The Harbor Springs Railway was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway built at Harbor Springs, Michigan on Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan. It was nicknamed the Hemlock Central because of the great numbers of hemlock trees growing in the area. The railway was chartered by Ephraim Shay, the inventor of the Shay locomotive, on February 2, 1902, but may have started construction as early as December 10, 1900.
The Detroit and Mackinac Railway, informally known as the "Turtle Line", was a railroad in the northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The railroad had its main offices and shops in Tawas City with its main line running from Bay City north to Cheboygan, and operated from 1894 to 1992.
The Mid-Michigan Railroad is a railroad owned by Genesee & Wyoming. It operates 39.8 miles of track in Michigan.
The Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw Railway (CK&S), known informally as the "Cuss, Kick & Swear" is a defunct railroad which operated in southwest Michigan in the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. Despite the name, the line ran entirely within the state of Michigan, with the majority in Kalamazoo County. It eventually became part of the New York Central. As of 2010, most of the former CK&S tracks have since been abandoned.
The Saginaw and Mount Pleasant Railroad was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad (F&PM). It was established to construct a 14.7-mile (23.7 km) railway line from a junction with the F&PM main line at Coleman, Michigan, to Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The line opened on December 15, 1879, as a 3 ft narrow gauge line. In mid-1884 the line was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge. On January 31, 1889 the company was formally merged into the F&PM along with the East Saginaw and St. Clair Railroad, the Saginaw and Clare County Railroad, and the Manistee Railroad.
The Flint River Railroad is a defunct railroad. It was established on December 6, 1871, to construct a 14.4-mile (23.2 km) branch from Horton to Otter Lake to support the logging industry in the Flint River area. This line was opened on October 8, 1872, and the company was consolidated with the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad (F&PM). In 1881 the F&PM extended this line 5.2 miles (8.4 km) to Fostoria.
The Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad (DL&N) is a defunct railroad which was formed on December 27, 1876 as a reorganization of the foreclosed Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Rail Road. The segment of its main line from Detroit to Lansing became an important component of the Pere Marquette Railroad, organized in 1900, and is still in use by CSX.
The Chicago and West Michigan Railway (C&WM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan between 1881 and 1899. It was one of the three companies which merged to become the Pere Marquette Railway.
The Paw Paw Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in Van Buren County, Michigan, between 1857 and 1887. At a length of 4 miles (6.4 km), it was the shortest operating common carrier railroad in the state. Later, the Ludington & Northern Railway Company, at 2.79 miles (4.49 km), stripped the Paw Paw of its title as "shortest Michigan Railroad".
The Grand Rapids, Kalkaska and Southeastern Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in Northern Michigan toward the end of the 19th century. The company was founded on August 30, 1897 by William Alden Smith, a Republican politician and former general counsel of both the Chicago and West Michigan Railway and the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad. The GRK&S constructed a 40.73-mile (65.55 km) line from Stratford in northern Missaukee County through Kalkaska to Rapid City, where it met the C&WM's main line. The C&WM undertook to supply rolling stock and oversee construction in exchange for a 10-year lease of the line.
The Ludington and Northern Railway, also known as the Dummy Train, or the L&N, is a defunct railroad which operated in Mason County, Michigan between 1902 and 1982. At a length of 2.79 miles (4.49 km), it was for decades the shortest operating common carrier railroad in the state.
The Ionia and Lansing Rail Road is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan in the 1860s and 1870s. The company incorporated on November 13, 1865; the investors hailed primarily from Lansing, Ionia and Portland. The original charter called for a 34-mile (55 km) line from Ionia to Lansing; on January 13, 1869 this was amended with a much grander vision: a 125-mile (201 km) line from Lansing to the mouth of the Pentwater River at Pentwater, on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The Howell and Lansing Railroad is a defunct railroad which proposed to construct a railway line between Howell and Lansing in central Michigan. The company incorporated on June 23, 1868 and began grading along the 33-mile (53 km) length of the line. The H&L had some difficulty obtaining financing; by the time it merged with the Detroit and Howell on March 29, 1870, no track had been laid. The two companies merged formed the Detroit, Howell and Lansing, and the H&L ceased to exist as an independent company.
The Detroit, Lake Shore and Mt. Clemens Railway, also known as the Shore Line Interurban, is a defunct interurban which operated in the Detroit area in the late 1890s. The company incorporated on July 3, 1896 to construct a 23-mile (37 km) line from Detroit through 'the Points' and out to Mt. Clemens. This line opened on September 28, 1898. On March 24, 1900, the company was bought by the Detroit and Lake St. Clair Railway. After 31 years of service to Detroit's east side, service ended in 1927 on the 28 mile line.
The Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railway is a defunct railroad incorporated in January, 1886. The railroad offered service between Ashley, Michigan and Muskegon, Michigan starting on August 1, 1888. The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada took control the same day, but the company did not merge with the Grand Trunk Western Railway until 1928.
The Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Railroad (MCW&LM) is a defunct railroad which operated in southern Michigan and Ohio during the 1870s. By the time it went into foreclosure in the late 1870s it owned two non-contiguous track segments, each of which was leased by a different company.
Michigan United Railways (MUR) was an interurban which owned and leased numerous lines in the state of Michigan during the early twentieth century.
The Lansing, St. Johns and St. Louis Railway was an electric interurban railway which briefly operated independently in central Michigan during the early 20th century. It was the site of a failed attempt to introduce alternating current to the interurban scene.
The Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan at the turn of the 20th century.
The Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1879 to reorganize the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad, which owned a railway line between Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Jackson, Michigan. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway leased the company in 1882. Most of the company's line has been abandoned.
