keeping her mother posted about her whereabouts and their well-being. We can’t tell if this is a honeymoon or two people travelling for a different reason. It says that they are going to Angola, which is in the northeast corner of Indiana.