How did a Michigan Central Train get to Niagara Falls?

The train pictured on the front of this post card has stopped at the edge of the embankment of Niagara Falls so that the passengers can get out and take a closer look at this geological wonder. There will be a bit more about the train stopping there later in this post.

But first, this train belonged to the Michigan Central Railroad. It is on the edge of Niagara Falls – that is in New York, three states (Ohio and Pennsylvania then New York) away from Michigan. Here is the story of how this train stopping came to be. The first part of the story is taken from a .pdf file from The Michigan Department of Transportation. It is called “Michigan’s Railroad History 1825 - 2014”. This is what that document has to say: On June 28, 1832 the Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad, the first railroad planned to cross Michigan, was chartered. Its name was later changed to Michigan Central Railroad. The Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR) began construction west from Detroit, reaching Ypsilanti by February 1838, Ann Arbor in October 1839, and Jackson on Dec. 29, 1841. On April 23, 1849 the MCRR completed its line to New Buffalo, the first railroad to cross the state. During 1855 MCRR began using the telegraph to control train operations, making it the nation’s first railroad to make widespread use of this system. Then, in April of 1863 in a meeting held in Marshall, 13 Michigan Central Railroad men planned a national railwaymen’s organization, resulting the following month in the founding in Detroit of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the oldest railroad labor union in the Western Hemisphere. On Jan. 2, 1930 the New York Central system acquired a 99-year lease of both Michigan Central and “Big Four” (Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad) lines. This virtually put an end to the Michigan Central Railroad. However, it also gave the company the ability to publish the post card we have here today. That was about the history of the Michigan Central Railroad in Michigan, up to becoming a part of the New York Central system. This part below explains how the Michigan Central train could get three states away and stop by the side of the famous Niagara Falls. It is take from this website: https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-municipal-history/railroads-of-niagara-falls/erie-ontario-railroad/ In 1869, the Erie & Ontario Railroad became the Niagara division of the Canadian Southern Railroad. In order to access the American market, The Canadian Southern Railroad formed a partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad. The Canadian Southern Railroad had a rental agreement with the Great Western Railroad to use their rail line and to cross their railway suspension bridge at the Niagara border. In 1873, the Canadian Southern Railroad was running three trains per day between Fort Erie and Niagara on the Lake. The Canadian Southern Railway began advertising the Falls View and all day trains were stopped 15-20 minutes at this location for sightseeing purposes. Fast trains were stopped for 5 minutes before continuing. In 1883, the rail bed of the Michigan Central Railway leading to the new bridge followed a route that brought the tracks past the front (east side) of Loretto Academy. This resulted in a portion of the original Portage Road in that area to be closed to accommodate the Michigan Central Railroad. All Michigan Central Railroad trains stopped at Falls View for at least 10 minutes to allow everyone to view the majestic Falls of Niagara.

This post card was printed by Metrocraft. They existed from 1939 to 1984 in Everett, Massachusetts. Metrocraft was a major printer of linen and photochrome postcards displaying a variety of subjects. They also printed postcards for many other publishers. A good number of Metrocraft’s early photochrome postcards retained the use of retouchers that had worked on their linens. These cards have a very distinct look before they went over to a completely uniform photographic means of natural color reproduction.