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
05 May 2024
- MTA Metro-North Railroad Announces Service Plan Due to I-95 Closure in Connecticut - MTA
- Woman struck, killed by freight train in Wasilla - Alaska's News Source
- Teamsters Canada Says Strikes at Railroads Could Begin May 22 - The Wall Street Journal
- Key rail executives back intermodal business despite questions over margins - JOC.com
- How California's Ban on Diesel Locomotives Could Have Major National Repercussions - Reason
- Union Pacific undermined regulators' efforts to assess safety, US agency says - The Associated Press
- National Railroad Museum breaks ground on expansion project - Trains - TRAINS Magazine
- Olmsted Falls railroad signals struck in crash, slows down trains - Cleveland 19 News
- Chamber First Friday Focuses on Railroads, Lucinda Hart's Upcoming Departure - Effingham's News and Sports ... - Effingham's News Leader
- Trucking veteran buys media outlets for airplanes, boats and now railroads - Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Romancing the rails: 200 fans ride a former Reading Railroad branch to the end of the line - Standard Speaker
- Rittman preservation group sharing plans for railroad depot relocation - Wooster Daily Record
- Cruise company backs Alaska Railroad's plan to replace Seward dock - Alaska Public Media News
- G&AR Rebrands as Pinsly Railroad Company - RailwayAge Magazine
- A broad sector of interest groups unite against CARB's in-use locomotive rule - RailPrime | ProgressiveRailroading - Progressive Rail Roading