Rogers City Branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Abandoned | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner |
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Locale | Presque Isle County, Michigan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | June 18, 1911 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 13.6 mi (21.9 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Rogers City Branch was a railway line in Presque Isle County, Michigan. It ran north from a junction with the Detroit and Mackinac Railway main line near Posen, Michigan, to Rogers City, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Huron. The Detroit and Mackinac opened the line in 1911, and it was abandoned by the Lake State Railway in 2000. A major customer on the branch was the limestone quarry in Calcite, east of Rogers City.
The organizers of the Central Michigan Railroad, incorporated in 1888, proposed to build a line from Rogers City, Michigan, on the northern coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, due south to the Indiana state line. This ambitious 330-mile (530 km) project was never built. [1]
In 1893, the Alpena and Northern Railroad opened a line between Alpena, Michigan, where it connected with the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad, and LaRocque (now Hawks), in Presque Isle County. [2] The line passed 9 miles (14 km) south of Rogers City; the A&N established a stop west of Posen at "Hoffman's" to serve Rogers City, and a stagecoach service linked the two locations. [3]
Rogers City had to wait until 1911 for a direct railroad connection. The Detroit and Mackinac Railway, successor to the Alpena and Northern Railroad and the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad, constructed a 13.6-mile (21.9 km) from the former A&N main line near Posen to Rogers City. The line opened on June 18, 1911. [4] A major source of traffic for the branch was the limestone quarry east of Rogers City in Calcite, once the world's largest. [5]
The Lake State Railway acquired the Detroit and Mackinac Railway on February 17, 1992. At the time, service on the Rogers City Branch had declined to a single weekly trip, and three customers remained between Rogers City and Alpena. [6] The Lake State Railway abandoned the branch, and the remainder of the old Alpena and Northern main line, in 2000. [7] As of 2022 [update] , there are plans to convert the right-of-way into a rail trail, linking the North Eastern State Trail with the Huron Sunrise Trail. [8]
Presque Isle County is a county in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 12,982. The county seat is Rogers City. The county was authorized by state legislative action on April 1, 1840, but the county government was not established until 1871. The government was reorganized in 1875.
Rogers City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,827 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Presque Isle County. The city is adjacent to Rogers Township, but is politically independent.
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.
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 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.
Railroads have been vital in the history of the population and trade of rough and finished goods in the state of Michigan. While some coastal settlements had previously existed, the population, commercial, and industrial growth of the state further bloomed with the establishment of the railroad.
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 Patterson Railroad is a defunct railroad that existed in Michigan during the early 1870s. The company incorporated on September 21, 1870 and filed articles on October 3 to construct a line between Patterson Mills and Kiddville. The Patterson completed a 1.67-mile (2.69 km) in July 1872, at which point the property became part of the Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad, whose line it met at Kiddville. The DL&M would later become part of the Pere Marquette Railroad, which also built a line south from Belding.
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 Alpena and Northern Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated briefly in northern Michigan during the 1890s.
The Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in central and southeast Michigan during the early 1870s. The company formed on March 29, 1870 through the consolidation of the Detroit and Howell and the Howell and Lansing. From the two companies the DH&L gained a partially graded right-of-way 84 miles (135 km) long, with track laid on perhaps half of it, stretching from Lansing southeast to Detroit.
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.
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 Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company operated the world's largest limestone quarry, which is located near Rogers City in Presque Isle County, Michigan. It was formed and organized in 1910; however, production did not begin until 1912. Ownership of the quarry has changed a number of times, but it is still one of the largest producers of limestone in the United States. The quarry was inextricably interlinked with lake shipping and railroad transportation.
Lake State Railway is a railroad operating in the Saginaw Valley and northeastern quadrant of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The railroad moves large quantities of aggregate and limestone, as well as coal, grain, and chemical products. Some of the company's largest customers include Dow Chemical Company, S. C. Johnson & Son, Lafarge, ConAgra Foods, Archer Daniels Midland, Conrad Yelvington Distributors, and Consumers Energy.
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.