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Detroit and Mackinac Railway: Map, Roster, History

Last revised: October 20, 2026

By: Adam Burns

The Detroit & Mackinac Railway Company was the shore railroad of northeastern Michigan. Reporting mark DM. On the timetable it was the Turtle Line. The name Mackinac is said Mackinaw along this shore. The main line ran from Bay City to Cheboygan, with the lake on one side and the cut-over pinelands on the other, and the branches reached Rose City, Rogers City, and the Au Sable. The company was incorporated on December 29, 1894. On February 1, 1895, it received the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena. In 1992 the operation passed to the Lake State Railway, which bought the lines in 1997.

At valuation it was a single-track, standard-gauge steam railroad. The Commission described the main line as about 195 miles, from Foss through Alpena to Cheboygan, and the company reached Bay City over 1.80 miles of trackage rights on the Pere Marquette. The diesel fleet on this page is eighteen locomotives, each frame once. Alco built the road engines. A General Electric 44-tonner and a Plymouth completed the list.

Detroit and Mackinac Railway RS-2 No. 4610 in the snow, about 1964

Detroit & Mackinac RS-2 No. 4610 in the snow, about 1964. Serial 74988, built in November 1946, and later given a 1,600-horsepower Alco engine. No. 466, the first production RS-2, is a different locomotive.

On this page: A lumber railroad · The Railway · Bay City and Cheboygan · The Turtle Line · At a glance · The 1910 map · The Straits · Diesels · Lake State

A lumber railroad

The Commission’s corporate chart begins with a Lake Huron company, and the transcription of the report calls it the Lake Huron and Southeastern Railway, incorporated on March 4, 1879. Michigan accounts call that beginning the Lake Huron & Southwestern, incorporated on April 15, 1878, by the Tawas City lumbermen Charles and Sylvester Hale. The Commission puts the company in receivership on May 23, 1879, and dates a judicial sale October 1, 1879. Charles Prescott bought the property at that sale. The road the Hales opened ran from Tawas City toward Prescott on a gauge of 3 feet 2 inches. The Commission records 21 miles, built in 1879, from Tawas City to a point near Mills. The Michigan account says 26 miles to Prescott.

The Tawas and Bay County Railroad was incorporated on February 19, 1880, for a term of thirty years. The Lake Huron property was conveyed to it on September 7, 1880. On April 2, 1883, the Tawas company owned 26.04 miles, the Commission’s 21 miles plus its own 5.04 from Mills to Prescott, described as the line from East Tawas to a point near Prescott, and sold that road the same day. The buyer was the Bay City and Alpena Railroad, incorporated on January 18, 1881, which took the name Detroit, Bay City and Alpena on the day of the sale. The Tawas company was still in existence on the valuation date. On May 17, 1886, it took a lumber railroad of 33.050 miles, from a point near Lincoln to the Black River, with a spur from Mud Lake Junction to Mud Lake, and conveyed those miles the same day to the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena. Russell Alger’s lumber trade stood behind that expansion. The Detroit, Bay City and Alpena built from a point near Prescott to Alger in 1883, 9.360 miles, and from East Tawas toward Lincoln in 1883–1885, 31.950 miles. George Hilton records that this 3-foot 2-inch railroad was laid on standard-gauge ties, and that the gauge was changed in 1886.

The Detroit, Bay City and Alpena then pushed a branch from Rose City to Goodar in 1886 and 1887, 35.980 miles, and reached Alpena from the Black River in 1888, 23 miles. Logging spurs added another 8.860 miles. The whole of that older railroad, including what the Tawas company and the Lake Huron company had built, came to a recorded 168.240 miles. On November 1, 1893, the company went into receivership. It was sold at foreclosure on November 8, 1894.

The Railway

The Detroit & Mackinac Railway Company was incorporated on December 29, 1894, under the general laws of Michigan, to acquire the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena. J. P. Morgan & Co.’s syndicate books record the reorganization under January 10, 1895. On January 6, 1895, James D. Hawks told the Detroit Free Press that he had been in New York on the business of the reorganized company. On January 9 the paper reported his election as manager, with G. M. Crocker as auditor. Receivers and a purchasing committee ran the property until February 1, 1895, the day it was surrendered to the new company.

Hawks was still vice president and general manager in 1916, and the general office that year was the Boyer Building in Detroit. The Commission’s principal office, on the valuation date, was Alpena. The 1918 report places the office of the president in New York. Henry K. McHarg of Stamford, Connecticut, was on that board, and by 1917 the Commercial and Financial Chronicle described the company as controlled by McHarg and his associates. The shops, and the headquarters of the railroad’s later years, were at Tawas City.

