Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Cadillac, Michigan |
Locale | Michigan |
Dates of operation | 1976–1986 |
Successor | Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Michigan Northern Railway( reporting mark MIGN) was a railroad that provided service to the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan from 1976 to 1986. At the beginning of service on April 1, 1976, the MIGN operated the former Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad from Comstock Park to Mackinaw City and the Walton Junction Branch to Traverse City. In 1982, the MIGN assumed operation of the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from Grawn to Williamsburg and from Charlevoix to Petoskey, and the former Ann Arbor Railroad from Alma to Frankfort. [1]
The Michigan Northern Railway was established in December 1975 [2] to operate the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad from Comstock Park to Mackinaw City. As the Penn Central Transportation Company sought to abandon railroad lines in northern Michigan, the Michigan Department of Transportation arranged subsidies for the MIGN to acquire the segment from Comstock Park to Mackinaw City. Operations began on April 1, 1976. At Mackinaw City, the MIGN interchanged with the Detroit and Mackinac Railway. The DM switched cars onto the SS Chief Wawatam, a railroad ferry that provided service across the Straits of Mackinac from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. This enabled the MIGN to offer through freight service to the Upper Peninsula. Due to a controversial rate "flag-out" that began in 1978, the MIGN saw increased overhead car counts. In 1977, the MIGN handled 568 overhead cars while in 1978, the MIGN handled 4781 overhead cars. After nationwide railroad deregulation in 1980, the overhead car counts reduced considerably. [1] In February 1982, the Michigan Department of Transportation purchased two segments of the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway intended for abandonment. The MIGN was contracted to operate from Grawn to Williamsburg via connection with the Walton Junction Branch in Traverse City and from Charelvoix to its existing route in Petoskey. Additionally, on October 1, 1982, the MIGN assumed operations of the former Ann Arbor Railroad main line from Alma to Frankfort.
In May 1984, due to poor accounting and operating practices, the Michigan Department of Transportation withdrew subsidies from the MIGN; operations on the state owned railroad lines were transferred to the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway. Service south of Reed City to Comstock Park was discontinued. At this time, only the segment from Petoskey to Mackinaw City was operated by the MIGN. Following Penn Central's departure from ferry services and unsuccessful attempts to operate regular excursion trains, the MIGN abandoned the railroad line from Pellston to Mackinaw City. A "truck-to-rail" transfer facility was established in Pellston to handle steel products from Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie. This constituted the MIGN's sole source of revenue at the time with the only exception being the odd excursion train. However, in January 1986, after claims the MIGN had been delinquent on payments to Penn Central for the remaining railroad line, a federal judge granted the MIGN a six-month grace period to make a payment of $150,000 to the Penn Central. Despite this, the MIGN was unable to make payment due to limited revenue and the railroad line was removed in June 1987. [3]
Emmet County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the northernmost county in the Lower Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,112, making it the second-most populous county in Northern Michigan. The county seat is Petoskey, which is also the county's largest city.
Petoskey is the largest city and the county seat of Emmet County, Michigan, and is the largest settlement within the county. Petoskey has a population of 5,877 at the 2020 census, up from 5,670 at the 2010 census.
Mackinaw City is a village at the northernmost point of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Divided between Cheboygan and Emmet counties, Mackinaw City is located at the southern end of the Mackinac Bridge, which carries Interstate 75 over the Straits of Mackinac to St. Ignace, in the Upper Peninsula. Mackinaw City and St. Ignace also serve as access points for ferries to and from Mackinac Island. For these reasons, Mackinaw City is considered one of Michigan's most popular tourist attractions.
Mackinac or Mackinaw may refer to:
The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Buffalo; Toledo; and Chicago. The company was named after Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste Marie.
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan, is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popular tourist destination, it is home to several small- to medium-sized cities, extensive state and national forests, lakes and rivers, and a large portion of Great Lakes shoreline. The region has a significant seasonal population much like other regions that depend on tourism as their main industry. Northern Lower Michigan is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale, which are also located in "northern" Michigan. In the northernmost 21 counties in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, the total population of the region is 506,658 people.
