This is the original Michigan Central main line to Chicago, completed about 1852. Station hours and passing sidings (44' cars) are as of 1947.
| Station | MP from Detroit | Notes |
| East End | 186.6 | DN |
| Niles Terminal | Yard | |
| Lake Street | 190.1 | DN |
| Niles Depot | 190.6 | |
| Double Track Switch east end (1890) | 190.7 | |
| Big Four Undercrossing (1890) | 190.8 | |
| Niles West Hill | ||
| Getchel's Siding (1890) | 194.2 | |
| Buchanan | 197.2 | D |
| Dayton | ||
| Galien | 204.7 | DN |
| Barnett Siding | ||
| Avery's | 208.3 | |
| Avery Track Pan | TP | |
| Three Oaks | 210.4 | DN |
| New Buffalo | 217.6 | D P106w |
| Grand Beach (in Michigan) | ||
| C&WM Overhead Crossing | 218.4 | |
| State line | 221.1 | |
| MC Yard (in Indiana) | Yard | |
| Drawbridge | SB | |
| Michigan City | 227.5 | RH |
| Prison Track | 228.1 | |
| CI&L Crossing xCIL | ||
| 10th Street Tower xCSS | DN X/I | |
| Furnessville | ||
| Porter xLSMS | 239.3 | DN X/I J P112w P115e |
| Christman's | ||
| Lake | ||
| Willow Creek xBO | 245.3 | DN X/I P96w P115e |
| East Gary | 248.5 | DN |
| Gary | 253.7 | FH |
| Tolleston xPRR | 255.0 | DN X/I P145w P96e |
| Ivanhoe xEJE | 259.1 | DN X/I P123e |
| Gibson Transfer | Yard | |
| Gibson xIHB | 260.4 | DN X/I |
| Hammond xNP xErie xCIL | 263.4 | X/I |
| Calumet Park xIHB xBO xPRR | 265.2 | DN IHB-Yard |
| Calumet River Bridge | I LB | |
| Kensington KD | Yard | |
| Kensington xIC | 270.4 | |
| Grand Crossing | ||
| 63rd Street | 277.0 | |
| Hyde Park | ||
| 39th Street | ||
| 22nd Street | ||
| Chicago Station | 283.5 | |
| Chicago Yard | EH Yard | |
| Randolph Street | EH | |
Key: BB=Bascule Bridge | C=Coal | CS=Car Shop | D=Open > Day | DN=Open Day and night | DS=Dispatcher | DT=Double Main Track | EH=Engine house | F=Diesel Fuel | HI=Half Interlocked Crossing | I=Interlocked Crossing | J=Junction | LB=Lift bridge | N=Open at night | P=Passing Track w/40' car capacity | Q=Quarry | RH=Roundhouse # stalls | RT=Railroad Resort | S=Scales | SB=Swing bridge | T=Turntable | TC=Telegraph call | TP=Track Pan | W=Water | X=Crossing | Y=Wye | Yard=Yard
In New Buffalo, the PM crosses the MC on an overhead bridge.
[REF] = MC employee timetable #25 4/27/1947, plus additions.
1872. The MC began using so much of their double track as is completed between Detroit and Ypsilanti, and between Niles and Lake. [SHS-1872-1102]
1873. The track of the MC between Niles and Galien is now laid with steel rails, and a smoother track cannot be found in the country. [NREP-1873-1106]
1873. The double track is now completed the entire length through Berrien County. [DFP-1873-1107]The double track is now completed the entire length through Berrien County. [DFP-1873-1107]
1880. A train of 22 cars passed over the MC going west, loaded with horses belonging to a Wayne county, Illinois man. Most of these were stallions of the Perchon Norman breed and purchased by him in England and Normandy and brought to this country for his own stock farm. Each car contained six horses, making 132 horses in all. [NDEM-1880-0821]
1932. Arthur Specht who was injured in an auto accident on US-27 north of Marshall, sustaining a fractured vertebra, was taken to his home in Chicago this afternoon. He made the journey on a cot placed in the baggage car of a MC train. [BCE-1932-1029]
The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:
