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AUGUST 18 ISSUE ANSWERS (photo to right): The staff at the Romeo Historical Society Archives has been trying to locate the site of this bridge for quite a while. Finally we compared it to the Macomb Orchard Trail bridge near Powell Road and 33 Mile Road. It is the same bridge. That means the train was coming from Richmond and soon arriving in Romeo. The Michigan Air Line Rail Road started in 1870 and went from Richmond to Romeo. It wasn’t until 1898 that the Grand Trunk bought the line and extended the system around Michigan. The engine in the photo is a 4-4-0. That’s the wheel identification. Without being able to consult our locomotive staff experts, I feel it was the Baldwin locomotive that traveled through Romeo regularly until 1908 when it was retired and replaced with a heaver duty locomotive. That year the Ford Model T engine foundry was casting blocks and shipping them to the Dodge plant in Detroit. The foundry was located on West Lafayette and South Rawles. 23,000-30,000 Model T castings were shipped from the Romeo Foundry to Dodge and then to the Ford Piquette plant to be installed in Ford cars. This operation lasted for 4-5 years. So we might call this engine “the little engine that couldn’t.” R. Beringer, Romeo Historical Society staff

AUGUST 18 ISSUE ANSWERS (photo to right): The staff at the Romeo Historical Society Archives has been trying to locate the site of this bridge for quite a while. Finally we compared it to the Macomb Orchard Trail bridge near Powell Road and 33 Mile Road. It is the same bridge. That means the train was coming from Richmond and soon arriving in Romeo. The Michigan Air Line Rail Road started in 1870 and went from Richmond to Romeo. It wasn’t until 1898 that the Grand Trunk bought the line and extended the system around Michigan. The engine in the photo is a 4-4-0. That’s the wheel identification. Without being able to consult our locomotive staff experts, I feel it was the Baldwin locomotive that traveled through Romeo regularly until 1908 when it was retired and replaced with a heaver duty locomotive. That year the Ford Model T engine foundry was casting blocks and shipping them to the Dodge plant in Detroit. The foundry was located on West Lafayette and South Rawles. 23,000-30,000 Model T castings were shipped from the Romeo Foundry to Dodge and then to the Ford Piquette plant to be installed in Ford cars. This operation lasted for 4-5 years. So we might call this engine “the little engine that couldn’t.” R. Beringer, Romeo Historical Society staff

Covering the villages of Armada and Romeo as well as the townships of Addison, Armada, Bruce, Oakland, Ray and Washington

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