Station: Oden, MI

Oden was settled on the north shore of Crooked Lake in 1882. The GR&I built a station here on its Mackinaw Branch.

Photo info: Top, an early view of the Oden Depot, with a gathering crowd. A Chicago & West Michigan box car is nearby. [CMUL]. 2nd photo, a GR&I passenger train stops at Oden. [David McNeill collection]. 3rd photo, a GR&I passenger train arrives at Oden. 4th photo, a view of the new depot in Oden. 5th photo, a view of a passenger train at Oden. The depot has been replaced and a large overhang installed to keep waiting passengers and friends out of the weather. 6th photo, a more recent photo of the depot.  [All, Alan Loftis collection]. 7th photo, Michigan Northern "sharks" at Oden in April, 1978. [Neil Plagens photo, Mark Andersen collection].

Notes

Oden was a popular tourist destination because of its location on Crooked Lake. By taking a boat east from Oden, a tourist could reach Cheboygan and Lake Huron through a connection of lakes.

Oden was a small town which received priority service as the north-most depot on the Petoskey inter-urban service.

Time Line

1945. The Commission (MPSC) was advised that the earnings of Oden station for the years 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944 amounted to $97.13, $45.84, $24.31 and $16.30, respectively, all of which covered the shipments of less-than-carload freight, there being no carload shipments received or forwarded. That Oden is purely a resort town, and there are no industries located in the town; therefore, no side track facilities are required. With this information, this Commission finds and holds that it is justified in granting permission to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to discontinue and remove its station at Oden for the reason that to continue the station, under the existing conditions and what might be expected in the future, would prove an uneconomic railroad operation. [MPSC-1945]