You are correct about the lumber yard. My uncle Carl Wieber co-owned it. Wieber Lumber would receive mixed lumber in a single car often from a warehouse in Detroit. When GTW discontinued shipping mixed lumber in a single car my uncle stopped rail service because they rarely had a need for a single car of the same product.
Fowler Farmers Coop was the older elevator with wood storage bins on the west side of Main Street. They would ship one or two cars at a time. They closed in the early 80's IIRC.
Mathews Elevator is small but more modern elevator with steel silos across the tracks from Wieber Lumber. They had a spur built but stopped shipping shortly after starting because the there was significantly less grain being unloaded at the port (usually Toledo) than what they had loaded. They only used their spur enough to keep it connected to keep the truckers pricing competitive. Coincidentally they often shipped their grain with my Uncle / Cousins trucks, Simon Brothers. They tell me the original Mathews was not a pleasant person to deal with and sometimes would turn down his business. I don't know who owns it now, however.
There was a flour mill on the west end of town that shipped to a bread plant in Detroit. It was owned by the Becker's who also own the wedding gown, furniture and other shops in Fowler. It burned down in the 70's. It was around long enough to ship in GTW airslide cars. Mr. Becker has a very nice HO Scale model railroad in his basement that my Uncle Francis has helped build.
The Team track was busy into the 70's receiving coal, oil, salt, etc. By the 70's the mail and milk business had passed. My grandfather on my dad's side started Simon Trucking and would get commodities in by rail. My dad would have to help load the trucks. He tells me he would shovel coal out of the pit by hand and throw it into a flatbed truck with side panels...all by hand...when he was quite young.
Ferry Traffic (which ended in 1978) was handled by a road freight that departed Detroit late morning. Made pickups at Pontiac and Durand. Would arrive in Muskegon late evening. Quickly turn around and head back to Detroit making pickups at Grand Rapids, Durand and Pontiac.
During the "ferry" era a local worked Durand to Grand Rapids one day then returned the next, making three round trips per week. However, my Uncle Francis told me, that when motivated they would complete the round trip in a day (which was 16 hours back then).
After the ferry service ended locals worked out of Durand and Grand Rapids respectfully, would meet usually in Ionia, then return to their home terminals.
SD80MAC wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2024 4:17 pm
The lumber yard I believe had a spur at one time. Was there a small grain elevator at one point, too?