Timetable: C&NW - Watersmeet Line - Powers to Watersmeet

This line was built during a five year period between 1877 and 1882. In 1887, the line was extended to meet up with a branch from Wisconsin (at Watersmeet near Land O'Lakes) which provided a connection west to Marenisco, Wakefield, Bessemer and Ironwood.

The line from Powers to Iron River (via Iron Mountain) was well used for many years, with passenger, freight and ore service. In fact, this line was paired with the nearby Ore Subdivision allowing two-way double track operation between Escanaba and Antoine. Ore was brought east from the Iron River, Crystal Falls, Iron Mountain and Norway areas to the port of Escanaba. Passenger and freight trains usually made a connection at Powers with passengers and freight cars forwarded to Escanaba and south to Green Bay and Chicago. Ore from Iron River/Crystal Falls area was marshalled in the yard at Antoine, and then down the Ore Subdivision.

Mine branches to Mineral Hills left the Watersmeet line at milepost 68.6, which was a mile west of the Iron River C&NW depot. These branches were built into Mineral Hills in 1906 (and removed in 1978).

After closure of many of the mines, passenger service was discontinued. Freight service west to Iron Mountain continues today, with much of it being forest and paper products.

The entire line west of Iron Mountain was abandoned and removed in 1982. It is now a SUV trail. [MRL]

Key:  C=Coal | D=Open during the day | DN=Day and night | DT = Double main track | H=Half Interlocked | J=Junction | N=Open at night | P=Passing Track w/40' car capacity | S=Scales | TC=Telegraph call | W=Water | X=Crossing | Y=Wye | Yard=Yard

Notes

Also known during its life as the Iron River Subdivision.

At Sturgeon, the line begins double track west to Iron Mountain. 3228' connection to CNW Ore Line. [CNWV] says the start was just east of the Waducah depot in 1917.

At Watersmeet, junctions with three lines: Ashland Division, Radford Line, and Gagen WI Line.

The connecting line from Wisconsin north (via Land O'Lakes, WI to Ironwood (at Watersmeet) was built in 1883-1884 by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western, which was purchased by the C&NW in 1893. It was removed in 1982. [MRL]

Comments From Greg Bunce: When the Chicago and North Western abandoned their track through downtown Iron Mountain they acquired trackage rights on the Milwaukee Road between H Street and Hamilton Street. When the E&LS acquired the Milwaukee through Iron Mountain, the C&NW still had trackage rights over the E&LS to access Antoine Yard. The E&LS gave up dispatching on this stretch of track to the C&NW since the E&LS did not have 24 hour dispatching. The E&LS trains would call the C&NW dispatcher on the radio and receive permission to occupy the track between Hamilton Street and H Street. By the time I went to work for the E&LS in September 1991 the C&NW no longer came to Iron Mountain, but we still had to call the C&NW for permission to use our own track. I was on a train coming back from Crivitz the very day that the UP took over the C&NW. When we called for the block, the UP dispatcher became confused. There was a pause, and then he said, "what railroad is this and where is Iron Mountain." As the salesman said in "The Music Man," you "gotta" know the territory.

Time Line

1877. This line was built from Powers to Quinnesec in 1877, Quinnesec to Florence in 1882, Florence to Stager and Iron River in 1882, and on to Watersmeet in 1887. [MRL]

1887. August. Elmwood, a place on the C&NW Watersmeet line 16 miles east of Watersmeet has been a very unlucky and dangerous place. A traveling miner looking for work in Iron River, stopped in Elmwood and was invited to join a railroad section crew for lunch. The group of 11 men sat in the shade of the water tank, which suddenly fell over onto them, killing six instantly and seriously injuring the others. [DD-1887-0820]. Two years later at the same place, a serious derailment of a passenger train on the same railroad killed three passengers, including Michigan's Lieutenant Governor James H. McDonald. The cause was determined to be a failure of the wheel truck under his car. He was playing cards at the time of his death. [Livingston Argus, 1990-0124]