Detroit and Mackinac C425m No. 381, built as Pennsylvania 2444, near Grayling, Michigan, in June 1991

Detroit & Mackinac C425m No. 381 near Grayling in June 1991. Built as Pennsylvania 2444 in December 1965, serial 3433-08. Karl Miller photo.

Bay City and Cheboygan

The new company bought the Alpena and Northern on April 15, 1895. That railroad had been incorporated on November 1, 1893, and in 1893 and 1894 it had built, on a narrow gauge, from Alpena to La Rocque, 28.900 miles, and from La Rocque out to Valentine Lake, 25.800 miles. The Detroit & Mackinac carried the line on from La Rocque to Onaway, 17.290 miles, between August 27, 1897, and May 31, 1899, and from Onaway to Cheboygan, 27.500 miles, between July 1, 1901, and June 30, 1904. Cheboygan was the north end.

South of Tawas the new main line into Bay City opened on September 20, 1896. The Commission measures it as 47 miles, from Emery Junction to the Saginaw River bridge, built between May 16, 1895, and that opening day. In 1896 and 1897 the company took an undivided half interest, with the Pere Marquette, in 0.260 mile of road and in the bridge at Bay City. From Bay City back to Foss, 1.80 miles, its trains used the Pere Marquette under an agreement of January 23, 1896, for fifty years. Bay City was the market, and the interchange, with the Michigan Central, the Grand Trunk Western, and the Pere Marquette. The Chesapeake & Ohio acquired the Pere Marquette in 1947.

The Harrisville cutoff, Lincoln Junction to the Black River, was finished on December 15, 1901, 23.310 miles along the lake. The Rogers City branch was finished on June 18, 1911, 14.410 miles. From May 11, 1912, the Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company used 2.20 miles between Calcite and Rogers City, and the railroad rented that company a coach, at $2.50 a day, to carry quarry men between the shops and the town. Limestone joined the older lumber traffic. For the year ending June 30, 1916, gross earnings were $1,175,726. In 1915–16 forest products were still 26.44 percent of the traffic. The shore towns shipped limestone, cement, sugar beets, and the rest of the general freight.

The company’s own construction came to 198.260 miles. Beyond Bay City, Cheboygan, the Harrisville cutoff, and Rogers City, the shorter pieces were Alabaster, 4.260 miles, finished between June 30 and October 31, 1898; Hillman, 23.300 miles, in 1907–1909; Onaway to Black Lake, 5.140 miles, finished November 30, 1903; Omer to Au Gres, 7.950 miles, finished February 29, 1904; Tower toward the Wolverine Road, 12.000 miles in 1899, and Tower to Indian River, 9.100 miles by June 30, 1900; Fletcher Junction to Fletcher Dam, 2.000 miles, about 1898; and 5.000 miles south from Case, built between 1900 and 1906.

A second narrow-gauge logging road came in from the Au Sable. The Potts Logging Railway was incorporated on August 5, 1887, and on July 17, 1891, was sold to the Au Sable and Northwestern Railroad, incorporated that day. On January 2, 1906, that railroad was sold to H. M. Loud’s Sons Company. A new Au Sable and Northwestern Railway, incorporated on January 8, 1908, acquired the property on June 5, 1914, and sold it to the Detroit & Mackinac the next day, June 6, 1914. The purchased mileage was 61.360: Au Sable to Comins, 50.340 miles, and Hardy to Beevers, 11.020. The Commission describes those miles as narrow gauge on the day of the sale. The Potts mileage the Au Sable railroad had bought was about 37 miles, from Au Sable to McKinley. The Michigan account remembers the road as a 3-foot line following the river, built to bring J. E. Potts’s lumber down to the shore interchange.

The Commission published several measurements, and they answer different questions. The main line it describes is about 195 miles. The road the company wholly owned and used is 359.605 miles. Another 4.259 miles, Alabaster Junction to Alabaster, was owned and leased to the Erie & Michigan Railway & Navigation Company from July 29, 1907. That branch had been built as 4.260 miles. Add the company’s own construction, 198.260 miles, the 168.240 miles from the reorganization, and the two purchases, 54.700 and 61.360, and the books show 482.560 miles. Subtract 87.650 abandoned, of which 15.820 was construction, 50.410 was reorganization mileage, and 21.420 was purchase, and the recorded figure is 394.910. The difference between that figure and the mileage inventoried is 31.046, which leaves 363.864 miles inventoried on the valuation date. The Chronicle for July 1, 1916, counts the operated system at 387.12 miles: Bay City to Cheboygan 195, the Au Sable division 50, Rose City 31, Prescott 12, Lincoln 14, Au Gres 8, Alabaster 4, Hillman 22, Rogers City 14, and logging branches 36. The subtotals in the table are the sums of the rows in each group. The recorded total is those two subtotals plus the two purchases. The rows under that total are the Commission’s reconciliation.

