States like Michigan are having a resurgence of rail service, but, this time it is a little different.
The Southern Michigan Railroad Society plans it's first run for the autumn colors in 2016.
About the Southern Michigan Railroad Society (click here)
We are a non-profit, all volunteer railroad museum. Our mission is to preserve the vast railroad history of Michigan, as well as northwest Ohio and northern Indiana.
Our organization was formed to preserve this branch line railroad, the Jackson Branch. It started in Palmyra in 1836 (in the MIchigan territory), reached Tecumseh in 1837, and Clinton in 1853. Unlike many railway museums, we own the railroad "lock, stock and barrel", and it used only for preservation - making us a living museum, able to operate our historic fleet.
And don't leave out northern Michigan.
July 21, 2016
...Enter Great Lakes Central Railroad, (click here) the Owosso-based company that operates trains along 400 miles of Michigan tracks from Ann Arbor to Petoskey and branch lines in between. Great Lakes’ rail cars are hauling grain, plastics, lumber, fertiziler and hazardous materials within the state and connecting to the major rail companies criss-crossing the nation.
Today, companies from Williamburg (Amerhart) to Kalkaska (Magnum Solvents) to to Grawn (Cherry Growers) are regular Great Lakes customers, as are Petoskey Plastics to the north and clients in Cadillac to the south. All told, Great Lakes’ General Manager Chris Bagwell tells The Ticker a train or two per week rumbles through Traverse City.
(The next time you’re tempted to complain about the delay as you wait at one of Traverse City’s 11 railroad crossings, consider this: most local crossings hold cars for 30-60 seconds. It’s not uncommon in a downstate town like Plymouth for 90-car trains to hold crossings for 45 minutes).
Though freight trains serve important roles as engines of commerce, it's the tantalizing potential of passenger rail that has many in northern Michigan excited.
A campaign to begin passenger service between Ann Arbor and Traverse City is gaining steam, led by TC-based Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities. It’s an idea that will require political support, funding, and a proven market – but the most immediate problem is the track itself: An estimated 95 percent of the tracks between Ann Arbor and Traverse City are ready to haul tourists north, but that last five percent is located right here in northern Michigan.
The Federal Railroad Administration classifies all track; class 6 track allows for speeds above 100mph for freight or passenger traffic. Much of the local track is classified as “excepted track,” which falls below Class 1, which carries a 10mph speed limit for freight and does not allow use by revenue passenger trains.
Groundwork is prioritizing advocacy for more funding to upgrade those tracks because – according to Bruckbauer – there is “widespread interest in establishing passenger rail service,” noting his organization has received “dozens of support letters from various communities and groups along the line, and we’ve raised enough funding to advance a major study on the project."...
