Railroad: Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad Company

The Quincy and Torch Lake railroad connected the Quincy (and other) mines north of Hancock, with the copper mills near Dollar Bay on Torch Lake. Track gauge was 3' 0".

The road crossed over the DSS&A at Masonville, and the COPR at Torch Lake. It also crossed under the COPR at Torch Lake.

Built → Quincy & Torch Lake Railroad → Abandoned

Chartered: June, 1888. Owned by Quincy Mining Company.

Built: 1888 - Quincy Mine to short of Torch Lake in Section 23 T55N-R33W

Operated: 39 Years - then 40 more years as a private industrial railroad.

Dissolved: 1927 - converted to a private ore road, abandoned in 1967.

Reference: [MRRC]

Notes

Starting downhill at the Quincy Mine (milepost 0.0), the line crossed the Mineral Range Quincy Mine branch at mp 0.3, then crossed the Mineral Range Arcadian Mine branch at mp 5.2, then crossed the Copper Range railroad at mp 5.7, and finally crossed the MR's Hancock & Calumet line at mp 5.9 - before reaching the mills at Torch Lake at mp 6.0.

Time Line

Late 1880's. The Quincy Mine is under pressure to limit stamp sand discharge into Portage Lake. Plans were created to build a new mill on Torch Lake in Section 23, T55N, R33W about six miles from the mine as well as a three foot narrow gauge railroad to transport rock to the new mill. [CRR]

1889. Summer. The new line is opened from Quincy Mile to the mill site, except for crossing of the Franklin and Pewabic mine property. These mines ultimately negotiated rights across these properties. [CRR]

1889. An elevated tramway was built to carry coal to the new mill powerhouse. Two 50 foot turntables were also installed. Four hundred feet of elevated tramway was built from the railroad to the mill. [CRR]

1890. Line opened from Quincy Mine to the new Quincy Stamp Mill near Dollar Bay, a distance of 6 miles. [MCR-1904] The maximum grade on the line is 2.4% from mill to the mine.

1891. One mile of new line and sidings were built between the Q&TL terminal and new works at North Quincy. An incline track was built from the railroad down to the mill. [CRR] 

1893. The old stamp mill was dismantled. A new pumping station is erected there to bring water up to the mine and new railroad. [CRR]

1898. The Quincy Mining Company plans for a new mill, smelter and other  improvements. Construction begins in May.  Three furnaces were in operation by the end of the year. The smelter was served by the Hancock & Calumet railroad (MRR). It was in Ripley and not served by the Q&TL. [CRR]

1902. The Q&TL has 6 miles of track, three foot narrow gauge. [MCR-1902]

1903. SNAPSHOT: The Q&TL operates five locomotives, 12 platform cars, 113 ore cars and 3 conductor way cars. 29 of these cars had air brakes, the remainder did not. The railroad used both link-and-pin couplers as well as automatic couplers. The railroad carried 958,034 tons in 1903. [MCR-1904]

1906. A new passing 1,400 foot siding is built halfway between the mine and the mill. A dedicated telephone system is installed for railroad use. [CRR]

1907. A new water tower encased in a wooden building was erected at the mine terminal along with a new coaling station. Ore cars were given air brakes. [CRR]

1912. Turntables at each end of the line were removed and replaced with wye tracks for turning locomotives. [CRR]

1917. A connection is built so that the DSS&A can reach the coal dock in Mason. [CRR]

1921. Railroad operations were dramatically curtailed due to a depression in the mining industry. Mill #2 was closed and railroad operations were reduced.

1929. The stock market crash deals a final blow to most Copper Country mines. The Quincy Company mines shut down in 1931.

1934. 33% of families in Houghton County were on relief. [CRR]

1936. The Q&TL resumes hauling coal. By 1937, some of the stamps in #1 mill were reactivated. [CRR]

1937. An engineer and fireman were killed when their locomotive derailed and overturned. Heavy rains that were impounded behind the fill by a culvert blocked by debris washed away the fill. [CRR]

1938. The fill just north of the mine yard was completed and 1,600 feet of track laid over it. The fill was 90 feet deep. [CRR]

1945-1947. The Q&TL railroad is shut down when the mine closed. It remained in a "state of suspended animation" and many locomotives, the rolling stock and track remained in place. [CRR]

1967. The line is abandoned. [MRL]

1974. October 1. The rails and bridges of the Q&TL are removed. [CRR]