PieceMiles
Turned over February 1, 1895, from the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena
Lake Huron company, Tawas City to near Mills, 187921.000
Tawas and Bay County, Mills to Prescott5.040
Lumber railroad conveyed May 17, 1886, near Lincoln to the Black River, and the Mud Lake spur33.050
Near Prescott to Alger, 18839.360
East Tawas to near Lincoln, 1883–188531.950
Rose City to Goodar, 1886–8735.980
Black River to Alpena, 188823.000
Logging branches8.860
Subtotal, February 1, 1895168.240
Built by the Detroit & Mackinac
Emery Junction to the Saginaw River bridge, opened September 20, 189647.000
La Rocque to Onaway, finished May 31, 189917.290
Onaway to Cheboygan, finished June 30, 190427.500
Alabaster Junction to Alabaster, 18984.260
Fletcher Junction to Fletcher Dam, about 18982.000
Tower to a point near the Wolverine Road, 189912.000
Tower to Indian River, finished June 30, 19009.100
Case to a point south, 1900–19065.000
Lincoln Junction to the Black River, finished December 15, 190123.310
Onaway to Black Lake, finished November 30, 19035.140
Omer to Au Gres, finished February 29, 19047.950
Alpena to Hillman, 1907–190923.300
Rogers City, finished June 18, 191114.410
Subtotal, built by the company198.260
Purchases
Alpena and Northern, April 15, 1895. Alpena to La Rocque 28.900, and La Rocque to Valentine Lake 25.80054.700
Au Sable property, June 6, 1914. Au Sable to Comins 50.340, and Hardy to Beevers 11.02061.360
Recorded total, the two subtotals and the two purchases482.560
Less abandoned: construction 15.820, reorganization 50.410, purchase 21.42087.650
Recorded mileage after those abandonments394.910
Difference between recorded mileage and the mileage inventoried31.046
Inventoried on the valuation date363.864
Wholly owned and used359.605
Main line described by the Commission, Foss via Alpena to Cheboyganabout 195

The Turtle Line

The railroad took the slogan The Turtle Line and spent its early years on heavier rail, new locomotives, and the summer trade. It advertised the Lake Huron shore to fishermen and to people leaving the cities, opened the Tawas Beach Resort, and helped organize the Tawas Bay Yachting Association. Through 1911 it dispatched six passenger trains a day in each direction. After the first war the automobile thinned that business. The seasonal trains faded through the 1930s, and after the second war the passenger account was a steady loss.

In 1949 the company asked the Michigan Public Service Commission for permission to take off the remaining trains. The permission was given, and then withdrawn after the protest. A six-month trial with the Grand Trunk Western, through Bay City into Detroit, left the passenger account where it stood. The commission allowed the trains to end. The last ones ran on March 31, 1951, with RS-2 No. 466 on the point, from Alpena down to Bay City. After that the railroad was a freight road: stone from Rogers City and Alpena, cement, sugar beets, and whatever the shore mills still shipped.

Three Detroit and Mackinac RS-2s on southbound freight AB-2 south of Tawas City on July 13, 1976

Three Detroit & Mackinac RS-2s on southbound freight AB-2, Alpena to Bay City, south of Tawas City on July 13, 1976. The track north of Alpena was later removed. Bob Lenardson photo.

A Detroit and Mackinac train unloading the Chief Wawatam in June 1979

A Detroit & Mackinac train unloading the Chief Wawatam in June 1979. Rob Kitchen photo.

At a glance

ItemDetail
Legal nameDetroit & Mackinac Railway Company
Reporting markDM. The Turtle Line
HeadquartersPrincipal office at valuation, Alpena. General office in 1916, the Boyer Building, Detroit. Shops and the later headquarters, Tawas City
OfficersJames D. Hawks, manager from January 9, 1895, and vice president and general manager in 1916. Henry K. McHarg of Stamford, Connecticut, and his associates, in control by 1917. President’s office in 1918, New York
Gauge3 feet 2 inches on the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena, converted in 1886. The Alpena and Northern was narrow gauge when sold in 1895. The Au Sable mileage was narrow gauge in 1914, and the Michigan account calls that road 3 feet. At valuation the railroad was standard gauge
IncorporatedDecember 29, 1894. Property of the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena surrendered February 1, 1895. That company’s receivership began November 1, 1893, and the foreclosure sale was November 8, 1894
GenesisLake Huron company. Michigan accounts: Lake Huron & Southwestern, April 15, 1878. The valuation transcription: Lake Huron and Southeastern, March 4, 1879
Main lineAbout 195 miles, Foss via Alpena to Cheboygan, plus 1.80 miles of Pere Marquette trackage rights, Bay City to Foss
Owned and used359.605 miles of road. Inventoried mileage, 363.864. On July 1, 1916, the Chronicle counted 387.12 miles operated
BranchesRose City, Rogers City (finished June 18, 1911), Harrisville cutoff (finished December 15, 1901), Au Sable to Comins and Hardy to Beevers (purchased June 6, 1914)
CheboyganOnaway to Cheboygan finished June 30, 1904
Bay CityOpened September 20, 1896. Half of the Saginaw River bridge with the Pere Marquette
Last passenger trainsMarch 31, 1951, RS-2 No. 466
Diesels18 frames, each once
OperationLake State Railway from 1992, under a lease. The lines were bought in 1997, no later than April 16

