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
- Union Pacific, Wabtec sign $1.2 bln locomotive modernization deal - Reuters
- What's the safety record of the railroad in the Mansfield derailment? - NBC Connecticut
- 5 Class I railroads with prominent narrow gauge in the 20th century - trains.com
- U.S. rail freight loses ground in latest data - FreightWaves
- Federal funding officially obligated for Pelham railroad crossing project - Shelby County Reporter
- STB Heeds SCOTUS on UP-NS Merger - Railway Age
- Rail News - U.S. freight-rail traffic drops 15.5% in Week 4. For Railroad Career Professionals - Progressive Railroading
- Railroad Museums Make Super Bowl Bet - Railfan & Railroad Magazine
- U.S. railroad’s new northeast corridor has an ‘Edge’ - constructconnect.com
- Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern Named Top Railroads on Fortune’s Most Admired List - Union Pacific
- Railroads Have Short Memories: East Palestine 3 Years Later - SMART Union
- Rail safety reforms gain renewed push amid ongoing derailments - iaff.org
- Marion County works to remove railroad ties after massive fire sparked health concerns - mynews13.com
- ICYMI: Rob Bresnahan Earns Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen Endorsement - National Republican Congressional Committee
- Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Seeks Theft Suspect - WDEF