1880. It was extended from Quinnesec to the Florence, WI area area

1882. C&NW extends the line to Stager and Iron River in 1882. [MRL]

1882. October. Talk about "rough riding" but the early train from Quinnesec to Crystal Falls takes the cake. When you get 15 or 20 men into an 8x10 caboose and the engineer tests the strength of the coupling irons by frequent backward and forward jerks, it becomes simply sublime. But the poor Northwestern Company can't afford any better accommodations when traffic amounts to about $3 million a season. [DFP-1882-1019]

1887. June. Track laying has begun in dead earnest on the Watersmeet extension of the C&NW railroad [from Iron River] and trains may be expected to run over the new line early in August. [DD-1887-0611]

1882. SNAPSHOT. The Menominee River Branch between Escanaba and Iron River is occupied by two passenger, two freight and 17 ore trains each way, daily, an aggregate of 42 trains. [DFP-1882-0427]

1886. Work on the extension of the C&NW from Iron River to Watersmeet is going on rapidly. The extension, which is thirty-seven miles long, will be in running order by June 1 of next year (1887). At Watersmeet, the C&NW company will connect with the line of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railroad. The two roads have entered into a mutual traffic arrangement. [WEX - 1886-1202]

1887. The line continued west to Watersmeet. [MRL]

1887. December. A passenger train on the C&NW was ditched near Iron River the other night, smashing many cars and blocking the track all night. Several people were hurt, but none fatally and few severely. [WEX-1887-1215]

1898. WILL MOVE THE TRACKS. The Big Chapin Pump Will Also Soon Have to be Pulled Down. It has long been apparent to the most casual observer that the time is not distant when the tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, which cross the Chapin mine, will have to be moved to more stable ground, and speculation has been indulged in as to where the roadbed will be located. The big Chapin pump, which has been one of the admirations of visitors, will also have to be removed, and a new highway to connect the north and south part of the city will have to be constructed. Probably the present season will see all these things accomplished. The following from The Marine Review indicates that steps in this direction are already being taken.

The Chapin Mining Co. is about to begin caving in a part of the mine that is being crossed by the main line of the Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Arrangements are being made with the railway company to move its tracks. Not long ago, when the Mesabi first came into prominence, the big Chapin mine was not regarded as a highly valuable property, but it was soon found that the discovery of the Mesabi was of special advantage to the Chapin, the ore making the best kind of mixture with the Mesabi ores. Chapin ore never sold as readily as it did during the past year. [RTR-1898-0219]

1902. There is rumor, unofficial of course, of a change in freight service on the Northwestern. The Watersmeet freight has more business than it can do and it is reported that a freight will be run out of Powers to Iron Mountain and back over the loop to Escanaba. The Crystal Falls-Amasa freight will be run to Iron Mountain and  pick up the west freight there. The Watersmeet freight will meet it at Stager and make the return trip the same day. [DD-1902-1025]

1903. A change in the connection with the Crystal Falls branch at Stager was made. This shortened the Crystal Falls branch by 1.8 miles. [MRL]

1907. May. An ore train nearly collapsed into the Chapin pit at Iron Mountain. The slide of the pit occurred at 4:20 am and the tracks dropped 8-10 feet. The engine derailed but did not end up in the pit. The cars stayed on the track. Following instructions the engineer reduced speed as the divide was being approached. While creeping along he noticed the engine sinking. He applied his brakes just in time to save the string of 46 empty cars from a general smashup. It was necessary to transfer the passengers on the westbound trains from Antoine to the depot and vice versa and the same were taken around the loop, depending on the direction in which they were headed, the cross over being made near Norway. [DD-1907-0518]

1911 September. The C&NW changes freight operations on their Watersmeet line. Going forward, Crystal Falls will be served by the freight originating at Powers. A different freight, leaving Iron Mountain will serve Iron River. Freight from Powers to Iron River will need to transfer to the Crystal Falls freight at Iron Mountain, causing a day's delay. C&NW has also raised freight rates which the Commercial Club is not happy with. The newspaper also notes that passenger service is no better "than a train in Africa". [EDP-1911-0902]

