Winter:  The winter of 1884-85 was severe, with snow as deep as five feet in northwest Indiana.  Temperatures in January remained below zero most of the month.   [LS]

April:  Allegan and Lake Shore Railroad builds a 3-foot gauge railroad from Allegan west five miles.  Abandoned in 1889.  [MRRC]

April:  The Lake Shore announced it would replace all old covered bridges between Ligonier and Goshen, Indiana on the Airline, with stone bridges.  [LS]

June 5:  State law now requires railroads to place automatic couplers on all cars.   [MDOT/MT]

July:  A passenger coach was built for the Cadillac and Northeastern Railroad and passengers were now more comfortably carried between Cadillac to Lake City.  [MRC-7/87]

October 11:  Crawford and Manistee River Railway opens line 10 miles in length in Kalkaska County, from Sec. 13 T25N R5@ to Sec. 25 T26N R6W.  Abandoned in 1904.  [MRRC]

Decrember 1:  Hancock and Calumet Railroad Co. builds 3' line from Hancock to Calumet.  Made standard gauge in 1900.  [MRRC]

December 8:  William Henry Vanderbilt falls to the floor in his office and dies.  [MRRC]

The Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan (later the Ann Arbor Railroad) reaches Durand  [MHM]

Cadillac & Northeastern extends 3' logging railroad 4 miles from Lake Missaukee to Lake City.  [MRRC]

A wooden bridge is built which allows the original Mineral Range Railroad to reach Houghton from Hancock. [CRH]

Frank Hecker and Charles Freer found the Peninsular Car Co. in Detroit to manufacture railcars.  [DWS]

Canadian Pacific Railway is completed.  [DWS]

The GTW builds a small, brick depot in Fenton.  It continues to exist as of 1999.  [MRP-I]

Michigan Central opens new depot in West Branch.  Depot continues to exist in 2001.  [IT-12/1974]

The state legislature forbids railroads from blocking road crossings for more than five minutes.  [AAD]

Grand Trunk builds depot at Charlotte.  Depot continues to exist as of 2001.  [IT-12/1974]

The Peninsular Car Works builds their facilities at Milwaukee Junction in Detroit.  [HWC]

Roundtrip train fair from Ishpeming to New Orleans and back is $40 via the C&NW.  [EHMT]

It is announced that the Marquette and Western Railroad was sold to the MH&O Railroad.  Stockholders were shocked and claimed a sellout by the M&W.  This sale meant a lot of changing of the tracks.  [EHMT]

90% of all United States' copper, and more than 40% of U.S. iron ore is being produced from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Janney Automatic Coupler is adopted by the Master Car Builders.  [SAM]