The 1910 map

The public sheet of 1910 still shows the railroad at its widest: the shore line from Bay City to Cheboygan, the Rose City branch, the Rogers City branch, the Harrisville line, and the Au Sable lines inland to Comins. Logging spurs on a sheet of that date come and go with the timber. The operated mileage the Chronicle printed six years later, 387.12, is the system this map belongs to.

Official 1910 system map and timetable of the Detroit and Mackinac Railway

An official 1910 system map and timetable of the Detroit & Mackinac Railway. Author’s collection.

The Straits

The car ferry at the Straits belonged to the Mackinac Transportation Company, owned by the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, the Grand Rapids & Indiana, and the Michigan Central. Its boat from 1911 was the coal-fired Chief Wawatam, launched that year at Toledo. The Detroit & Mackinac met the ferry only after it began operating the old New York Central line, the Michigan Central’s Mackinaw route, from Bay City through Gaylord and Cheboygan to Mackinaw City. Accounts differ on the year. One places the trackage and the trackage rights in 1976, after Penn Central and the coming of Conrail. Another places a purchase, and a state designation of the Detroit & Mackinac as operator, in 1979. Either way, the inland line put the Turtle Line on the Straits at last, and a Soo crew waited on the St. Ignace dock for the boat.

The Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957. Highway ferries ended that day. The Chief kept the railroad crossing, with a state subsidy after the Commission allowed the ferry company to quit in 1976. Her last crossing was August 21, 1984.

Soo Line GP30 No. 708 unloading the Chief Wawatam at St. Ignace in June 1979

Across the Straits at St. Ignace, Soo Line GP30 No. 708 unloads the Chief Wawatam in June 1979. The ferry was the Mackinac Transportation Company’s, and the railroad on that dock was the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, later the Soo Line. Rob Kitchen photo.

Diesels

The diesel fleet is eighteen locomotives, each frame once. Alco’s S-1 No. 646 came in June 1946. RS-2s 466 and 467 followed that October. No. 466, serial 73645, is the first production RS-2, and it drew the last passenger trains on March 31, 1951. Three more RS-2s, 468, 469, and 4610, came in November 1946, and No. 481 in January 1948. No. 4610, in the snow photograph, later carried a 1,600-horsepower Alco engine. The later Alcos were secondhand: two Boston & Maine RS-3s rebuilt by Morrison-Knudsen with 251 engines, a Long Island C420, a Delaware & Hudson RS-2 that had gone to the Long Island, a Long Island RS-3, and four Pennsylvania C425s rebuilt as C425m. A General Electric 44-tonner built for the Minneapolis & St. Louis, and a Plymouth of 1927, complete the list.

ModelNumbersBuilderSerialOrderBuiltQtyNotes
44-ton10GE15122—September 19421Built as Minneapolis & St. Louis 10
DLC-6D-120Plymouth2728—September 19271—
C425m181Alco3433-073433December 19651Built as Pennsylvania 2443. Later Conrail 2443. Sold to Waymore Power and scrapped
C425m281Alco3433-063433December 19651Built as Pennsylvania 2442. Later Conrail 5076, formerly Conrail 2442. Scrapped
C425m381Alco3433-083433December 19651Built as Pennsylvania 2444. Later Conrail 5078, formerly Conrail 2444. The engine near Grayling. Scrapped
RS-2466Alco73645—October 19461First production RS-2. Last passenger trains, March 31, 1951. To the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay as 466. Scrapped in December 2011
RS-2467Alco73646—October 19461To Mississippi Power & Light
RS-2468Alco74986—November 19461To Lake State 468
RS-2469Alco74987—November 19461To Lake State 469. Later a parts source
RS-2481Alco75571—January 19481Scrapped
S-1646Alco74437—June 19461To Lake State 646
TE56-4A974Alco80751—October 19541Rebuilt by Morrison-Knudsen with a 251 engine. Built as Boston & Maine RS-3 1512. Later a parts source
TE56-4A975Alco80756—October 19541Rebuilt the same way. Built as Boston & Maine RS-3 1517. Scrapped
C420976Alco84779—February 19641Built as Long Island 208. To Lake State 976. Scrapped
RS-2977Alco77571—November 19491Built as Delaware & Hudson 4020. Later Long Island 1520. To Lake State 977. Scrapped
RS-31077Alco81353—November 19551Built as Long Island 1553. To Michigan Northern 1077, then Ohio Central 1077
C425m1280Alco3433-033433December 19651Built as Pennsylvania 2439. Later Penn Central 2439 and Conrail 2439. To Lake State 1280, then the Saginaw Railway Museum
RS-24610Alco74988—November 19461Received a 1,600-horsepower Alco engine. The engine in the snow photograph