1911. A new freight schedule went into effect on this division yesterday. The Watersmeet-Powers freight will hereafter run from Powers to Crystal Falls instead of to Watermeet as formerly. In its place will be put on a new freight which will run from Iron Mountain to Watersmeet. All freight intended for Iron River, Stambaugh and other points will be transferred at Iron Mountain and delivered to the new freight. The freight is supposed to reach Crystal Falls some time during the night or any old time after it leaves Iron Mountain. [DD-1911-1104]

1916. March. The North-Western railroad is making great preparations for the handling of half million tons of ore from the Gogebic range, to begin about March 25th. In preparation for the work operators are being installed at every siding north (west) of Stager and a request has been made for 30 train crews, twenty from the Ashland division and 10 from the Peninsular division. At Basswood, Hazel and Chicagoan Lake junction there are operators being placed and they will be maintained there night and day. A train dispatcher will be stationed at Watersmeet.

The trains will be run to Escanaba in two relays, one crew taking a train of 20 cars from Ironwood to Stambaugh where they will be consolidated in the Palatka yards and then a crew will take 40 cars from that point to Escanaba. The small trains hauled from Ironwood is due to the condition of the track between Iron River and Ironwood. Even with that precaution the company will have to hurry and get the ore across before the frost commences to come out of the ground or they will not be able to haul twenty cars.

It is understood that the U.S. Steel company, which is the party in extreme need of the ore, has given orders to get the ore to the furnace regardless of the cost. [DD-1916-0318]

1916. Ore shipments from Gogebic range (to Escanaba) didn't move as rapidly as it was thought and officials will be tickled when the traffic is stopped. The track between Watersmeet and Iron River is an antiquated affair with light rails that were put in about a quarter of a century ago. The ties were old and the road bed had not been kept up because, as a general thing, it had little traffic over it. As a result of neglect there were places where a lot of shimming was necessary. But 25 cars were hauled to a train and a positive order of 18-miles per hour was put into affect. With 16 trains per day moving over this section it was impossible to keep up an eighteen hour schedule.

Then there was the lack of accommodations to contend with. The territory is practically uninhabited and when it came to caring for the operators and pump men that was found necessary to send up along that line the task proved more serious than it appeared upon the surface. A lot of operators, mostly young fellows from the cities, were suddenly placed in that section with no boarding places in some cases and with a very disagreeable surrounding in all cases. These city chaps are about the most helpless and unreasonable men when they are separated from the bright lights and it was really amusing to listen to their complaints at every point along the line this week. Taken as a whole the experiment of moving ore from the Gogebic range to Escanaba was not a shining success owing to the unpreparedness of the railroad to care for the traffic over a part of their system. [DD-1916-0422]

1917. The double track at Waucedah was removed to Loretto. [CNWV]

1929. F.W. Loos, for many years the chief train dispatcher of the Peninsula division of the C&NW, has been promoted to trainmaster. [EDP-1929-0602]

1930's.  C&NW convinces mining companies in the Gogebic Range to ship a majority of their ore through the port of Escanaba, rather than Ashland. This curtailed operations at the C&NW Ashland Dock and increased shipping on this line as well as the Ore Subdivision.

1932. Michigan railroads since 1932 have quit using the following tracks. Some continue to exist but are not in use: C&NW from Watersmeet to Sandhurst and Robbins. [DFP-1949-1009]

1943. SNAPSHOT. This line operates one round-trip first class passenger train between Powers and Iron River (#201 and #202). The westbound train leaves Powers at 4:05 am and arrives at Iron River at 7:15 am. The eastbound train leaves Iron River at 6:35 pm and arrives at Powers at 9:10 pm. These trains have connections south to Menominee and Chicago. There is also a scheduled "second class" train round trip which operates between Powers and Antoine, which may be a passenger local train. There is no passenger service to Crystal Falls.

