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Timetable: D&M - Rockport Quarry Branch - Alpena Jct. to Rockport Quarry
This was a branch line off the end of the cement plant spur, east of Alpena Junction.
| Station | MP from Alpena Jct. | Notes |
| Alpena Junction | 0.0 | J Y |
| Alpena Yard | 0.2 |
Yard |
| BCG&A Crossing xBCG&A | 0.7 | X |
| Huron Portland Cement Co. | 1.7 | |
| Alpena Portland Cement Co. | 2.0 | |
| APC Quarry Junction | 2.2 | J |
| Rockport | 13.6 | |
| Rockport Quarry | 13.8 | |
| Bell | 17.6 | |
| Kelly Island Quarry | 20.4 | |
| Stoneport Quarry | ||
| APC Quarry Branch | ||
| APC Quarry Junction | 2.2 | J |
| Middle Lake Marl Pit (APC Quarry) | 8.9 | |
Key: D=Open > Day | DN=Open Day and night | EH=Enginehouse | J=Junction | LB=Liftbridge | N=Open at night | P=Passing Track w/40' car capacity | Q=Quarry | S=Scales | T=Turntable | TC=Telegraph call | W=Water | X=Crossing | Y=Wye | Yard=Yard
Source: [MRL]+[NHMC] maps
Notes
This timetable covers two routes from the cement plants on the north side of Alpena to marl pits and limestone quarries near the Alpena/Presque Isle county line.
The marl pit, originally called the Alpena Portland Cement marl pit, is located between Long Lake and Lake Huron. It is now Middle Lake.
Rockport stone quarry is on Lake Huron, just south of the county line and is now a state park recreation area.
Stoneport quarry is located just north of the county line and continues to be used today by LaFarge cement. It no longer has rail service.
Time Line
1900. The line from Alpena Junction to the APC marl pit is built. [MRL] The line is extended to Rockport and Stoneport at a future date [NHMC] This is the line elbowing off the D&M main line at Alpena Junction to reach the two cement plants, Alpena Portland Cement and the Huron Portland Cement plant, which were originally competitors.
1918. The BCG&A crosses this quarry branch on its route to reach the lake shore in downtown Alpena. This was likely before the D&M yard east of Alpena Junction was built. The date is from [MRL] but this may have been as much as 10 years earlier as there is some evidence that the BCG&A was built from east to west, meeting in 1918 near the Hillman area.
1923. The D&M railway received permission from the ICC to build a 12-mile branch line from Alpena to Rockport. [PHTH-1943-0709] Editor’s Note: A blueprint in the state archives indicates that the BCG&A also proposed a branch to Rockport but it was never built.
1924. The line from APC junction (at the former Alpena Portland Cement plant) is extended along the Lake Michigan shore 12 miles to Rockport and Stoneport. [MRL]
1929. The 12 mile extension is abandoned. [MRL] The quarries now use lake freighters.
1930. The lines north and east of Huron Portland Cement are abandoned. [MRL]
1935. The BCG&A crossing east of Alpena Junction was removed as the line was abandoned. It may have been abandoned earlier as their is evidence that the BCG&A may have arranged to use D&M facilities in Alpena instead of their own facilities. [MRL]
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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