Steam Railroading Institute

Last updated

Steam Railroading Institute
Locale Michigan
Terminus Owosso
Commercial operations
Original gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preserved operations
Reporting mark MSTX
Length1 mile (1.6 km)
Preserved gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preservation history
1969MSU Railroad Club Founded
1979MSU Railroad Club reorganized as the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, Inc. (MSTRP)
1983MSTRP moved from Lansing, MI to Owosso, MI
Headquarters Owosso
Website
https://michigansteamtrain.com/

The Steam Railroading Institute( reporting mark MSTX) is a non-profit organization that preserves, restores, and operates historical railroad equipment and items. [1] Located in Owosso, Michigan, [2] it was founded in 1969 as the Michigan State University Railroad Club [3] and later became the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation before adopting its present name. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Headquartered at the old Ann Arbor Railroad railyard, the organization operates a heritage railroad that offers occasional passenger excursion trains using steam locomotives: Pere Marquette 1225 and Chicago and North Western 175. [7] [8] [9] It also has passenger cars and other rolling stock. [9]

History

In the late 1950s, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Chairman Cyrus Eaton sought to donate No. 1225, a steam locomotive recently retired by the Pere Marquette Railway, to Michigan State University's College of Engineering so the students could work on a piece of real equipment and keep the locomotive from the scrapyard. He convinced University Trustee Forest Akers, but not the dean of the College of Engineering, so University President John Hannah accepted No. 1225 as a contribution to the MSU Museum. It arrived on campus in 1957. [9] There it sat, getting an occasional coat of paint and visits from the public on football weekends. In 1970, the year-old Michigan State University Railroad Club, at the suggestion of Randy Paquette, decided to restore No. 1225 and use it to pull excursion trains that would bring passengers to football games at the university.

But MSU had no interest in running a steam locomotive. Eventually, University President Edgar Harden proposed to MSURRC President Chuck Julian that a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization be founded to take ownership of No. 1225. In July 1979, the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation was founded. [9]

Later, the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation became the Steam Railroading Institute.

Equipment

Locomotives

Locomotive details [10] [7] [8]
NumberImagesTypeClassBuilderBuiltStatus
1225 PM1225.jpg Steam 2-8-4 Lima Locomotive Works 1941Out of service, awaiting repairs
175 Quincy Smelter tour 3.jpg Steam 4-6-0 American Locomotive Company 1908Under restoration
1313 (Mighty Mouse)Diesel 25-ton switcher General Electric 1940sOperational

Visiting locomotives

NumberImagesTypeClassBuilderBuiltStatusOwnerNotes
75 Flagg Coal 0-4-0T No75.jpg Steam 0-6-0 Vulcan Iron Works 1930OperationalJohn and Barney GramlingOn lease from John and Barney Gramling. Operates in occasional excursion service.
7471 WM 7471 Frostburg.jpg Diesel SD40 Electro-Motive Diesel 1966OperationalPrecision Locomotive LeasingPreviously operated at Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and Georges Creek Railway. On lease from Precision Locomotive Leasing.
57Diesel GP40WH-2 Electro-Motive Diesel, Morrison–Knudsen 1968OperationalPrecision LocomotiveEx-MARC. On lease from Precision Locomotive.

Former units

Locomotive details [11]
NumberTypeClassBuilderBuiltCurrent owner
10Diesel 44-ton switcher Detroit and Mackinac Railway UnknownSouthern Michigan Railway Society.
76Steam 2-8-0 Baldwin Locomotive Works 1920 B&O Railroad Museum

Rolling stock

Source: [10]

Passenger cars

Freight cars

Maintenance of way:

  • Rock Island #5000-series tender/ Auxiliary Tender #5000. Former Rock Island 4-8-4 5000 series locomotive tender now used for longer excursions behind PM 1225.
  • Pere Marquette #361. Former Troop Sleeper. Now 1225's tool car.
  • Grand Trunk Western Track Foreman's/ Bunk Car #58332.
  • Detroit, Toledo & Ironton/ Grand Truck Burro crane #15027. A self-propelled burro crane used for light duties.
  • Ex. US Navy Speeder/Gasoline Motor Car.
  • Ann Arbor Caboose's #2838 & 2839.
  • Pere Marquette Caboose #A909.
  • Detroit & Mackinac power car #7. Former troop sleeper.

Former stock

Structures

New Buffalo Turntable

The turntable is a 90 ft (27 m) turntable built in 1919 to serve the Pere Marquette railyard in New Buffalo, Michigan. It served a 16-stall roundhouse until 1984, when the Chessie System closed the New Buffalo yard. The SRI acquired the turntable, moved it to its site, and lengthened it by 10 ft (3.0 m) to accommodate larger rolling stock like the PM 1225.

SRI Visitor Center

The SRI Visitor Center sits inside a renovated freight warehouse used by the Ann Arbor road. The foundation dates to the 1880s. It is speculated that the original structure, a creamery, burned down in the 1920s. The Ann Arbor used it to store grain and other freight, then leased it to Bruckman's Moving and Storage. The SRI purchased the building in 2004 and renovated it to serve as their Visitor Center, with exhibit space, a model train layout, and the museum's artifact and archives collection.

References

  1. ↑ Magazine, Trains (May 4, 2009). Tourist Trains Guidebook. Kalmbach Publishing, Co. ISBN   9780871162731 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ "2020 Steam Railroading Institute | Michigan Life". michiganlife.com.
  3. ↑ Elford, Karen (November 9, 2016). "The Historic Pere Marquette 1225 Turns 75".
  4. ↑ Walker, Micah (August 11, 2019). "All aboard: Experience fall colors on these historic trains in Michigan". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Railroad Club Records UA.12.3.10". archive.lib.msu.edu.
  6. ↑ Lustig, D. (January 2005). "HOLLYWOOD'S STEAM LOCOMOTIVE : WHEN THE PRODUCERS OF THE ANIMATED THE POLAR EXPRESS WENT LOOKING FOR A LOCOMOTIVE, THEY FOUND PERE MARQUETTE 1225". Trains. 65 (1). The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Keefe, Kevin P. (2016). Twelve Twenty-Five: The Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive. Michigan State University Press. doi:10.14321/j.ctt1dnncc6.1. ISBN   978-1611862027. JSTOR   10.14321/j.ctt1dnncc6.1.
  8. 1 2 Rath, Tim (June 7, 2018). "A chance to steam again". The Argus-Press. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Steam Railroading Institute to Celebrate 50th Anniversary". www.owossonow.com.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. 1 2 "Equipment" . Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  11. ↑ "The Frisco Survivors" (PDF). All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, November, 1987 (accessed on CondrenRails.com). Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Tracking the Ex-Pacific Parlour Cars". www.rtabern.com. February 27, 2023. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  13. ↑ Franz, Justin (January 24, 2025). "Naugatuck Acquires Ex-Santa Fe Cars". Railfan & Railroad Magazine. Retrieved January 24, 2025.

42°59′40″N84°10′13″W / 42.99438°N 84.17028°W / 42.99438; -84.17028

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.