The Diesel Shop Serving The Railfan Community since 1994
Canadian National's Lansdowne plows through ice flows on the Detroit River. (Photo from collection of Tom Rock / Detroit Marine Historical Society )

The Detroit River has long been a vital component of both U.S. and Canadian economies. For the uninitiated, the largest type of cargo vessel typically found on the river was the lake freighter built specifically for use within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System. Watching these long lake boats was favorite past-time for many observers. However, there was another important type of maritime vessel that plied the river. It was the rail car ferry that shuttled cargo and people between Michigan and Ontario, Canada from one season to the next. Click the link to learn more about the utilitarian-looking Detroit River legacies. On an entirely different note, the website's industrial sector has been expanded with the addition of two new groups. The first is "Aluminum Producers"" which already consists of rosters from eight companies. The other newcomer is "Chemical Companies" which is the most recent component and so far consists of 12 rosters of leading national producers. These rosters along with the many prior Steel industry listings were developed through the collective efforts of primarily Andre Kristopasn, Randy Keller, Gareth McDonald, Bruce Mercer, Bob Graham, P.Allen Copeland, and Ron Stafford. Speaking of rosters, the format for a new CPKC roster has been uploaded; so far it only consists of the three locomotive unknown to currently wear the recently developed corporate garb. Lastly and somewhat related is the recent reconfiguration of the Military and Governmental section.