Fordney was a location on the south side of the City of Saginaw. In 1888, the newly built Flint & Pere Marquette Saginaw Belt Line (N-S) crossed the MC/PM (E-W) line which ran between Paines and (west) Saginaw. This was the former J&LS branch to Mackinaw. An interlocking tower was installed here at the crossing of these lines.
Image Info: Top, a drawing of the original interlocking at Fordney in 1888. Drawn from a blueprint in the State of Michigan Archives. [Dale Berry]. 2nd image, a map drawn from a blueprint at the Michigan State Archives, c. 1915. [Dale Berry]. 3rd image, an actual blueprint of the crossing in 1948,
The MC line through here (originally the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw) was built in 1867. The Belt Line was built by the Flint & Pere Marquette in 1888. the crossing was named after Joseph W. Fordney, a U.S. Congressman and a lumberman who had mills near this location.
From the beginning, this crossing was protected by an interlocking tower. The interlocking machine was of US&S manufacturer, apparently using a "Gravitt" pattern with the "wheel" method used to set switches, locks, derails and signals. (See MAL crossing in Jackson County for a description of this unique form of interlocking). Five wheels were used to control six derails, six locks, as well as four "signals and indicators". [SMA-IF] Typically, when a wheel was turned, it activated a set of functions in the proper order. Gravitt interlockings normally used "wires" to control semaphore signals, derails and locks and they were less expensive to install than S&F pipe controlled interlockings. Gravitt interlockings required a disproportional amount of adjustment and most were replaced within twenty years. This operation may have lasted longer.
According to blueprints in the State Archives, the tower here was removed about 1943 and replaced with a stand-alone ground machine worked by train crews wishing to cross the MC Jackson Branch.
The PM Belt Line was removed around 1960 and the tower discontinued by this time.
Location: 43o24.470'N and 83o58.815'W. Northwest of S. Michigan Avenue and Stewart Street, Saginaw.
The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:
