The Huckleberry Railroad, Operating On The Former Pere Marquette Railway
The Huckleberry Railroad, certainly one of the more interesting names of a tourist line, operates a short section of the former Pere Marquette Railway (which became part of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway system in the 1940s) and departs its trips from Flint, Michigan. While the Huckleberry only operates a short stretch of railroad the real attraction to the line is its fine collection of steam locomotives. The Huckleberry Railroad was actually once a real freight line, as a subsidiary of the Pere Marquette and established in 1857 (it also should be noted that the railroad received its name because of its slow pace, which was said to be so slow that one could jump off of the train, pick huckleberries, and jump back on with little effort!).
Today, the railroad is part of the Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad Park, a popular tourist attraction in Flint that offers much more than just train rides (such as camping, boating, paddleboat rides, fishing, beaches, and more). While the railroad’s star attractions are two steam locomotives, #2 and #464 the Huckleberry actually owns seven locomotives in total.
To give a brief history of Michigan's railroading history it has been known for a number of things in its 170+ year history, from iron ore and timber products to automotive parts and merchandise. From an operational standpoint the Great Lakes State can vary from stiff, mountainous grades to flat, shoreline running along the Great Lakes. The state is also home to the inventor of the historic Shay locomotive, Ephraim Shay, which built his first prototype in 1877. Today, Michigan is home to several Class I and shortline systems and along with interurban and current Amtrak operations, a more diverse passenger network has been proposed to help alleviate highway congestion.
Today, Michigan railroading still features a number of Class I systems that include CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. The rest include shortlines Ann Arbor Railroad, Central Michigan Railroad, Delray Connecting Railroad, Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad, Great Lakes Central Railroad, Huron & Eastern Railway, Lake States Railway, Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad, Marquette Rail, Michigan Shore Railroad, Michigan Southern Railroad, Mid-Michigan Railroad, Mineral Range Railroad, and West Michigan Railroad.
The Pere Marquette Railway, on whose former lines the Huckleberry Railroad now operates, was a system which stretched throughout Michigan and also reached northern Indiana and southern Ontario. If you have often wondered how the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway came to operate so much trackage in Michigan and stretched so far northward this is the reason as the C&O gained control of the PM in 1947. Overall the Pere Marquette was only ever a marginally successful system suffering through a number of reorganizations during its short existence as Michigan's largest railroad. Today, a fraction of the PM remains in operation cut up amongst CSX and numerous shortlines.
For more information on tourist trains like the Huckleberry Railroad might want to consider the book Tourist Trains Guidebook from the editors of Kalmbach Publishing's Trains magazine. Given excellent reviews by readers this guidebook covers nearly all of the tourist railroads and museums (over 400) operating in the country in fine detail with accompanying reviews about each. So, if you’re interested in locating a tourist train or railroad near you, or simply want to know more about a particular one, you will certainly not be disappointed in Trains’ guidebook to tourist railroads and museums. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.
