Station: Stager, MI

Stager was originally called Iron River Junction. When the Chicago & Northwestern railroad built west from Iron Mountain, the original destination was Crystal Falls. When the line extended west to Iron River, this was the junction location. Iron River Jct. was later renamed Stager. [MPN]

The C&NW built a station here in 1890. It was a simple rectangular frame building 20' by 60' with a gabled roof and wide overhanging eaves supported by wooden brackets. The depot was moved in 1971 to the Iron County Museum in Caspian. [UPM]

Photo Info: This is the C&NW depot at Stager in the early 1900's. Looking west, the line on the left heads west to Iron River, and the line to the right goes to Crystal Falls.

Note 

Time Line

1890. February 5. The village of Stager is destroyed by fire. The depot will be rebuilt. [ATDC]

1895. Robert McCourt, a well-known passenger conductor for the C&NW met with a sad accident at Stager on Wednesday of last week. He had taken his train to Stager and was waiting for the Watersmeet freight with which his train connects. To pass the time, McCourt and the express messenger decided to hunt for partridge. The pair had been in the woods a few minutes when the messenger fired at a bird near McCourt. The bullet penetrated McCourt's right eye. He was taken by special train to Antoine and then Escanaba where doctors advised him the eye could not be saved and would be removed. [DD-1895-1019]

1902. May There is a night operator at Stager now on account of the heavy ore traffic passing that junction. The mines on the west end of the Gogebic are shipping a lot of ore to Escanaba this year. [DD-1902-0517]

1918. The C&NW had telegraph operator here around the clock. [TRT]

1914. A woman boarded the C&NW evening passenger train at Crystal Falls and had a ticket for Chicago. She had to change cars at Stager and while waiting for train No. 122, which was late, sat in the waiting room at the Stager depot. Old No. 122 finally came along and the young made made herself comfortable in the luxurious coach for her long journey. When the conductor came along to collect fares, the woman discovered she had lost her pocketbook and ticket.

According to the rules and regulations the only thing the conductor could do was to put her off at the next station, which he did. The station happened to be Florence (WI). She went into the depot and related the trouble to agent Habermann. Mr. Habermann, who has two daughters, took pity on the young lady and hired a car to take her back to her home at the Falls, and told her on the way to stop and make a thorough search in the Stager depot. She did this and found the purse laying on the seat in the depot. She returned home, and resumed her journey to the windy city the next day. [DD-1914-1128]

1949. An elderly Stambaugh man, 88 years old, went for a walk and hopped on a freight train. Crews in the area were alerted by the Stambaugh yard master to watch for him. The man was found by an ore train crew between Pentoga and Stager. They stopped the train and invited the man to ride with them. At Stager, they stopped and called the Sheriff who responded and brought the man back home. [EDP-1948-0405]