Source: [CRH] = The Copper
Range Railroad by Clarence J. Monett, 1989
-
1873 – Businessmen build a
narrow gauge railroad, called the Mineral Range Railroad between Hancock
and Calumet. Its purpose was to people and merchandise, particularly
copper ore from mill mines to stamping mills. [CRH]
-
1885 – A wooden bridge is built
which allows the original Mineral Range Railroad to reach Houghton from
Hancock. [CRH]
-
March, 1899. Copper Range
Company formed, owns lands. [CRH]
-
Note: 1899 – The only ore
producing mine south of Portage Lake is the Atlantic Mine. [CRH]
-
May 1, 1899: Works begins on
the Houghton Yard. A few scattered houses on the lake front were taken
down. [CRH]
-
May 2, 1899: Work is started on
clearing the right-of-way. [CRH]
-
Fall, 1899: The main offices
for the Copper Range Railroad were established at the east end of the
yards, consisting of a rectangular two-story brick building. A 400 foot
boardwalk was built around the station. [CRH]
-
September 26, 1899: Rail is
first laid south from Houghton (75 lb.). Rail is also laid at Maas City. [CRH]
-
December, 1899: A train is
operated for "trappers" between Houghton and Winona. [CRH]
-
December 27, 1899: The line is
completed from Houghton to Maas City, 41.11 miles. [CRH]
-
Early 1900: The Painesdale
Branch from Painsdale Jct. (one mile south of the Atlantic Mine station)
to Champion Mine at Painesdale, a length of 4.38 miles. The line passes
through the Baltic Mine, Tri-Mountain Mine, and the Champion Mine. [CRH]
-
1900: The company purchases
passenger cars from the Pullman Company. [CRH]
-
1900: A coal-unloading hoist is
erected on the Portage lake at West Houghton to provide for large coal
tonnage which would be required by the South Range mines. [CRH]
-
1900: A roundhouse is completed
which used a 60 foot turntable. It holds 10 locomotives. [CRH]
-
1900: Depots are built at
Houghton and at Range Jct. These are the largest depots on the line. The
Range Jct. Depot is built in conjunction with the C&NW and Milwaukee Road.
[CRH]
-
~1900: COPR reaches mines at
Elm River, Winona, Wayndot and Belt. [CRH]
-
1901: Property is purchased to
secure the right-of-way to build a bridge between Houghton and Hancock. [CRH]
-
July, 1902: Work begins on
building a tunnel underneath the Hecla and Torch Lake Railroad northeast
of Hancock. The tunnel was situated above the Lake Linden reservior where
the H&UTL made a large curve. It is build mostly of concrete for
durability. [CRH]
-
December, 1902: The extension
from Houghton to Calumet and Laurium was now completed, except for
ballasting. Freight trains were running and passenger service would start
about May 1, 1903. Six new passenger coaches were purchased, and three
locomotives were added bringing the total to 16. [CRH]
-
1903: The bulk of the
railroad’s business was rock transportation between the mines and mills
served by the line, but timber and fuel traffic was heavy and steadily
increasing. Passenger traffic and general freight business has shown
steady and surprisingly heavy growth. [CRH]
-
1903: A rail connection is made
between the side-hill (Michigan) smelter site (located at the mouth of
Cole’s Creek on the Portage lake) and the main track after the property
was acquired from the atlantic Mining Company. The Michigan Smelting
company was built about three miles west of Houghton and just a little
beyond the site of the old Atlantic Stamp Mill. Mineral was delivered to
the smelter in 40-ton bottom-dumping steel cars by the COPR, which also
hauled away the refined copper. They also brought coal to the testles on
the upper plateau, which held 15,000 tons of coal within tunnels. [CRH]
-
Early 1900’s: COPR begins
transporting students to school for the Adams Township school district
between Atlantic and Painesdale and intermediate points. The service
continued in some capacity until the 1940’s. [CRH]
-
Early 1900’s: COPR builds a
park at Freda, home of the Champion Mill. This was one of the range’s
favorite parks. Special trains were operated to the park on Sundays from
the region. [CRH]
-
1906 (Map): The COPR extends
from Calumet on the north via Lake Linden and Hancock, to Houghton Mill
Mine Jct. to Mass. They also had branch lines from Mill Mine Jct.