Steam had handled the road until these engines. One locomotive remains at the restored depot in Lincoln, and the depot at Standish houses a museum and rolling stock.

Lake State

In 1992 the operation passed to the Lake State Railway, reporting mark LSRC, owned by James George and Richard L. Van Buskirk, Jr. The Interstate Commerce Commission served the lease-and-operation exemption, Finance Docket No. 32012, on February 27, 1992. By February 17, 1992, Lake State was already a railroad employer. That day an affiliated company, Huron Services, owned by the same two men, began repairing Lake State’s locomotives and running tank-car transloading at Bay City and Oscoda.

Lake State leased the lines and, in 1997, gave notice that it would buy them. The notice, Surface Transportation Board Finance Docket No. 33372, published on March 28, 1997, covers about 275 miles between Kawkawlin and Gaylord and between Pinconning and Rogers City. The pieces are the Pinconning Subdivision, mileposts 5.0 to 11; the Mackinac Subdivision, milepost 116 to the end of the line at 122; the Huron Subdivision, milepost 16 to 151.25, including the Pinconning crossover; the Rogers City Branch, mileposts 0.0 to 11.0; and the Hillman and Alabaster branches. The purchase was to be completed no later than April 16, 1997. The Detroit & Mackinac name stayed on property after that. A notice of February 4, 2004, still names the company as owner of the Bay City Yard line, with Lake State holding an easement to operate over it.

On February 2, 2000, Lake State petitioned to abandon the Huron Subdivision from milepost 125.2, at the U.S. 23 crossing in Alpena, to milepost 151.25, just north of Metz, and the Rogers City Branch from milepost 141.8 at Posen to milepost 11.5, 37.55 miles in all. Lake State still operates the surviving shore line and the surviving inland line. The Lincoln depot and the Standish depot are the places a traveler can still walk into the Turtle Line.