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States and the province of Ontario in Canada. After about 1867 the railroad was controlled by the New York Central Railroad, which later became part of Penn Central and then Conrail. After the 1998 Conrail breakup, Norfolk Southern Railway now owns much of the former Michigan Central trackage.
The Great Lakes Central Railroad is an American shortline railroad, operating in the state of Michigan. It was originally called the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway, which was formed on August 26, 1977, to operate over former Penn Central lines from Millington to Munger, and from Vassar to Colling. TSBY's name was derived from the three counties it operated in: Tuscola, Saginaw and Bay.
Pellston Regional Airport, also known as Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County, is a public airport located one mile (1.6 km) northwest of the central business district of Pellston, a village in Emmet County, Michigan, United States. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.
The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad at its height provided passenger and freight railroad services between Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, USA. The company was formed on January 18, 1854.
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. In 1946, it became the first all diesel haul railroad in the United States.
The Boyne City Railroad was a railway based at Boyne City, Michigan, U.S., during 1893–1978.
Northern Arrow was one of the named passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad, starting at Cincinnati, Ohio and ending at Mackinaw City, Michigan. It had merging branches originating from Chicago, Illinois, converging in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a train from St. Louis, Missouri from the west, converging at Richmond, Indiana. Carrying the number #519 northbound and #520 southbound, it used the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, a leased subsidiary of the Pennsylvania system.
Chief Wawatam was a coal-fired steel ship that was based, for most of its working life, in St. Ignace, Michigan. The vessel was named after a distinguished Ojibwa chief of the 1760s. In initial revenue service, the Chief Wawatam served as a train ferry, passenger ferry and icebreaker that operated year-round at the Straits of Mackinac between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, Michigan. During the winter months, it sometimes took many hours to cross the five-mile-wide Straits, and Chief Wawatam was fitted with complete passenger hospitality spaces.
The Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad was a land grant railroad that was built and operated briefly (1881–1886) in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Incorporated in 1879, the 151.9-mile (244.5 km)-long railroad began operations in 1881. It was intended to help the economic development of a region of frontier timberland along the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Its successor line was the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway.
The Mackinac Transportation Company was a train ferry service that shuttled railroad cars across the Straits of Mackinac from 1881 until 1984. It was best known as the owner and operator, from 1911 until 1984, of the SS Chief Wawatam, an icebreaking train ferry.
The North Central State Trail is a 62-mile (100 km) recreational rail trail serving a section of the northern quarter of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Following a route generally parallel to Interstate 75, the trail goes northward from the Michigan town of Gaylord to the top of the Lower Peninsula at Mackinaw City and connects to the North Western State Trail. It serves the towns of Vanderbilt, Indian River, and Cheboygan which connects to the North Eastern State Trail.
The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.
Due to its unique geography, being made of two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes, Michigan has depended on many ferries for connections to transport people, vehicles and trade. The most famous modern ferries are those which carry people and goods across the Straits of Mackinac to the car-free Mackinac Island but before the Mackinac Bridge was built, large numbers of ferries carried people and cars between the two peninsulas. Other ferries continue to provide transportation to small islands and across the Detroit River to Canada. Ferries once provided transport to island parks for city dwellers. The state's only national park, Isle Royale cannot be reached by road and is normally accessed by ferry. The largest ferries in Michigan are the car ferries which cross Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. One of these, the SS Badger is one of the last remaining coal steamers on the Great Lakes and serves as a section of US Highway 10 (US 10). The Badger is also the largest ferry in Michigan, capable of carrying 600 passengers and 180 autos.
The Grand Rapids, Indiana and Mackinaw Railroad was a railroad company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1881 to extend the main line of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad north from Little Traverse Bay to the Straits of Mackinac. The line opened in 1882. The company was consolidated with the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad in 1884. The line passed through the Pennsylvania Railroad to Penn Central and was subsequently abandoned in 1992.