Michigan City Wants to Connect Amtrak Routes

The city commission of St. Joseph, Michigan, wants to see a connection built that would enable all of Amtrak’s Michigan services to serve nearby New Buffalo.

Currently St. Joseph is a stop for Amtrak’s Chicago-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette, but that train does not stop in New Buffalo even though it passes through it.

City officials said connecting the line used by the Chicago-Port Huron Blue Water and the Chicago-Detroit Wolverine Service with the Pere Marquette route would enable residents of St. Joseph to connect in New Buffalo to points in eastern Michigan.

The route used by the Blue Water and Wolverine Service, which is owned by Amtrak, passes through the northeast section of New Buffalo where it crosses the CSX route used by the Pere Marquette.

The city commission asks Mayor Mike Garey to discuss the connection idea with the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission. The vote on the resolution was unanimous.

The Michigan Department of Transportation funds all three Amtrak routes in Michigan.

The Pere Marquette route merges with the Blue Water and Wolverine Service route in Porter, Indiana, and all three services use Norfolk Southern track between Porter and Chicago.

Engine Failure Strands Pere Marquette for 3 Hours

Amtrak’s eastbound Pere Marquette was stranded for three hours on Tuesday night due to locomotive failure near St. Joseph, Michigan.

The train, which had a load of nearly 80 passengers, halted about five miles before reaching the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor station.

“We’re all stopped here . . . My entire unit just shut down,” the engineer was heard saying on a radio recording captured by the Saint Joseph Area Rail and Marine channel of Broadcastify.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the breakdown occurred about 9:45 p.m.

Passengers were eventually taken by bus to their destinations.

The train, which originated in Chicago and was bound for Grand Rapids, Michigan, lacked heat after the engine malfunctioned.

A CSX locomotive was able to move the stranded Amtrak train to the St. Joseph station at about 11:45 p.m. where the 78 passengers remained onboard until buses arrived about 1 a.m.

Although the St. Joseph station also houses a pizza restaurant, that business was closed at the time of the incident.

Extra Pere Marquettes Set for Golf Tourney

Amtrak will operate extra sections of the Pere Marquette to St. Joseph, Michigan on May 26 to accommodate passengers traveling to the Senior PGA Golf Tournament being held that day.

Trains 377 and 378 will operate between Chicago and St. Joseph, stopping at Graham Road, which is walking distance to the golf course.

The trains will also stop at the Amtrak station for Hammond-Whiting, Indiana.

Train 371 will make an extra station stop at Hammond-Whiting to accommodate passengers wishing to stay overnight after golf tournament and return to the Chicago area the next day.

Michigan Residents Fear Lake Michigan Bluff Carrying Amtrak’s Pere Marquette Might Collapse

Some residents of St. Joseph, Michigan, fear that a bluff along Lake Michigan near their property has eroded to the point that it might collapse and take the CSX tracks on it with it.

The line carries Amtrak’s Chicago-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette. The bluff stands above Old Lakeshore Road.

St. Joseph Mayor Mike Garey reviewed photographs of the bluff and said its collapse “wasn’t a matter of if, but when.”

Some of those living near the bluff said they’ve been sending photographs of its deteriorating condition to CSX for 15 years. The railroad has responded that it is monitoring the situation.

The bluff is on property owned jointed by the residents, the city and CSX.

Homeowner Anson Lovillette said he met with CSX consultants four years ago and was told the railroad planned to conduct a study of the bluff. But he said he has not heard back from CSX on what that study found.

The bluff is being eroded by a gap that opened in the 1990s in the shoreline along the lake and has grown to about 120 feet in width.