Related reading

Sources

  • Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 121, Detroit & Mackinac Railway Company. A single-track, standard-gauge steam railroad. Main line from Foss via Alpena to Cheboygan, about 195 miles. Trackage rights, Bay City to Foss, 1.80 miles, over the Pere Marquette, under an agreement of January 23, 1896, for fifty years. Wholly owned and used, 359.605 miles of road. Jointly owned with the Pere Marquette, 0.260 undivided mile and the Saginaw River bridge at Bay City. Owned and leased to the Erie & Michigan Railway & Navigation Company, 4.259 miles, Alabaster Junction to Alabaster, from July 29, 1907. The branch was built as 4.260 miles. Principal office at Alpena. Incorporated December 29, 1894. Detroit, Bay City and Alpena sold at foreclosure November 8, 1894, after a receivership begun November 1, 1893, and reorganized February 1, 1895. Bay City and Alpena incorporated January 18, 1881, and renamed April 2, 1883. Tawas and Bay County incorporated February 19, 1880. The Lake Huron property was conveyed to it on September 7, 1880. On April 2, 1883, the Tawas company owned 26.04 miles, East Tawas to a point near Prescott, and sold that road the same day. The Lake Huron company in the transcription, March 4, 1879, receivership May 23, 1879, judicial sale October 1, 1879, 21 miles built in 1879. Alpena and Northern incorporated November 1, 1893, sold April 15, 1895, as 54.70 miles of narrow-gauge railroad. Au Sable and Northwestern Railroad incorporated July 17, 1891, sold to H. M. Loud’s Sons Company January 2, 1906. Au Sable and Northwestern Railway incorporated January 8, 1908, and sold to the Detroit & Mackinac June 6, 1914, 61.360 miles described as narrow gauge. Bay City line opened September 20, 1896, 47 miles. The company’s own construction totals 198.260 miles. Onaway to Cheboygan finished June 30, 1904. Lincoln Junction to the Black River finished December 15, 1901. Rogers City finished June 18, 1911. Recorded mileage 482.560, less 87.650 abandoned (construction 15.820, reorganization 50.410, purchase 21.420), 394.910. Inventoried, 363.864. Owned and used, 359.605.
  • Graydon M. Meints, Michigan Railroads & Railroad Companies, for the Lake Huron & Southwestern of April 15, 1878, the Hale brothers, the 26 miles to Prescott, and Charles Prescott’s purchase at the October 1, 1879 sale. George W. Hilton, American Narrow Gauge Railroads, for the 3-foot 2-inch gauge of the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena, laid on standard-gauge ties and converted in 1886.
  • J. P. Morgan & Co. syndicate books, Vol. 1, the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena reorganization and the Detroit & Mackinac Railway Company, January 10, 1895. Morgan Library & Museum, ARC 108.
  • Detroit Free Press, January 6 and January 9, 1895, as carried on the Michigan railroads timeline. James D. Hawks, in New York on January 6 on the reorganized company’s business, and elected manager on January 9. G. M. Crocker, auditor.
  • Annual report of the Detroit & Mackinac Railway Company for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1916. J. D. Hawks, vice president and general manager. General office, the Boyer Building, Detroit. Gross earnings $1,175,726. Annual report for the year ending December 31, 1918. Henry K. McHarg of Stamford, Connecticut, on the board. Office of the president, New York.
  • Commercial and Financial Chronicle, Railway and Industrial Section, October 27, 1917. On July 1, 1916, 387.12 miles: Bay City to Cheboygan 195, Au Sable division 50, Rose City 31, Prescott 12, Lincoln 14, Au Gres 8, Alabaster 4, Hillman 22, Rogers City 14, and logging branches 36. Forest products, 26.44 percent of the traffic in 1915–16. Henry K. McHarg and associates in control.
  • Roob Allie, “They Shed No Tears,” Trains, July 1951. The Turtle Line’s resort advertising, six passenger trains each way through 1911, the Tawas Beach Resort, the Tawas Bay Yachting Association, the 1949 petition, the six-month trial with the Grand Trunk Western, and the last trains on March 31, 1951, with RS-2 No. 466.
  • Mackinac Bridge Authority, history of the bridge. Opened to traffic November 1, 1957. Mackinac Transportation Company, owner of the Chief Wawatam, the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, the Grand Rapids & Indiana, and the Michigan Central. The Chief’s last crossing, August 21, 1984.
  • Federal Register, March 28, 1997, Surface Transportation Board Finance Docket No. 33372. Lake State Railway Company, acquisition of about 275 miles from the Detroit & Mackinac, the mileposts named in the notice. Lake State was already leasing those lines. Consummation no later than April 16, 1997. The lease exemption is Interstate Commerce Commission Finance Docket No. 32012, served February 27, 1992.
  • Railroad Retirement Board employer determination covering Huron Services. Operations began February 17, 1992, repairing locomotives for Lake State Railway, BA No. 3289, and running tank-car transloading at Bay City and Oscoda. Richard L. Van Buskirk, Jr., and James George owned Lake State jointly and owned Huron Services equally.
  • Federal Register, February 4, 2004. The Bay City Yard line remained the property of the Detroit & Mackinac Railway Company. Lake State held an easement to operate over it.
  • Federal Register, February 22, 2000. Lake State Railway, petition to abandon from milepost 125.2 at Alpena to milepost 151.25 north of Metz, and the Rogers City Branch, 37.55 miles.
  • The Diesel Shop, Detroit and Mackinac diesel roster, revised September 11, 2023, http://www.thedieselshop.us/D&M.HTML. Reporting mark DM. The eighteen locomotives, serials, builders’ dates, and dispositions in the table. No. 466 is called the first RS-2, dated October 1946. Its RS-2 production roster, and this site’s RS-2 roster, give 468 and 469 as serials 74986 and 74987, November 1946, give 4610 as serial 74988, November 1946, and give 481 as serial 75571, January 1948. The published serial for 469 is 74987. The published month for 481 is January 1948. No. 977, serial 77571, is the Delaware & Hudson RS-2 4020, later Long Island 1520.

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    Oct 30, 26 04:03 PM

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    Amtrak handed the 1910 Portal Bridge over for demolition on October 29, 2026, during the final cutover to Portal North. Regular NJ Transit and Amtrak schedules are expected November 15.

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  11. Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger Review Runs to 2027

    Oct 30, 26 03:59 PM

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    Union Pacific says the Surface Transportation Board's review of the Norfolk Southern merger gathers information through May 28, 2027. A closing still depends on board approval.

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  12. Amtrak Board Will Hear Restructuring Comments on November 10

    Oct 30, 26 03:41 PM

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    Amtrak's board will hear public comments on its restructuring on November 10, 2026, from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern. Written comments were due October 30. A proposal goes to the board in December.

