West Michigan Railroad

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West Michigan Railroad
Overview
Headquarters Saugatuck, Michigan, U.S.
Reporting mark WMI
Locale Hartford, Michigan, U.S.
Dates of operation1995–
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length4.23 miles

The West Michigan Railroad( reporting mark WMI) is a shortline railroad in southwest Michigan. It began operations in 1995, replacing the bankrupt Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad( reporting mark KLSC) on an ex-Pere Marquette Railway line between Hartford and Paw Paw, Michigan. That company had taken over operations in 1987 from CSX Transportation.

Contents

Traffic on the West Michigan Railroad consists of canola pellets, plastic pellets, frozen food, refrigerated fresh food, stone, methanol, and corn oil.

The railroad has been owned by Hamilton Hartford Group, LLC, who also own and operate the Hamilton Northwestern Railroad, since 2015.

History

KLSC locomotive in 1988 KLSC 85 at Paw Paw, December 1988.jpg
KLSC locomotive in 1988

The Toledo and South Haven Railroad, a predecessor of the Pere Marquette Railway, opened the line from Paw Paw west to Lawrence in October 1877 and to Hartford in March 1883, as an extension of an older line from Lawton to Paw Paw. It was initially built as 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge; the successor South Haven and Eastern Railroad standard gauged the line along with an extension from Hartford to South Haven, Michigan, in April and May 1899. The Pere Marquette gained control in April 1903, but the line temporarily left that system when the Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railway leased it in April 1907, intending to electrify it as an interurban. Michigan United Railways leased the line from 1911 to 1916; operations then reverted to the KLS&C until 1925, when the Pere Marquette took it back, having never been electrified. It abandoned the segment from Lawton to Paw Paw in 1942, and in August 1987 the Southwestern Michigan Railroad d/b/a Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad began operations between Paw Paw and Hartford. [1] [2] The Hartford to South Haven has also been abandoned.

Pioneer Railcorp subsidiary West Jersey Railroad Co. operated a Salem County-owned line between Swedesboro and Salem, New Jersey from September 1988 until May 1995, when the lease was reassigned to the Southern Railroad of New Jersey. [3] Three months later, the West Jersey began operating, under a directed service order, the line of the KLS&C, which had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1993 and suspended operations in May 1995. In October, the West Jersey Railroad changed its name to West Michigan Railroad, and later that month it bought the line. [2] As of the fall of 2011, the railroad from Hartford to Paw Paw is all but abandoned. A filing with the Surface Transportation Board dated December 19, 2012 and numbered STB Docket No. AB-1107X requested abandonment of 10.67 miles of the line from Paw Paw west to a point west of 56th Street on the west side of Lawrence, Michigan. [4]

Pioneer Railcorp sold the capital stock of West Michigan Railroad Co., effective at the close of business November 3, 2015, to an unaffiliated non-carrier entity, Hamilton Hartford Group, LLC, and PRC, therefore, is no longer in control of WMI. [5] The new owners have identified a dozen potential customers who have expressed interest in hauling freight along the line. [6]

Since the purchase of the railroad by Hamilton Hartford Group, traffic has increased immensely, with the vast majority of the growth coming from a transload facility which opened in 2019. In 2022, the railroad received an $8.7 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. This grant will allow the railroad to completely rebuild the existing track, as well as relay 5.6 miles of track along the abandoned right of way, returning rail service to the town of Lawrence. [7]

Locomotives

NumberTypeBuild DateStatusNotes
4 EMD SW9 11/1951Out of serviceEx-Leelanau Scenic Railroad. Exx-Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Named "Village of Suttons Bay".
850 ALCO C420 7/1966Out of serviceEx-Iowa Interstate Railroad, Exx Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad.
921 EMD GP18 12/1959In serviceEx-Norfolk and Western
1017 ALCO T6 1/1969Out of serviceEx-Cargill. Exx-Newburgh & South Shore Railroad. Last ALCO locomotive built in the United States.
1512 EMD SW1200 3/1960Out of serviceEx-Michigan Air-Line Railway. Exx-Coe Rail. Exxx-Grand Trunk Western Railroad
2480 EMD CF7 6/1956Out of serviceEx-Clinton Terminal Railroad. Exx-Waccamaw Coast Line Railroad. Exxx-Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Originally built as an EMD F9.
4428 EMD GP9 8/1956In serviceEx-Grand Trunk Western

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References

  1. ↑ George Woodman Hilton, American Narrow Gauge Railroads, Stanford University Press, 1990, pp. 427-428
  2. 1 2 Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition, Kalmbach Publishing, 1996, pp. 330, 362
  3. ↑ Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D.C. (1995-10-10). "JP Rail, Inc., d/b/a Southern Railroad Company of New Jersey--Notice of Exemption--Operation of Salem Branch Rail Line in Salem County, New Jersey." Finance Docket No. 32700. Federal Register,60 FR 52689.
  4. ↑ http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ba7f93537688b8e5852573210004b318/99c4d0a60eb3b60685257ad9007a9764?OpenDocument [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Daniel A. LaKemper (November 5, 2015). "West Michigan Railroad Co. -Abandonment Exemption - Van Buren County, MichiganSTB Docket No. AB-1107X" (PDF). Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Garrod, Paul (14 December 2015). "Paw Paw-to-Lawrence rail line purchased for freight hauling". The Courier-Leader. Vineyard Press, Inc. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Federal Railroad Administration (June 2, 2022). "Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program: FY2021 Selections" . Retrieved 13 July 2022.
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