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Railroad: Trap Rock Valley Railroad
Built → Trap Rock Valley Railroad → C&H Copper Co.→ Abandoned
Built: 1924 by the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Co.
Operated: 36 Years (approximate) by the C&H railroad.
Ended: Unknown, approximately 1960
Reference: [MRRC]
Notes
The Trap Rock Valley Railroad was owned by the C&H Copper Company, and ran north from the mills near Dollar Bay on Portage Lake to the mines near Allouez in Keweenaw County, just up the hill north from Lake Linden.
When completed, the new Trap Rock Valley line connected with existing Hecla & Torch Lake lines to reach the mills and smelters on Torch Lake. Maximum grade was 0.8%. [CRR]
Map
Time Line
1923. The Ahmeek, Allouez, Centennial, Osceola an C&H mining companies were merged into the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company. The first four properties had been served by the Mineral Range railroad which was considered expensive. A right-of-way along the Trap Rock River valley was secured and construction begun in June 1924. [CRR]
1924. MICHIGAN PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION.
In the Matter of the Application of the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company for Permission to Cross with Its Proposed Railroad, Known as the Trap Rock Valley Railroad, the Main Line of the Houghton County Traction Company, State Trunk Line M-26, a Branch Line of the Copper Range Railroad Company and Several Township Roads in the Townships of Calumet, Schoolcraft, Torch Lake and Osceola, All in Houghton County, at Points as Shown on Maps Filed with the Commission and Hereinafter More Particularly Described. 8007-74. July 9, 1924.
In said application the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company advised that it was its intention to build this proposed railroad for its own use only between its mines and its mills; accompanying said application are waivers from the Houghton County Traction Company,
Board of County Road Commissioners, Houghton County, Frank F. Rogers, State Highway Commissioner, General Manager of the Copper Range Railroad Company and the township officials of the townships of Calumet, Schoolcraft, Torch Lake and Osceola, waiving all objections to said proposed crossings; and the Commission is further advised by letter tº from the attorneys for the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company, under date of July 1, 1924, that the expense in connection with said crossings will be borne by this company; and the Commission is further advised in said application that it is the intention of the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company to cross with its proposed line of railroad over grade the main line of the Houghton County Traction Company and State Trunk Line M-26, and at grade the spur track of the Copper Range Railroad; the said proposed crossings herein referred to being located at the following described points:
Houghton County Traction Company.
In the Southwest quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section Thirty-one, Township Fifty-six North, of Range Thirty two West, at a point seven hundred sixty (760) feet East and two hundred forty-five (245) feet North of the quarter corner on the South side of said Section Thirty-one, the center line of the Houghton County Traction Company's Railway being Station 328 plus 03.2 on the located line of said Trap Rock Valley Railroad.
State Trunk Line M-26.
In the Northwest quarter of the Northeast quarter of Section Six, Township Fifty-five North, of Range Thirty-two West, at a point six hundred eighty-five feet East and three hundred thirty feet south of the quarter corner on the South side of Section Thirty-one, Township Fifty-six North, of Range Thirty-two West, the center line of said Trunk Line M-26, being Station 333 plus 75.5 on the located line of the Trap Rock Valley Railroad.
Copper Range Railroad Company.
In the Southeast quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section Six, Township Fifty-five North, of Range Thirty-two West, at a point one thousand feet North, and three hundred five feet West of the center of said Section Six, the center line of the Copper Range Railroad Company's track being Station 350 plus 29.3 on the located line of said Trap Rock Valley Railroad. -
In Calumet Township. The township road from the Allouez Mine location to Copper City in the Northeast quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section 5, Township 56 North, of Range 32 West. The township road from the Wolverine Mine location to Lake Linden, in the Southeast quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section S, Township 56 North, of Range 32 West.
In Schoolcraft Township. The township road from north Woodland Avenue, Village of Laurium, to Lake Linden, in the Northwest quarter of the Northeast quarter of Section 20, Township 56 North, of Range 32 West. The township road from Calumet Street, Village of Laurium, to Lake Linden, in the Northeast quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section 29, Township 56 North, of Range 32 West. The township road from the road between the Highway Location and the Osceola Location (Old Incline Road) to Lake Linden, in the Northwest quarter of the Southwest quarter of Section 6, Township 55 North, of Range 32 West.
In Torch Lake Township.
The township road from the Oneco Location to the Ahmeek Mill, in the Southeast quarter of the Southwest quarter of Section 12, Township 55 North, of Range 33 West.
In Osceola Township.
The township road from Oneco Location to the Tamarack and Osceola Mills in the Southwest quarter of the North west quarter of Section 13, Township 55 North, of Range 33 West.
The Commission after examining said petition together with said waivers, as well as points of proposed crossings as shown on maps filed with said application and now on file in the offices of this Commission, has concluded that permission be granted for said crossings;
THEREFORE, IT is HEREBY ORDERED, That permission be and the same is hereby granted to the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company to cross with its proposed railroad, known as the Trap Rock Valley Railroad, the crossings of railroads and highways as herein before mentioned subject to the following conditions to-wit:
- (a) Provided, that the tracks of the so-called Trap Rock Valley Railroad cross over grade the tracks of said Houghton County Traction Company and said State Trunk Line M-26; the crossing of the Houghton County Traction Company’s main line to be made subject to the approval of the Chief Engineer of the said Houghton County Traction Company; the crossing of State Trunk Line M-26 to have a clearance between the surface of the highway and the under part of the railroad structure over the highway of not less than fourteen feet, and that the width of the opening measured at right angles to the center of the highway to be not less than twenty-four feet;
- (b) The proposed crossing of said branch line of the Copper Range Railroad Company to be made at the grade level of the tracks of the Copper Range Railroad; the crossing frogs to be of standard type and subject to the approval of the Chief Engineer of the Copper Range Railroad Company; the matter of protection at said crossings, if any is deemed necessary, will be held in abeyance until further action of the Commission;
- (c) The said proposed crossings of the township roads in Calumet, Schoolcraft, Torch Lake and Osceola to be made at grade and to the satisfaction of the township authorities of said townships; each of said crossings to be provided with highway crossing signs and advance warning signs to be placed on the highways crossed as required in Act 270 of the Public Acts of 1921; and IT is FURTHER ordered, That the expense for the construction and maintenance of said crossings herein mentioned is to be borne exclusively by the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company as per said letter of July 1, 1924.
1925. September. The Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper corporation has taken over its recently completed railroad from Ahmeek to Lake Linden, and is now hauling its own rock. The Mineral Range had previously hauled this rock. [BCE-1925-0916]
1925. September. The new Trap Rock Valley Railroad was completed. [CRR]
Bibliography
The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:
- [AAB| = All Aboard!, by Willis Dunbar, Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids ©1969.
- [AAN] = Alpena Argus newspaper.
- [AARQJ] = American Association of Railroads Quiz Jr. pamphlet. © 1956
- [AATHA] = Ann Arbor Railroad Technical and Historical Association newsletter "The Double A"
- [AB] = Information provided at Michigan History Conference from Andrew Bailey, Port Huron, MI
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