Inside the Historic Michigan Central Railroad Shops at Jackson, Michigan

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Miller Truck & Storage is the proud owner of the former Michigan Central Railroad Shops at Jackson Michigan - which permanently closed as a repair facility in the mid-1970s. We spoke with Dave Heins, Miller’s Vice President and General Manager, to learn more about their business.
Warehouse no. 5 is the former Michigan Central Railroad locomotive shop. It’s also the same building where the unloaded steel coils are stored. Miller uses a track mobile to shove the cars into the facility and utilizes overhead cranes to place the coils on the shop floor. This building was where the Michigan Central and later New York Central built and repaired steam locomotives for nearly eighty years. The other Michigan Central shop facility was at St. Thomas, Ontario and is now a museum.
In the spring of 1949, the shops closed temporarily because of a Toledo coal strike. They were supposed to re-open in July of that year, but due to industry change and the gradual transition from steam to diesel, it was decided that the shops would no longer be utilized as a steam locomotive maintenance facility. The remaining buildings in the yard were used for generalized repair and storage until Conrail leased and later sold the property to Miller in the late-1970s.
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[@muir8009]

Isn't it excellent that Dave Heins takes the time and opens Millers' doors as it were for what is realistically an industry unrelated train enthusiasts video. Nice guy. Great production as always guys

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Thank you so much for watching! Yes, Dave is a great guy. He actually retired a couple years ago. I was waiting to put this interview in with another project that fell through, but after finding those photos from the 1940s, I thought adding Dave’s interview would be a nice touch. He and everyone else at Miller are great people. They were always kind to me growing up. -Drayton

[@SaturnMist09]

What a wonderful video and an amazing family for helping to keep part of the MC/NYC steam history alive. Thank you for all you do and the beautiful drone footage.

[@thomasmackowiak]

Nice video, Drayton! Thank you for this video on how the Michigan Central Railroad's locomotive repair facility is being repurposed.

[@UltraMagaFan]

I’m really glad I found your channel. These videos are great.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Thank you, that means a lot. Let’s Go Brandon!

[@AB-mw8wu]

Nice job!

[@cadenmcmexican7999]

This video was a awesome surprise Drayton!! It’s always nice to see little abandoned places like this get repurposed, it really reminds me of our facility at KY Steam👀👀

[@ffxcity1]

I just happened to be in Vandercook Lake visiting relatives on July 1, 1976 and saw the red glow in the sky from that shop fire. It was quite a sight for a young lad even at 4 miles away.

[@mikewasilewski3622]

That was a wonderful video. My dad Leo Wasilewski worked for the Michigan Central in the boiler shop. The pic of the worker on top of the boiler looked a lot like him. He then went on to be a Boiler Forman at NYC in the ajoining yard. Thanks for posting this.

[@hoosiertrucker191]

Thank you for this video. I was born and raised in Jackson, only a few blocks from this place, and after I moved away, I had a hard time sleeping due to the lack of the sound of train switching operations...lol Never been inside, but I remember the fires in the '70's, and the turntable and roundhouse being overgrown from lack of use.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Thank you for watching. That means a lot!

[@RailPreserver2K]

I wonder if the owner will try and maybe have part of the shop made into a museum later on down the road because these old shop facilities are getting rarer and rarer every year.

[@TheMadness51]

Love seeing history of Michigan RR's! Thanks Drayton!

[@johnuhelski8613]

I shot CONRAIL F units and GP's here in the 1970's when the roundhouse was intact. What a big change since then ! Roundhouse gone but remainder looks great now. Back then it looked a disaster zone. Great Vid.

[@zachariassiefker9249]

Awesome video! It is very interesting to know that the buildings that a local trucking company uses now were once steam locomotive repair shops for the railroad! Very cool!

[@NW-gi1cp]

Incredible

[@Arisfamiliy]

Good my friend 😊💯💯👍👍👍

[@dougkubash8673]

Thanks for sharing! Really enjoyed the video!

[@iiigraghu]

Great to know the historical facts and the present status of this Railroad through this latest video presentation. Excellent Enterprising Endeavour. Hearty Greetings from India 🎉🙏

[@TheCheffydave]

Great history lesson, on an historic building

[@brianwilson6403]

My Great x2 Grandfather worked at the Pere Marquette RR boiler shop in Ionia MI. He and 2 of my Uncles were killed in the Saline MI train wreck in July 1907.

[@josephignudo7405]

I work at Amtrak’s Wilmington shops. Which was built 1903 interior looks similar to the Jackson shops. Man if these old buildings could talk!

[@cinderpath]

After the shops were no longer used for heavy steam locomotive repair, they were used by NYC, then Penn Central for maintenance of way track equipment repair, which was later transferred to Conrail's M/W repair shop in Canton, Ohio.

[@brandonharrischannel7516]

Oh cool

[@haasebahn]

I’ve been here before!

[@Patric5590]

Awesome video of KZbinbah 👍😎🇺🇸

[@4everdc302]

MCRR shop in ST Thomas is the Elgin County Railway Museum housing CN 5700 if anyone's looking it up.🚂🇨🇦

[@TrainDriverM]

Nice video

[@losi5ivet29cc]

St. Thomas Ontario is my home town I've been to the old M.C.R .R shop which is now the ECRM Elgin County Railway Museum. It still sports the MCRR logo on the north side of the building. We are famous for the old CASO line and Jumbo the elephant. Maybe one day you will get a chance to come check it out.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

I would love to visit one day. I've been closeby but have never had the opportunity to stop.

[@tpniefer]

I'm in Chatham, Ontario and have visited ECRM. I found the museum to be very interesting. Even my wife enjoyed the visit and was amazed with the restoration projects.

[@DF11G]

So sad that round house is gone

[@markrhuett]

When all is quiet in the warehouse, maybe you can hear that ghostly echo of the steam engines being worked on in that bygone era.

[@arthurschipper8906]

Why not use the infrastructure that is in place? Drayton killing it again.

[@ecpcharles]

Hey! Can you direct me to the url to which you found those photos? I found the archieve but have no idea what sub folder the photos are under.

[@medfittphotography3489]

What music did you guys use for this video?

[@davidharmier6518]

Are there any easy ways to tell a Dash 8 from a 9 or an AC from a regular dash.

[@bradolsen8629]

How much do each of those steel coils weigh??

[@bradolsen8629]

I was asking you a genuine question I will say to get how much does each coil weigh please answer

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

@@bradolsen8629 Sorry about that. To answer your question, each coil usually weighs between about 7 to 15 tons depending on the length and thickness of the plating. Coils weighing up to 30 tons are not uncommon.

[@bradolsen8629]

@@DelayInBlockProductions That’s plenty big that’s for sure wow 30 tons is the heaviest

[@killerbees177]

But is it haunted🤔