The Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad(MGR&I) is a defunct railroad which operated in Western Michigan. Operating between Grand Rapids and Muskegon, it was the second rail line built into Muskegon. MGR&I was a branch line of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. The railbed now serves as the Musketawa Trail.
Muskegon River is a river in the western portion of the lower peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The river source is located at Houghton Lake in Roscommon County, flowing out of the North Bay into neighboring Missaukee County. The river passes through Clare County, Osceola County, Mecosta County, Newaygo County, and Muskegon County, and generally flows southwesterly to its mouth at Muskegon, Michigan, where it empties into Muskegon Lake. Muskegon Lake is connected to Lake Michigan via a mile-long channel. The river has several major branches, such as the Hersey River, Cedar Creek and Little Muskegon River. The primary river channel is 216 miles (348 km) long and drains an area of 2,350 square miles (6,100 km2). In September 2002, an article in National Geographic raised concerns about a controversial deal made with Nestlé Waters North America, giving them permission "to bottle up to 210 million gallons a year from an aquifer north of Grand Rapids, Michigan that recharges the Muskegon River".
The Pere Marquette Railway 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 Père Jacques Marquette S.J. (1637–1675), a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste Marie.
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake Michigan shoreline, but there is no official definition.
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company, the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Michigan Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago and Port Huron, Michigan serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.
The Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company was the Grand Trunk Western Railroad's subsidiary company operating its Lake Michigan railroad car ferry operations between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1905 to 1978. Major railroad companies in Michigan used rail ferry vessels to transport rail cars across Lake Michigan from Michigan's western shore to eastern Wisconsin to avoid rail traffic congestion in Chicago.
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.
US Highway 131 (US 131) is a north–south United States Highway, of which all but 0.64 of its 269.96 miles are within the state of Michigan. The highway starts in rural Indiana south of the state line as a state road connection to the Indiana Toll Road. As the road crosses into Michigan it becomes a state trunkline highway that connects to the metropolitan areas of Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids before continuing north to its terminus at Petoskey. US 131 runs as a freeway from south of Portage through to Manton in the north. Part of this freeway runs concurrently with Interstate 296 (I-296) as an unsigned designation through Grand Rapids. US 131 forms an important corridor along the western side of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, running through rural farm and forest lands as well as urban cityscapes. Various names have been applied to the roadway over the years. The oldest, the Mackinaw Trail, originated from an Indian trail in the area while other names honored politicians. An attempt to dedicate the highway to poet James Whitcomb Riley failed to gain official support in Michigan.
The Michigan State League was a minor league baseball league that operated in various seasons between 1889 and 1941. The league franchises were based exclusively in Michigan, with the league forming on six different occasions. Twenty two different cities hosted teams in the Michigan State league.
The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway was an electric interurban railway that operated in west Michigan from 1902 until 1928.
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 Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad (C&MLS) is a defunct railroad which operated in Michigan between 1869 and 1878, and as the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad until 1881.
The Grand Rapids, Newaygo and Lake Shore Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan between 1872 and 1881. The GRN&LS was chartered on September 11, 1869, under the leadership of David P. Clay. The company operated a 46-mile (74 km) line between Grand Rapids and White Cloud. The initial segment, from Grand Rapids to Sparta, was completed on May 19, 1872. The line reached Newaygo on September 11, 1872; the first passenger train between the two towns ran the same day, to much fanfare from the local populace. On September 24, 1875 the line was extended over the Muskegon River to White Cloud. On September 30, 1881, it consolidated with other companies to form the Chicago & West Michigan. During its twelve years of independent existence the company sustained a net loss of $36,554.28.
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 Grand Rapids and Lake Shore Railroad Company was organized to build a railroad from Grand Rapids to Pentwater, Michigan. The corporation was organized by Lowell Hall and other Grand Rapids businessmen. The company's bonds of $16,000 per mile were endorsed by the Michigan Central Railroad in January 1870, and much of the early construction was performed by Michigan Central crews treating it as an extension of that company's Grand River Valley branch. By May, officials had extended their plans to build to Manistee, and the company projected construction reaching Pentwater by November. Track was completed between Nunica and Muskegon in 1870.
The Coopersville Station, built as the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway Depot is a historic railway station once used by the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway in Coopersville, Michigan. The Coopersville Area Historical Society and Museum is now housed in the station.
The Musketawa Trail is a rail trail in Western Michigan along the former Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad line. Stretching 25 miles (40 km) from Marne to Muskegon, the trail passes through the towns of Conklin and Ravenna. Trail development came from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Friends of the Musketawa Trail.
The Grand Elk Railroad is a Class III railroad which operates in the states of Indiana and Michigan. It is one of 40+ short-line railroads owned by Watco.
The Pere Marquette was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Pere Marquette Railway and its successor the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. It operated from 1946 to 1971. It was the first new streamliner to enter service after World War II. Although discontinued in 1971 on the formation of Amtrak, in 1984 Amtrak revived the name for a new train between Chicago, Illinois and Grand Rapids.