Railroad: Munising Railway Company

Built → Munising Railway → Munising Marquette & Southeastern railroad → Lake Superior & Ishpeming railroad

Chartered: 1895.

Built: 1897 - Munising to Little Lake.

Operated for 14 years

Control: 1899 - by Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company. Purchased entire line in 1900.

Merged: 1911 - into Munising, Marquette & Southeastern.

Reference: [MRRC]

Notes

Time Line

1897. The railroad is built from Munising to Little Lake - November 30, 1897 (38 miles)

1898. The railroad is built from Stillman to Acker - November 1, 1898 (6.5 miles)

1899.  The railroad is extended from Vail to Acker Mill - June 1, 1899 (2.5 miles)

1900. April 21. A heavy transfer of property in upper Michigan was quietly completed in Cleveland Saturday. Chicago capitalists purchased all interests of a number of well-known Cleveland and New York parties in the Munising Land company and the Munising Railroad company. 100,000 acres of hardwood and 60 miles of railroad in operation from Munising Bay to Little Lake passed hands by the transfer, said to be over $1 million paid. The railway is a new line completed only four years ago, to connect the just founded town of Munising with the outside world and to open up a fine belt of hardwood timber. The railroad road crosses the South Shore at Munising Junction and has its terminus at Little Lake on the Northwestern. [LAS-1900-0421]

1900. The syndicate of capitalists of this city (Laporte, IN) owning an interest in the Munising, Mich, railroad, to-day sold their stock in the road to the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., of Cleveland. The consideration was $250,000. The Cleveland corporation secured a controlling interest in the railroad last September (;1899). This resulted in a receivership. A. L. Ward of Frankfort, Mich., being named and brought about the deal consummated today. The local syndicate will now devote their energies to developing 100,000 acres of land which they have purchased in the Michigan timber regions. [DFP-1900-1027]

1901. The railroad had five stations and employed 39 employees. It had five locomotives, 4 passenger cars, 101 platform cars (for logging), and one way car (caboose). In 1901, the railroad can 33,294 passenger train miles vs. 27,484 mixed train miles. It only ran 275 freight only miles, which means that one could get a ride on almost any train on the railroad even if you had to sit in the caboose. [MRC-1901] Almost all freight traffic was related to forest products, including logs, lumber, shingles, cooperage and bark. The main line of the road had telegraph line which was owned by Western Union (in 1901).

1902. Munising railway uses 56 lb. steel rail with 40 lb. rail on branch lines. [MCR-1904]

1903. SNAPSHOT. The railroad operated 6 stations between Munising and Little Lake. The line employed 4 engineers, 4 firemen, 4 conductors, 5 brakemen, 32 laborers, 7 shopmen and 18 others. They operated 5 locomotives, 5 passenger cars, and 101 freight cars. The top five categories of freight transported in 1903 were: 59% wood,  12% lumber, 7% stone, 4% ore and 4% pig iron and bloom iron. [MCR-1905]