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
- Railroads and their regulators thwart safety fixes, costing lives - ABC News
- Railroad company challenges penalty for Corvallis derailment - NPR for Oregonians
- Cuyahoga Valley Scenic to convert two Alco locomotives to electric power - trains.com
- Railroads in the ‘Amazon Economy’ - Railway Age
- Unknown Individuals Damaged Railroad Track Section in Germany; It Was Scheduled to Be Used by US Army Train - Мілітарний
- Intermodal cooperation on rails has declined amid cost pressures - Journal of Commerce
- Minnesota, New York short lines win state grants to bolster operations - Progressive Railroading
- Weekly U.S. rail traffic shows 4% drop - FreightWaves
- News Timing of STB push for improved shipper access raises eyebrows - The Loadstar
- Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad getting green makeover - Cleveland.com
- It's Electric. Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad electrifies train engines - Akron Beacon Journal
- Railroads and their regulators thwart safety fixes, costing lives - ABC News
- The untold story of the women who helped build the US railroads - IrishCentral
- Truck’s roof ripped off after hitting railroad bridge in DeWitt - Syracuse.com
- American railroads seek solace from consumer spending - WorldCargo News
