| Tracks of the present CSX railroad through New Buffalo
were originally laid by the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore railroad, built
in 1869 to connect New Buffalo and St. Joseph. This line later became part
of the Pere Marquette main line connecting Detroit and Chicago. New Buffalo
was the last PM railroad yard on home rails for trains making the run to
Chicago. During the steam era, it became quite a large complex, complete
with a 16 stall roundhouse, watertowers and two coaling towers; one on the
service tracks and one over the mainline.
New Buffalo is a stop on Amtrak's "Pere Marquette", but
the old depot is long gone. The depot shown here is a replica of the old
depot and is home to the Harbor County chamber of commerce and the New Buffalo
railroad museum. Three stalls of the roundhouse remain, in use as a gym.
The steam engine shown in the photo above, a 1935, 2' gauge Henschel, was
on loan from the Heston(IN) Steam Association. It has since been removed.
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