Detroit Commuter Rail (SEMTA)

I was looking through some old transit fact books published by the American Public Transit Association and noticed that there was a line between Detroit and Pontiac at least until 1981, first operated by the Grand Trunk Western RR and then by the Southeastern Michigan Authority. Anyone have any more information about this such as cars used, ridership levels, how long it lasted, etc?

You're talking about the old SEMTA service, which came to an end in 1983. This pic represents their equipment, which was steam-heated single-levels with high-nose Geeps…this page outlines a lot of sad facts related to Detroit public transit.

The GP units ended up at MBTA and the coaches were sold to Metro North and MARC I believe.
The Metro North cars later went to Ringling Barnem and Bailey's circus train.

Why was the service abolished?

According to the page I linked, it appears that the state of Michigan kept cutting subsidies to the point of there being no operational funds.

Well.... Not exactly. Amtrak does offer 10 ride tickets to Pontiac so some people might still use Amtrak on this line for commuting

Not for commuting, unless fares are low enough. Given the low frequency, and potential for delay due to length of total journey, the odds are against that.

Two thoughts come to mind after reviewing this material; first it sure seems as if those PRR "World's Fair Cars" got around.

In the photo the Budd car on the right is such a car. Originally the car was delivered to the PRR during 1950 as a 21 Roomette "--Inn" Sleeper. During 1963, the PRR converted that group of cars to Coaches in anticipation of increased Corridor traffic to the 1964 NY Worlds Fair. Be assured any corner that could be cut was cut; you could clean the interior with a garden hose. But because of their Sleeper heritage, I found these cars to ride well.

Today, some of those cars, as Mr. Railnut notes, are rostered by Maryland's MARC. I observed one last June at Martinsburg.

Of interest is that the Grand Trunk Western, the predecessor rail operator to SEMTA assigned steam locomotives to the service until "quite late in the game". As I recall there was steam assigned there during 1958, but perchance I can perfect that date with a review of TRAINS from that era..

GTW steam ran on Detroit commuter trains until March 1960, if I recall correctly. Operation of the trains was handed over to SEMTA in 1974. I did a search for SEMTA, and the agency doesn't even exist anymore, and appears to be replaced by DARTA and SMART.

Roster information from GTW Historical Society

Irish Chieftain wrote:According to the page I linked, it appears that the state of Michigan kept cutting subsidies to the point of there being no operational funds.

For quite a while, traffic was good and growing. They even bought the old PRR Keystone ("tubular") cars, but never used them.

Just north of Detroit was a very large Chrysler plant. When that plant shut down, SEMTA lost most of its traffic overnight, dooming the service. I rode it shortly before the end; passenger loadings were dismal.

Everyone:

We here at NRHS National have the Detroit-Pontiac SEMTA schedules in our collection for 10/30/78 and 7/1/80. The earlier timetable shows pictures of the equipment as well as an outdoor shot at the downtown Detroit Grand Trunk Western station. There were four trips each rush hour — later expanded to five in the latter timetable. The Birmingham station was neat — it actually high level platforms — and when the service ended, the engines indeed went to MBTA and the cars to Metro-North Commuter Railroad. It was a kick seeing the cars marked MNCW with the Detroit-area town names such as BLOOMFIELD HILLS and CLAWSON. I recall they were good cars — where are they now?

Seeing that Detroit was such a maligned city as it was, losing the rail service to me was an indication of its decline.

Info and opinion from MACTRAXX

When did SEMTA take over the old GTW commuter service out of Detroit? What did the service end? The brochures and timetables I have from that era are very optimistic. Any info would be apprecaited.

-otto-

Otto, here is a rather comprehensive site with regards to Detroit commuter service.

http://hometown.aol.com/motranzit/page9.htm

I trust it is noted that these trains were the last such in the US, save of course tourist railroads and mainline excursions, to have steam locomotives assigned.

Supposedly these trains were rode more by Chrysler workers going to an assembly plant than by office hot-shots going to Renaissance Center, the riverfront buildings built in downtown Detroit to stimulate downtown jobs. According to the website above, the trains terminated at Renaissance Center (otherwise they'd go in the drink...)

Drink? Well, I would call the detroit river a river. But, I do believe SEMTA used part of the old Detroit trolley tracks downtown.....