Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad given to railroads (which would then re-sell these lands for a profit) in exchange for constructing certain routes. At the heart of Michigan's network at the time were the Michigan Central Railroad and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, both of which ran east-west across the southern Lower Peninsula. As proposed in the route would run from "Amboy by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay." This route would bisect the existing railroad network and provide a railroad connection to Lansing, the new state capital. Almost immediately local interests intervened: the
Robert Lansing (state senator) Robert Lansing (state senator) Robert Lansing (; February 2, 1799 Albany, New York – October 3, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was the son of Judge Sanders G. Lansing (1766–1850) and Catherine (Ten Eyck) Lansing (1769–1850). He attended Union College but did not graduate. In 1817, he removed to Watertown, studied law there with Egbert Ten Eyck (1779–1844), and was admitted to the bar in 1820. He was District Attorney of Jefferson County from 1826 to 1833. On December 22, 1831, he married Maria Hubbard (d. 1839), and they had several children, among them