southeast to Painesdale, and from Mill Mine Jct. to Freda Park. Branch
lines also existed from Greenland Jct. to Greenland and the Adventure
Mine, from Calumet Jct. to Laurium, from Calumet Jct. to Centennial Mine,
from Redridge Jct. to Redridge, from Edgemere Jct. to the Adventure Stamp
Mill and from the Painsdale Branch to Baltic, Trimountain Mine and the
Champion Copper Mine. [CRH]
-
1909: COPR switches from the
U.S. Express Company to the Wells, Fargo and Company. [CRH]
-
1909: COPR builds a branch line
to Senter, near dollar Bay, where the E. I. DuPont De Nemours Powder Co.
had constructed a plant to manufactur explosives on a large scale. [CRH]
-
1910: 90 lb. rail is laid near
Painesdale due to the heavy rock being transported. [CRH]
-
1910: A reserve coal trestle
was erected at Mill-Mine Jct. which could be used to supply coal to the
mines, mills or the railroad. It held 16,000 tons of coal. [CRH]
-
1910: COPR now has trackage
rights on the Milwaukee Road between McKeever and Ontonagon and operates a
daily passenger train between Calumet and Ontonagon. [CRH]
-
1910: COPR also has trackage
rights on the Milwaukee Road between McKeever and Channing. The COPR
operated through freight service to Channing and the MILW operated a
through electric-lighted passenger train between Chicago, Milwaukee and
points in the Copper Country. [CRH]
-
1910: COPR purchases a modern,
electric-lighted café observation car, called the Miscowaubik, meaning
"red metal". [CRH]
-
1910: COPR has 22 engines in
service. Rolling stock is completely equipped with air brakes. [CRH]
-
1911: A rail spur to the lake
shore is completed for the Baltic Mining Company stamp mill. [CRH]
-
November, 1913: An extension of
the line was installed south from Painesdale to the main line, just over
three miles. This resulted in a new route for through traffic between
Mill-Mine Jct. to a point known as Milepost 30. The main line now ran
through South Range, Trimountain and Painesdale. (Previous to this, these
three towns were on a branch line). [CRH]
-
1914: A siding was built into
Dollar Bay to reach a sawmill and other industries there. [CRH]
-
1914: COPR rebuilt a business
car and names it the "Ranger". It had a capacity of 27 passengers and was
60 feet long with an observation platform on both ends. [CRH]
-
1915: New stations were built
at Painesdale and Hubbell. [CRH]
-
December, 1917: COPR enters
into an agreement with the Mohawk Mining Co. and the Wolverine Copper
Mining Co. for the transportation of their rock, coal and supplies. COPR
improved the Mohawk, Wolverine and Keweenaw Central Railroad tracks for
operation, including scale tracks at Mill-Mine Jct. [CRH]
-
1917: The railroad purchases
the Mohawk and Traverse Bay Railroad to carry coper rock from the
Wolverine and Mohawk Mines to the stamp mills at Gay. [CRH]
-
1918: Note: The Copper Range
Hospital was located in Trimountain. Freda was the location of the copper
stamp mills and a beautiful natural park on the shores of Lake Superior.
