Grand Trunk Western Railroad Grand Haven Coal Tipple facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Grand Trunk Western Railroad Grand Haven Coal Tipple
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 Location in Michigan
Location in the United States
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| Location | 300 Block of N. Harbor Dr. in Chinook Pier Park Grand Haven, Michigan |
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| Built | 1925 |
| NRHP reference No. | 16000583 |
| Added to NRHP | September 6, 2016 |
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Grand Haven Coal Tipple is a really tall building in Grand Haven, Michigan. It's a special kind of tower called a coaling tower. Its main job was to load coal into big steam trains. You can find it in Chinook Pier Park, and it's the tallest building in Grand Haven! This historic tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Contents
History of the Coal Tipple
A Busy Railroad Hub
Back in 1869, a company called the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway bought the land by the river. They set up many important railroad buildings there. These included a place to turn trains around, a grain storage building, and a train engine repair shop.
Over time, this railway joined with other companies. It eventually became part of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. In 1902, the railroad started a special boat service from this spot. These "car ferries" carried entire train cars across the water.
Building the Coal Tower
Around 1924 and 1925, the railroad made big improvements in Grand Haven. They built a huge water tower and this very coaling station. This new tower helped them load coal much faster.
When the coal tipple was working, it had a special lift inside. This lift would bring coal up and drop it into the train engines. Two big steel chutes would guide the coal right into the locomotives. An electric motor in a nearby building made the whole system work.
Why It Stopped Working
In 1933, the Grand Trunk Railroad moved its car ferry service to a different city. Because of this, the coal tipple wasn't used much anymore. It sat mostly empty for a while.
In 1949, there was a problem with the ferry dock in the new city. So, the Grand Trunk briefly started using the Grand Haven site again. But this didn't last long.
By the 1950s, new "diesel" trains started to replace the old steam locomotives. Diesel trains don't need coal, so the tower was no longer needed. All the steel parts that helped move the coal were eventually taken out. The railroad stopped carrying passengers to Grand Haven in 1955. By 1975, they stopped all train services and left the tracks.
What the Coal Tipple Looks Like
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Grand Haven Coal Tipple is a very large building. It is made from strong concrete, which is called "reinforced concrete." This means it has steel bars inside the concrete to make it extra strong.
The tower stands 79 feet tall, which is about as high as a seven-story building! It covers an area of 38 feet by 30 feet. The main part of the tower has a big section where coal used to be stored. On top of that, there's a smaller section with a sloped roof. This top part once held the machinery that lifted the coal.
Right next to the main tower, there's a small, one-story concrete building. This was the "power house" that held the electric motor. Also in the park, you can see another historic train, the Pere Marquette Railway Locomotive No. 1223. It's a famous old train that is also listed as a historic place.
How the Tower is Built
The bottom part of the coal tipple has ten strong concrete pillars. These pillars create open spaces, like big doorways, on all sides. Some of these spaces are completely open, while others are filled with a concrete wall.
Above these open spaces, there's a wide concrete band that marks the start of the tower's second level. This level also has sections that line up with the ones below. These sections are recessed, meaning they are set back a bit, and they don't have windows. This is where the coal was stored. The wider section in the middle of the tower continues up to form a third story, which has a concrete roof shaped like a triangle.
