The Lincoln Secondary was once the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad's physical entry to Detroit. As was the case of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Company Rouge Cutoff (built in the late 1920's), it was a late bloomer of the Detroit Railroad scene, created to ease congestion as well as to provide a company owned gateway to the region's fast-growing automotive business.
PRR had a presence in Detroit prior to construction of its Lincoln Branch. To gain access to the region PRR used the Pere Marquette Railroad from Alexis (near Toledo, OH) to Romulus, and the Wabash Railroad from Romulus to Delray. From Delray, PRR had its own tracks to the facilities of the Fort Street Union Depot (shared with PM and Wabash). PRR was sole owner or co-owner of several miles of Detroit area belt line and branch line properties, utilizing track rights over Pere Marquette or Wabash to reach them.
The sum total Detroit area PRR properties were the north end of the PRR
Toledo Division, which started at milepost 0.0 Toledo Junction (which was on the Fort
Wayne Division just west of Mansfield, OH).
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