Atlantic Mine was home to the Atlantic Mine and the D. A. Stratton Handle
Co., manufacturers of broom handles, chair stock, etc. Dollar Bay was home
to a wire mill, saw mill and the Lake Superior Smelting Works. Senter was
home to the powder plant of the Atlas Powder Company. [CRH]
-
1925: COPR purchases the bus
line from Painesdale to Lake Linden and named it the Copper Range Motor
Bus Company. [CRH]
-
1926: The railroad purchases
the telegraph "plant" and facilities from the Western Union Telegraph
Company, which was located along the right-of-way of the railroad. [CRH]
-
June, 1927: The Senaca Mine
closes at the end of the month. [CRH]
-
September 24, 1929: Copper
Range President William A. Paine dies at his home near Boston. Paine was
also president of Paine Webber. [CRH]
-
January 8, 1933: Arrangements
are made with the Mineral Range Railroad (DSS&A) to operate jointly
between Hancock and Calumet, with a joint agency in Calumet. [CRH]
-
1933: The water tank at
Redridge Jct. was retired from operation. [CRH]
-
May 15, 1934: The joint
operating agreement with the Mineral Range Railroad between Houghton and
Calumet was discontinued. [CRH]
-
November 1934: The
Boniface-Gorman Lumber Co. of Lake Linden commences operations at Gay
which is served by the railroad. [CRH]
-
March 26, 1935: COPR enters
bankruptcy. Eight locomotives and 254 freight cars are retired from
service. [CRH]
-
July 1, 1938: COPR resumes
control, now out of bankruptcy. [CRH]
-
1939: The railroad abandons the
Greenland Branch, 2.3 miles long. [CRH]
-
1940: COPR purchases its first
diesel engine. They now operate nine steam locomotives (down form 22 or
more), and 1 diesel. COPR retires it’s derrick. [CRH]
-
June 12, 1941: The last student
is transported by COPR by rail for the Adams Township School district. [CRH]
-
September 1945: The Copper
Range Company closes mining operations. [CRH]
-
March, 1947: The railroad
purchases two 1,000 horsepower Baldwin Westinghouse diesel locomotives.
Steam power was all but eliminated. [CRH]
-
June 16, 1950: The coal dock at
Houghton is razed. The need for coal was lessened because the railroad had
dieselized and the Freda stamp mill had converted to electricity. [CRH]
-
1951: A 1,200 h.p. diesel
locomotive is purchased. [CRH]
-
1952: The two remaining steam
locomotives on the COPR were retired. [CRH]
-
1954: Most railroad operations
are limited to Gay to Calumet (wood products) and Hancock to McKeever. [CRH]
-
February 1, 1060: Copper Range
Co. suspends mining operations at the Champion Mine. [CRH]
-
December 16, 1960: The Atlas
Powder Co. closes its Senter Plant and the plant is dismantled.
-
April 14, 1962: The Houghton
freight station is destroyed by fire. [CRH]
-
1963: The railroad moves stamp
sand from the old Atlantic Mill site to the Copper Range Company’s
concentrating plant at Freda for reclamation purposes. [CRH]
-
March 31, 1964: The ICC
authorizes the abandonment of the branch from Atlas to Senter, Lake Linden
Jct. to Calumet, Calumet Jct. to Laurium, Calumet Jct. to Nichols and
Mohawk to Gay. They are also authorized to operations over the Keweenaw
Central Railroad, a leased line, from Nichols to Fulton, effective June
30, 1964. [CRH]
-
April 29, 1964: The COPR
connects two locomotives for multiple operation, a first on the railroad.
These are used to pull sand trains from the Atlantic site or Houghton to
the mill at Freda. [CRH]
-
1966: The Vulcan Corporation at
Donken, the largest lumber mill on the tracks, terminated operations.
-
1967: The Champion Mine and the
mills at Freda are closed. [CRH]
-
September, 1969: A short branch
line is built to the wood fabricating plant of the Northern Hardwoods
Division of the Copper Range Company. [CRH]
-
1971: Rail is taken up between
Mill-Mine Jct. and Freda. [CRH]
-
August 24, 1972: The ICC grants
permission to abandon the entire line. The order is stayed because of a
union appeal. [CRH]
-
November 3, 1972: The final
train came back to Houghton from McKeever with one car and a load of wood
products out of the Northwoods facet at South Range. [CRH]
-
March 31, 1973: The remaining
line was abandoned. [CRH]
-
April 10, 1973: The Board voted
to dissolve the corporation and distribute the assets. [CRH]
-
Spring, 1974: The rail is
pulled up. [CRH]