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  13. Canadian Pacific Selkirk 5931 Restored in Calgary

    Oct 30, 26 01:36 PM

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    Heritage Park in Calgary unveiled a cosmetic restoration of Canadian Pacific 2-10-4 No. 5931 on October 27, 2026. One of two surviving Selkirks. It stays on display.

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  14. Gettysburg Railway to Host Steam for Lincoln

    Oct 30, 26 01:18 PM

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    Northern Central Railway of York No. 17 will recreate Lincoln's arrival at Gettysburg on November 18, 2026, with public steam trips November 19-21.

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  15. NC&StL No. 576 to Steam for the Public in Nashville

    Oct 30, 26 01:00 PM

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    Nashville Steam will fire NC&StL 4-8-4 No. 576 for the public on November 7, 2026, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 220 Willow Street. Admission is free.

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  16. Pennsylvania Railroad E8s Join the T1 Trust

    Oct 30, 26 12:38 PM

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    The T1 Trust has acquired former Pennsylvania Railroad E8A diesels 5702A and 5761A from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. They are bound for Cumberland.

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  17. Ligonier Valley Railroad: History, Roster, Timetable

    Oct 30, 26 12:03 PM

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    The Ligonier Valley Railroad ran 10.5 miles from Latrobe to Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Opened December 1, 1877. Last day August 31, 1952.

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  18. Toledo, Peoria & Western Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 30, 26 10:25 AM

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    Toledo, Peoria & Western diesel locomotives, each frame once. Thirteen Alcos, three Lima-Hamilton switchers, and 26 Electro-Motive units.

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  19. Toledo, Peoria & Western Steam Roster

    Oct 30, 26 09:14 AM

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    Toledo, Peoria & Western steam locomotives from the Rogers Consolidations of 1895 through the 4-8-4s of 1937

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  20. Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway: Map, Roster, History

    Oct 29, 26 11:12 PM

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    History of the Toledo, Peoria & Western. The Peoria & Oquawka, George P. McNear, the Santa Fe and Pennsylvania years, and the railroad that came back in 1989.

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  21. Cotton Belt Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 29, 26 07:58 PM

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    St. Louis Southwestern diesel locomotives, each frame once. Baldwin switchers, F units, and new Cotton Belt-lettered power through the GP60s of May 1990.

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  22. Cotton Belt Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 29, 26 06:52 PM

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    St. Louis Southwestern steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Ten-Wheelers, and twenty class L-1 4-8-4s. The quantity column is 297.

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  23. Cotton Belt Railroad: Map, Logo, History, Rosters

    Oct 29, 26 10:56 AM

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    History of the St. Louis Southwestern, the Cotton Belt Route. The Tyler Tap, Paramore's silver spike, the Thebes Bridge, the Blue Streak, and Southern Pacific control. Steam and diesel rosters are sep…

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  24. Pere Marquette Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 11:54 PM

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    Pere Marquette steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Mikados, Pacifics, and 39 Berkshires. The quantity column is 503.

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  25. Pere Marquette Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 11:48 PM

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    Pere Marquette diesel locomotives, each frame once. Two SW1s, 14 NW2s, three GE 70-tonners, eight E7As, and six BL2s delivered lettered Chesapeake and Ohio. The quantity column is 33.

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  26. Pere Marquette Railway: Map, Logo, Rosters, History

    Oct 28, 26 11:44 PM

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    History of the Pere Marquette Railway. Timber roads, the Prince years, the Van Sweringens, the Ludington car ferries, and the Chesapeake and Ohio merger of June 6, 1947.

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  27. Nickel Plate Road (Railroad): Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 28, 26 10:51 PM

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    History of the Nickel Plate Road, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis. The Seney syndicate, the Van Sweringens, the Berkshires, and the Norfolk and Western absorption at 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964…

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  28. Nickel Plate Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 10:48 PM

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    Nickel Plate diesel locomotives, each frame once. Alco switchers and PAs, GP7s and GP9s, and the GP30s. The quantity column is 440. The 1950 fleet was 117.

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  29. Nickel Plate Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 10:43 PM

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    Nickel Plate steam locomotives built since 1900, including the Lake Erie and Western, the Clover Leaf, and the Wheeling engines that took Nickel Plate numbers. The quantity column is 786.

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  30. EMD "E9" Locomotives: Specs, Roster, History

    Oct 28, 26 10:37 PM

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    EMD E9 cab units and boosters, 2,400 horsepower, built April 1954 through January 1964. Gear ratios, specifications, and the production roster by owner, serial, and order.

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  31. NYC 4-6-4 #5344, "Commodore Vanderbilt"

    Oct 28, 26 04:31 PM

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    NYC J-1e Hudson 5344, the Commodore Vanderbilt. Alco, November 1931. Carl Kantola’s shroud, December 1934, then a Dreyfuss bullet nose in 1939. Scrapped at Collinwood in 1954.

