Location: Manistique, MI - Car Ferry and Dock

The Manistique railroad ferry dock was built about 1909 and a railroad car ferry operations began from Northport and later from Elberta. The ferry operation ended about 1968 when the car ferry operation was abandoned.

Photo Info: Top, a post card view rom the early 20th century, with the railroad car ferry in the background right of the photo. [Dave Fulkerth collection]. 2nd and 3rd photos, remnants of the Manistique & Lake Superior dock at Manistique in 2002. [Jim Fulkerth]

Notes

Time Line

1952. November. Two carloads of stone consigned to Wisconsin paper mills were diverted off the Soo Line railroad Wednesday afternoon for use as rip rap to prevent high seas in Manistique harbor from washing away tracks leading to the Ann Arbor railroad car ferry loading apron, it was announced by George Stephens, local superintendent for the Ann Arbor road. Stephens said a 24-hour storm out of the south with winds of gale velocity had driven mountainous seas over the outside breakwater which were threatening to wash out approach tracks to the apron.

As an emergency measure, Stephens said, he had received permission to divert the rock shipments, totaling about 100 tons, to save the tracks from complete destruction by wave action. Storm conditions over the upper portion of Lake Michigan were so violent that virtually all Ann Arbor ferries remain in port, three of the boats tied up in Frankfort, one in Kewanee and one in Manitowoc. [EDP-1952-1128]

1964. During a MPSC hearing about the abandonment of the Chief Wawatam, a MPSC consultant noted that the Manistique-Frankfort rail ferry operated by the Ann Arbor railroad across Lake Michigan has an excess capacity of about 1,500 cars per year. With about 6,000 cars leaving the U.P. through the straits yearly, the Manistique-Frankfort run could be doubled from 3 to 6 days a week and still take care of only half of the Mackinac traffic. Though a second ferry from Frankfort to Menominee exists, it would cost shippers about three times as much to ship via the Ann Arbor ferry as the Mackinac ferry because of the increased distance. Records indicate that a trip across the straits costs $25.82 per car, as opposed to $86.71 across Lake Michigan. The per-car cost on the Mackinac run could be reduced to $9.28 if the ferry owners increased the traffic to three trips daily and ran the ferry at capacity. [SEN-1964-1111]