Railroad: Michigan Slate Company industrial railroad

The Michigan Slate Company was organized around 1885 to mine black slate and ship it to cities like Chicago and Detroit for use as roofing material. The company had general offices in Marquette and the mine sites were located near Mount Arvon in eastern Baraga County.

The Company built what was has been described as a tramway between a small dock on Lake Superior's Huron Bay and the quarries which were about 4;5 miles to the south. A townsite, called Arvon Station, was located nearby. The railroad had 4-5% grades in places with an average grade up the mountain of 2.3% [SMR]. Though described as a tramway, this was apparently a traditional railroad using t-rails and an 0-6-0 steam locomotive built by the H. K. Porter Company, delivered in August, 1883.

Photo info: The Michigan Slate Company dock at Huron Bay in Baraga County in the late 1880's. The locomotive belongs to the company. [UMB][SMR]

Built → Michigan Slate Company railroad → Iron Range & Huron Bay railroad

Operated for: 6 Years

Built: 1885

Became: Right of way used for the IR&HB about 1891.

Note: This was not a common-carrier railroad.

Reference: [SMR]

Notes

According to research by Marshall Stull for the website Small Model Railroads [SMR], there were three slate companies which were purchased and consolidated into Michigan Slate: Huron Bay Slate and Iron Co., Clinton Slate and Iron Co., and the Superior Slate and Iron Co.

This was a private industrial railroad and not a common carrier road. It had no connection to the state's railroad network.

Around 1891, the tramway railroad was sold to the newly organized Iron Range & Huron Bay railroad to be used as a right-of-way between Champion mine and a new ore dock at Huron Bay. The Michigan Slate Co. was an investor in the IR&HB, as were the owners of the Champion Mine. This line was completed by 1893 but never operated due to financial irregularities, steep grades and the financial impact of the panic of 1893.

Time Line

1885. Tramway built.

1891. Line closed. Right-of-way used for the Iron Range & Huron Bay railroad.