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  32. New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois Railroad: A South Bend Shortline

    Oct 28, 26 11:05 AM

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    The New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois, the Jersey Line, ran from South Bend to Pine. Singer built it in 1905. Wabash stock control came in 1926. Two diesels, and the steam the record names.

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  33. Monon Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 10:13 AM

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    Monon diesel locomotives, each frame once. F3s, nine BL2s, the C420s, and eight U23Bs. The quantity column is 96. The 1951 fleet was 57.

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  34. Monon Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 10:09 AM

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    Monon steam locomotives built since 1900. Twelve-Wheelers, Mikados, light Pacifics, and thirteen six-wheel switchers. The quantity column is 148.

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  35. Monon Railroad: Map, Photos, History, Logo

    Oct 28, 26 09:55 AM

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    History of the Monon, the Hoosier Line. The New Albany & Salem, the X at Monon, Barriger's streamliners, and the Louisville & Nashville merger of July 31, 1971.

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  36. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 09:48 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas. 406 locomotives, each frame once. Baldwin switchers, Alco cab units, F units, Geeps, and the SD40-2s.

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  37. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 09:43 AM

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    Missouri-Kansas-Texas steam locomotives built since 1900. Moguls, Mikados, Pacifics, and the narrow-gauge shop tanks. The quantity column is 715.

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  38. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy): Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 11:02 PM

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    History of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the Katy. The race into Indian Territory, Gould, the 1923 railroad, the Texas Special, and the 1988 sale. Steam and diesel rosters are linked.

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  39. Soo Line Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 27, 26 10:55 PM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Soo Line and the Wisconsin Central. 786 locomotives, each frame once. Cab units, Geeps, the Milwaukee Road engines, and the SD60s. The South Shore's 24 stay on that page.

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  40. Soo Line Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 27, 26 10:49 PM

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    Soo Line and Wisconsin Central steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Mikados, Pacifics, 21 Mountains, and four Lima 4-8-4s.

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  41. Soo Line Railroad: Map, Logo, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 10:24 PM

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    The Soo Line, from the flour millers' railroad around Chicago to the Sault, the Wisconsin Central, and the Milwaukee Road. Steam quantity 422. Diesels 786. Canadian Pacific took full control in 1990.

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  42. Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway: Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 10:32 AM

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    The Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern, the Dan Patch Line that became a Twin Cities belt. Steam, gas-electric mules, motor cars, and the 22 diesels, through the Soo Line.

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  43. Minneapolis & St. Louis Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 27, 26 10:27 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Minneapolis & St. Louis. 97 locomotives, each frame once. Switchers from 1938, 35 RS-1s, the FT and F-unit cabs, two SD7s, and 23 GP9s. Builder numbers included.

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  44. Minneapolis & St. Louis Steam Roster (Post 1900)

    Oct 27, 26 10:25 AM

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    Minneapolis & St. Louis steam locomotives built since 1900. Moguls, Consolidations, 35 Mikados, and five Pacifics.

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  45. Minneapolis and St Louis Railway: "The Peoria Gateway"

    Oct 27, 26 09:52 AM

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    The Minneapolis & St. Louis, the Tootin' Louie, from the 1870 charter to the Peoria Gateway and the Chicago & North Western sale on November 1, 1960.

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  46. Alco "PA" Locomotives: Restoration, Specs, Engine, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 12:12 AM

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    Alco's PA passenger cab, 297 locomotives built from 1946 to 1953. The 244 engine, the production roster, the Delaware & Hudson PA-4s, and Nickel Plate Road 190.

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  47. Milwaukee Road Diesel Roster: (All Time)

    Oct 26, 26 01:44 PM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Milwaukee Road. 1,208 locomotives, each frame once. Alco, Baldwin, Davenport, EMD, Fairbanks-Morse, General Electric, and Whitcomb, with builder numbers.

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  48. Milwaukee Road Steam Roster (All-Time): Post-1900

    Oct 26, 26 01:38 PM

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    Milwaukee Road steam locomotives built since 1900. Prairies, Mikados, the N-class articulateds, the S-class 4-8-4s, and the Hiawatha Atlantics and Hudsons. Quantity column 1,974. Unique frames 1,951.

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  49. Milwaukee Road: Map, Electrification, Logo, History

    Oct 26, 26 01:20 PM

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    The Milwaukee Road, from the Milwaukee & Mississippi of 1850 to the Pacific Coast Extension, the Hiawathas, and the Soo Line sale. Why Lines West should have stayed.

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  50. Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad: Map, Roster, History

    Oct 25, 26 11:38 PM

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    Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad, reporting mark LSI, from the Marquette Range to the Presque Isle ore dock. The 1954 steam list and the diesels the railroad owned.

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