Michigan Central Railroad

CTL-E-3671 · Institution · company · 19th–20th century

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Railroad that employed Elijah McCoy as a locomotive fireman and oilman after racial prejudice barred him from engineering work; it was while hand-oiling the Michigan Central's steam locomotives that McCoy developed the automatic lubricating cup he patented in 1872.

The record

Also known as: Michigan Central

Notes

RELP83 new supporting entity (2026-10-06): created as the genuinely-needed affiliated_with target for CTL-E-1039 Elijah McCoy (no canonical railroad entity). Scope limited to McCoy's employment; no independent railroad history researched. Name-collision check clean. +2 claims (both Verified, tier-1 NPS), +2 evidence. Provisional (minimal scope).

Referenced by

Elijah McCoy — affiliated with → this record

Sources

National Park Service - Elijah McCoy: Inventor of 'The Real McCoy' (primary source)

Record CTL-E-3671 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 1 source (1 primary) · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: RELP-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Michigan Central Railroad (CTL-E-3671),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-3671/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Michigan Central Railroad (CTL-E-3671).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-3671/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Michigan Central Railroad (CTL-E-3671) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-3671/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Michigan Central Railroad (CTL-E-3671).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-3671/

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