Detroit, Toledo, & Ironton Railroad

Train Company

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The Detroit, Toledo, & Ironton Railroad (reporting mark DTI) operated from 1905 to 1983 between its namesake cities of Detroit, Michigan, and Ironton, Ohio, via Toledo. At the end of 1970, it operated 480 miles of road on 760 miles of track; that year it carried 1,245 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

The DT&I went bankrupt in 1908, but remained solvent until it was purchased by Henry Ford in 1920. Ford recognized the strategic importance of the line to his automobile business; the line connected Dearborn, Michigan, to all of the major east-west rail lines in the Midwest. This gave Ford direct control over shipments of raw materials and finished goods to and from his factories in Dearborn.

Subject ID: 32014

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The Detroit, Toledo, & Ironton Railroad (reporting mark DTI) operated from 1905 to 1983 between its namesake cities of Detroit, Michigan, and Ironton, Ohio, via Toledo. At the end of 1970, it operated 480 miles of road on 760 miles of track; that year it carried 1,245 million ton-miles of revenue freight.

The DT&I went bankrupt in 1908, but remained solvent until it was purchased by Henry Ford in 1920. Ford recognized the strategic importance of the line to his automobile business; the line connected Dearborn, Michigan, to all of the major east-west rail lines in the Midwest. This gave Ford direct control over shipments of raw materials and finished goods to and from his factories in Dearborn.

In 1929, Ford sold the line to a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad after becoming disgusted with what he considered interference and over-regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission. In 1930, the railroad de-electrified in favor of standard equipment.

In 1968, the DT&I's parent company, the Pennsylvania Railroad, merged with its longtime rival, the New York Central Railroad, to become the Penn Central, which declared bankruptcy two years later and sold off the DT&I to private investors. In 1980, the DT&I was acquired by the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW). Under the GTW, the DT&I locomotives were painted in the red and blue livery of the GTW, but retained the DT&I logo. In December 1983, the DT&I was completely assimilated into the GTW.

Subject ID: 32014

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Subject ID: 32014