Today's Railroads in Michigan...
Railroads in Michigan are almost 200 years old, beginning in 1836 and reaching their peak in trackage about 1916. Since that time, each year has seen abandonments and reduced passenger and freight traffic, all coinciding with the deindustialization of Michigan's major cities and a move of passenger to airlines and automobiles. A majority of Michigan railroad lines have disappeared in the last 100 years.
Today, the railroad operations which are left generally fit into one of these six categories:
- Overhead freight/intermodal traffic from Sarnia to the Chicago area via the Port Huron tunnel and Battle Creek on the CN
- Overhead freight/intermodal traffic from Windsor through the tunnel and on NS trackage rights towards Chicago by the CP
- Automobile and auto parts traffic from the Detroit area to points southeast, south and west on the NS, CSX and CN
- Iron ore taconite transport from the Marquette iron range to docks and all-rail shipments to a few steel mills
- Unit trains of coal, grain and sugar beets to power plants, agri-businesses and sugar processing plants near Bay City
- Amtrak passenger trains to and from Chicago, Detroit, Port Huron and Grand Rapids
- The remainding branch lines throughout the state carry only 1-2 freight trains per day each way mostly on shortline railroads
This website is divided into two sections. Today's Railroads features current railroad operation including links to Michigan's operating railroads. The RRHX Railroad History section features almost 200 years of past railroads, from the establishment of the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad in 1836 to today.
Image info: Canadian National track maintenance crews weld a rail repair at Tappan, near Port Huron. [Dan Meinhard]
Newsfeed from Google: Railroads
News Feed - Railroads
- OmniTRAX adds three railroads in Arkansas - trains.com
- Buy Canadian Pacific Stock. It’s Headed to the Fast Track. - Barron's
- Revised UP-NS merger application will address deficiencies, critics concerns - Journal of Commerce
- Railroad show rolls into Crawford County for a day of family fun - Crawford County Now
- Rail News - U.S. freight-rail traffic mostly flat in Week 13. For Railroad Career Professionals - Progressive Railroading
- Best month in years marks broad US rail recovery - FreightWaves
- OmniTRAX Expands National Rail Network Into Arkansas - Railway Age
- Leadville Railroad profile - trains.com
- Award-winning model railroad in Penfield basement comes down after owner's fall in Saint Lucia - WHEC.com
- Human remains found along SW Houston railroad, Houston Police Department says - ABC13 Houston
- Canadian Railroads Got A Q1 Lift From Grain And Better Weather - Finimize
- Hartsville announces Railroad Avenue road closure - WMBF
- Bushnell Station & Gulf Coast & Central Florida Railroad Museum inspires all generations - Spectrum News 13
- Train derailment near Groesbeck blocking railroad crossings - KCENTV.com
- Fredericksburg District | Update: New Time for CSX to Close Lansdowne Road for Rail Crossing Maintenance - Virginia Department of Transportation (.gov)
