The Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) operated mostly
passenger trains between Chicago and Detroit. These trains ranged from locals to the
Wolverine. In 1904, MCR began a long-term lease of
Canada Southern Railway (CSR), which operated the most direct route between Detroit and New York. CSR's mainline cut through the heart of
southwestern Ontario, between
Windsor and
Fort Erie. The new service, known as the Canada Division Passenger Service, saw a major surge beginning at the start of the 1920s. Between 1920 and 1922, the legendary
Wolverine passenger train operated in two sections, five days per week along CSR's mainline. Then, in the summer of 1923, the eastbound
Wolverine began running from Detroit to Buffalo without any scheduled stops in Canada, making the trip in 4 hours and 50 minutes, an unprecedented achievement. During the same summer, the Canada Division was moving 2,300 through passengers per day. By the end of the decade, a fleet of 205
J-1 class Hudsons – one of the most powerful locomotives for passenger service yet designed – was hauling passengers along the CSR mainline. However, by the 1930s the
Wolverine was making stops in the Canadian section of the route. Also, by the late 1940s, the
Empire State Express passed from Buffalo into Southwestern Ontario; however, it terminated at Detroit. While Michigan Central was an independent subsidiary of the
New York Central System, passenger trains were staged from Illinois Central's
Central Station (in Chicago) as a tenant. When MC operations were completely integrated into NYC in the 1950s, trains were re-deployed to NYC's
LaSalle Street Station home, where other NYC trains such as the
20th Century Limited were staged. IC sued for breach of contract and won because the MC had a lease that ran for a few more years. The MC route from Chicago to
Porter, Indiana, is mostly intact. The Kensington Interchange, shared with the
South Shore Line, was cut out. These tracks now belong to
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, and are overgrown stub tracks ending short of the interchange. Some trackage around the Indiana Harbor Belt's Gibson Yard has also been removed. The MC's South Water Street freight trackage in downtown Chicago is also gone.
Amtrak trains serving the Michigan Central Detroit line now use the former NYC to Porter, where they turn north on Michigan Central. Passenger equipment was mostly similar to that of parent New York Central System. Typically this meant an
EMD E-series locomotive and
Pullman-Standard lightweight rolling stock. Because
General Motors (
Electro-Motive Division) was a large customer of Michigan Central, use of
Alco or
General Electric locomotives was less common. ==Freight services==