1946. February 22. Soo Line passenger train No. 8 was being detoured over the Northwestern yesterday morning via Iron Mountain and Hermansville due to a derailment on their own line near Gladstone. While on the detour the train struck a Northwestern motor car. It was reported that no one was hurt in the second accident. [EDP-1946-0224]

1949. Diesel Pulls 140 Empty Ore Cars Out of Escanaba

The Baldwin diesel engine, now receiving tests in the Peninsula division iron ore service, pulled a string of 140 empty ore cars, a business car and caboose out of Escanaba to Stambaugh late Monday. It was reported to have negotiated the steep Norway hill without difficulty. The heaviest load usually hauled by the J-4, the largest steam engine in ore service, is 105 empties.

The diesel-pulled train was in charge of Engineer E. A. Woolcott and Conductor Jim Kuzara of Iron Mountain, Milwaukee Road trainmen working in the ore pool. The equipment will be given tests in the Crystal Falls area this week. The Panola hill, between Crystal Falls and Stager, is rated as even more difficult than the Brule hill between Stambaugh and Iron Mountain. [EDP-1949-0531]

1951. Ashland (WI) cries over the loss of ore business. Acute demand for iron ore at the smelters and a shortage of boats - not "subsidies" to the C&NW - is resulting in additional tonnage of Gogebic Range ore coming to Escanaba rather than Ashland, said Leonard Reynolds, the superintendent of the Peninsula Division of the C&NW. Gogebic ore to Escanaba is expected to continue so long as the need requires. The North Western hauls ore to Escanaba as directed by the mining companies he pointed out. In the 1950 season, the C&NW moved a total of 352,118 tons of Gogebic ore by rail to Escanaba. The figure this year will be much higher. [WAK-1951-0601]

1953. Four diesels hauling 170 cars of ore, longest and heaviest train ever handled on the C&NW Peninsular Division, arrived as Escanaba, George Stuart the Division superintendent said. The four diesels with 6,000 horsepower, left Watersmeet Tuesday with 125 carloads of Gogebic ore, picked up 25 additional cars at Palatka, and 20 more cars of Gogebic ore at Antoine. Total ore tonnage was 16, 278 tons. [EDP-1953-0423]

1960. June. A long-awaited track improvement project of major dimension begins today along the C&NW main line west of Iron River at a cost of $500,000. Long neglected, the track must be fortified to bear the pounding of heavy diesel-powered iron ore trains from the Gogebic range going direct to Escanaba docks. New creosoted ties are replacing old ties between the James switch west of Iron River and Beechwood. Ballast will also be improved. Newly installed radios will be used to coordinate ore movements around the section crews, two or more trains a day in each direction. The walkie-talkie system will keep the track gang posted more precisely on the train movements. The 45 mile stretch between Watersmeet and Wakefield is also slated for improvements. The rails of the line through the forest are 72 pounds, while rails from James switch east through Iron River and beyond are 110 pound weight. [IDG-1960-0606]

1960. C&NW Seeks To Route Ashland Ore to Escanaba. The ICC is expected to rule within weeks on a petition by the railroad to reduce its ore hauling rate from the Gogebic Range to Escanaba by 55¢ a ton. If approved, the Escanaba dock would be called upon to handle 3-4 millions more tons of ore each year which is now shipped out of Ashland on Lake Superior. The current dock at Ashland is owned by the Soo Line and used in a pool arrangement. Steel companies continue to clamor for reduced shipping rates.

Current shipping rates between the Gogebic Range to Ashland and then to Chicago is $3.25 per ton (including lake shipping of $2). Using the Gogebic Range to Escanaba route is $3.20 (including a lake rate of only $1.20). The C&NW is proposing to the ICC to reduce the rail portion of this move by 55¢ per ton. No reduction is proposed on its rate to Ashland.

The proposal is opposed by the Soo Line (partner in the pool), which plans to seek a rate reduction to Ashland of 38¢ per ton. They intend to "do everything possible" to keep the port of Ashland competitive with the port of Escanaba insofar as the shipment of iron ire is concerned. C&NW stated that the Escanaba dock is able to handle the entire Gogebic area output.

If Ashland loses its ore shipping industry, it would involve about 150 jobs, including dock workers, office staff and railroad crews. [EDP-1960-0317]

1982. The entire line west of Iron Mountain was abandoned and removed in 1982. [MRL]