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
08 September 2024
- Residents are ready to appeal after a Georgia railroad company got approval to forcibly buy land - The Associated Press
- Can a rail operator use Virginia’s $35 million for Shenandoah Valley Railroad Corridor repairs? - Virginia Mercury
- Pennsylvania ‘train in my yard’ railroad, nearly killed by Hurricane Agnes, turns 140 years old; $1.40 train rides - ABC27
- CSX Transportation announces closing of railroad crossing for maintenance - GoLaurens.Com
- Mannford residents frustrated with long waits at railroad crossings - KOKI FOX 23 TULSA
- In 11 Minutes, These Black Landowners Lost Their Property to a Railroad - Capital B
- Half-mile stretch of Coliseum Boulevard to close for railroad construction: INDOT - WANE
- US rail traffic posts third straight week of strong gains - FreightWaves
- Study will consider eliminating railroad crossing on President Street - WSAV-TV
- STB prepares to hear from stakeholders on freight-rail growth - Progressive Rail Roading
- Batavia to close down railroad crossings for maintenance - Kane County Chronicle
- Railroad Day coming to Antique Village Sept. 13 - Escanaba Daily Press
- Closed bridge and railroad crossing block Nemours community - Bluefield Daily Telegraph
- Taber Museum to host railroad historian Tom Rich - Williamsport Sun-Gazette
- 5 Best Railroad Stocks to Buy in 2024 - The Motley Fool