Lake State Railway Company

After taking my trip by train last year, I've gotten a greater appreciation for trains. I guess I've always liked trains but never really thought about them before. In my transportation pecking order, it goes planes, ships, trains and then cars. However, they are still pretty cool.

In 1992, the Detroit and Makinac Railroad was acquired and renamed the Lake State Railroad. The railroad in Northern Michigan was in a state of decline as many of the large factories that the railroad used to support were closed or moved elsewhere. The final blow came when it was decided that Wurtsmith Air Force Base would not be chosen as a place to house the MX missile by railroad.

The Railroad operates track that used to be owned by the Grand Trunk Railroad.

The main rail yard is in Bay City. They have some pretty neat looking locomotives.


They mainly service Dow Chemical now.

A little history of the Detroit and Mackinac:
The Detroit & Mackinac Railroad (D&M) originally started as a logging railroad in 1878, at a point south of Tawas, Michigan, and ran through the forest as needed. The rails were 38-inch gage of narrow strap iron screwed to 2'x4's and laid on flat timbers. Later, the line reorganized as the Detroit, Bay City, & Alpena logging road. In 1894, a group of farsighted businessmen purchased the assets of this railroad and reorganized under the Detroit and Mackinac Railway Company. They began operating through trains from Bay City north to Cheboygan, connecting with a boat carrying passengers to Mackinac Island. At first it was known as the Turtle Road, and all equipment carried a turtle emblem. Passenger business declined over the years and in March 1951, it was discontinued. Steam power gave way to diesels in 1947. Interestingly, the D&M was America's first all Diesel railroad.