Michigan Railroading and Railfanning In "The Great Lakes State"

Michigan railroading 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.

Michigan railroading has its beginnings dating back to 1837 when the little Erie & Kalamazoo railroad finished its line connecting Adrian, Michigan and Port Lawrence, Ohio (what is today Toledo), a distance of nearly 40 miles. In the succeeding years Michigan would be home to a number of well remembered railroads which include the Baltimore & Ohio, Chicago & North Western, New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad, Wabash, Chesapeake & Ohio, Soo, Michigan Central, Detroit, Toledo & Iron Mountain, Grand Trunk Western, Pere Marquette, and the Milwaukee Road.

Of these perhaps the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway had the greatest presence in the Great Lakes State, partly due to its ownership of the Pere Marquette in 1928. Although the company fell into receivership in the mid-1870s and was reorganized as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway during the latter years of the decade it continued to grow and expand. Following the Great Depression (which was not as terrible a time for the C&O as most other railroads and business in general) the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway really began to take off and it was during the early 1930s that Chessie was born. The creator of the sleeping kitten image was an artist by the name of Guido Grenewald but Chessie is credited to Lionel Probert, who was an assistant to the C&O president.

After taking control of the Pere Marquette the C&O reached several key Michigan cities like the Automotive Capital of Detroit. Other important markets included Lansing, Saginaw, Grand Rapids and as far north as Bay View and Traverse City. The railroad also operated car ferry service from Ludington, and connected Buffalo and Detroit via Ontario.

Throughout the rest of the C&O’s life it would earn healthy profits (much of it due to the rich coal fields it served in West Virginia and Kentucky) and in the early 1960s won a bidding war with the New York Central for control of its much larger northern neighbor, the B&O. However, rather than merge the B&O out of existence the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway chose to gradually combine the two railroads, slowly merging departments and other management areas. This was done for several reasons but two of the most important was to not upset the extremely loyal B&O employees (which would not take outright control and dissolution easily) and to retain the tax exemption status the B&O held in the State of Maryland.

In 1972 came the largest change for three railroads when a new holding company was created, the Chessie System. Its new livery with the Chess-“C” was an instant hit and remains today as one of the most colorful, popular, and dynamic railroad liveries to ever grace a locomotive. The new Chessie System would become quite a juggernaut, earning substantial profits throughout the 1970s, one of only a handful of railroads to do so during a time when the industry was in a downward spiral and scores of Class I railroads would file for bankruptcy during the decade, most notably in the Northeast.

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.

Today, all of these railroads operate a little under 4,000 miles of track in the Great Lakes State although at one time it was home to double that amount. For more information about Michigan railroading, in terms of route mileage over the years please take a look at the chart below.

While Michigan railroading may no longer feature passenger trains like the Red Arrow, C&O’s Pere Marquettes, and New York Central’s Mercuries, today Amtrak operates Michigan-only services like the Blue Water and Pere Marquette. Amtrak also owns its only stretch of trackage outside of the Northeast Corridor in Michigan which is the 97-mile, 110 mph Wolverine Corridor that connects Detroit and Pontiac with Chicago.

Passenger and freight trains aside Michigan railroading features several railroad museums and excursion trains (for instance, Michigan is home to Pere Marquette 1225, the operation Berkshire steam locomotive owned by the Steam Railroading Institute, that was featured in the Polar Express). Some of these include the Henry Ford Museum, Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train, Michigan Transit Museum, Huckleberry Railroad, Southern Michigan Railroad, and the Adrian & Blissfield Railroad.

So, whatever your interests might be, Michigan railroading offers a unique experience of Class I, main line operations as well as several local “down by the depot” shortlines. And, if these tire you out after a while be sure and ride one of the state’s several dinner and excursion trains!