Today's Railroads in Michigan...
Railroads in Michigan are almost 200 years old, beginning in 1836 and reaching their peak in trackage about 1916. Since that time, each year has seen abandonments and reduced passenger and freight traffic, all coinciding with the deindustialization of Michigan's major cities and a move of passenger to airlines and automobiles. A majority of Michigan railroad lines have disappeared in the last 100 years.
Today, the railroad operations which are left generally fit into one of these six categories:
- Overhead freight/intermodal traffic from Sarnia to the Chicago area via the Port Huron tunnel and Battle Creek on the CN
- Overhead freight/intermodal traffic from Windsor through the tunnel and on NS trackage rights towards Chicago by the CP
- Automobile and auto parts traffic from the Detroit area to points southeast, south and west on the NS, CSX and CN
- Iron ore taconite transport from the Marquette iron range to docks and all-rail shipments to a few steel mills
- Unit trains of coal, grain and sugar beets to power plants, agri-businesses and sugar processing plants near Bay City
- Amtrak passenger trains to and from Chicago, Detroit, Port Huron and Grand Rapids
- The remainding branch lines throughout the state carry only 1-2 freight trains per day each way mostly on shortline railroads
This website is divided into two sections. Today's Railroads features current railroad operation including links to Michigan's operating railroads. The RRHX Railroad History section features almost 200 years of past railroads, from the establishment of the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad in 1836 to today.
Image info: Canadian National track maintenance crews weld a rail repair at Tappan, near Port Huron. [Dan Meinhard]
Newsfeed from Google: Railroads
News Feed - Railroads
24 April 2024
- Class I railroads tout their green cred in honor of Earth Day - Trains - TRAINS Magazine
- Hobo Railroad in New Hampshire getting new name - WMUR Manchester
- Arkansas-Missouri Railroad announces new Mother's Day tour - KFSM 5Newsonline
- Lawsuit against railroad hopes to prevent possible explosive catastrophe - KTUL
- Wyoming Railroad Engineer Sues Union Pacific Over AI Train Driver - Cowboy State Daily
- Train collision causes multiple Leawood railroad crossing closures - KCTV 5
- Investigation underway after railroad track catches fire in Lawrenceburg - WLWT Cincinnati
- East Palestine Ohio train derailment didn't prompt enough change - The Cincinnati Enquirer
- Union Pacific Railroad train catches fire in Topeka - KSNT News
- Rural Georgia community battles railroad trying to take their land - Grist
- Judge nixes lawsuit challenging Virginia law on broadband crossings of railroads - Cardinal News
- Norfolk Southern's earnings offer railroad chance to defend its strategy ahead of board vote - Yahoo Finance
- EPA weighs authorization of California locomotive rule - Agri-Pulse
- From words to action: Why Congress must act to resolve commuter rail insurance challenges - Mass Transit Magazine
- WVCO Railroad Solutions Turns 25 - RailwayAge Magazine