What's your favorite Michigan shortline? do you model it?

[caboose63]

Does anyone have any favorite Michigan shortlines and or model one of them? My favorite shortlines are Cadillac & Lake City, Boyne City, Copper Range, Michigan Northern. My HO scale Leelanau County Railway is modeled after Manistee & Northeastern's Lake Leelanau branch, the last of which was torn up in 1955. I have one each of Athearn's SW1000, SW1500, GP7 and a Bachmann GE 44 tonner. i am thinking of either getting an Athearn CF7 topeka style locomotive or perhaps a bachmann low boilered 4-6-0. How well does the CF7 run with blu box athearn locomotives? Walthers is coming out with modern commercial bakery in HO scale which will be perfect for someone like me that has walthers funnel flow tank cars , 50 airslide covered hoppers and boxcars.

[Paul W. Beverung]

I'm modeling a freelance ore hauling line, the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern. I'm doing research on the Iron Range & Huron Bay. The premise is that the DS& SE takes over the IR&HB. My interest is in the iron ore railroads in general. I'm not familiar with the CF7 that you ask about, sorry.

Paul

[orsonroy]

I like the Michigan Central (NYC affiliate). Their wood auto boxcars were regularly seen hauling model Ts around the country. I've got a couple of their cars in the "to build" pile (Westerfield & F&C resin kits).

[joseph2]

I used to like to watch the Michigan Northern,cause of their interesting motive power,the car ferry at Mackinaw and the South end of the line goes thru my hometown. Joe

[eng22]

I have a layout under way the features the Annie in the late 1950's

[fmilhaupt]

I've a particular warm spot in my heart for the Lenawee County Railroad, since I chased its freights a couple of times in the late 1980s before it closed down and was replaced by the Adrian & Blissfield.

I have many fond memories of the Boyne City RR, and later the Boyne Valley. I hope to have time later this year to fini***he artwork I've started for a set of decals to model BCRR/BVRR 44-ton switcher #70- I've finished laying out the stripes, but other more immediate deadlines have delayed my finishing the lettering..

I model the Pere Marquette (not a shortline, but a Michigan road) as I think that it would have appeared in 1953 had the C&O merger not happened yet, but been imminent.

jrinnorthcountry63- I dunno whether you're interested at all in the steam power that the M&NE ran, but the new issue of Locomotive Quarterly has a feature on the M&NE's steam locomotives.

For anyone unfamiliar with the M&NE, a very brief overview of the M&NE's history can be found at http://www.pmhistsoc.org/mne.shtml

---

-Fritz Milhaupt
Web Guy and Modeling Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.pmhistsoc.org

[Ibflattop]

If its a Michigan road its got to be the Ann Arbor,DT&I, D&TSL and then the Wabash for a long road carrier.................... Kevin

[RoyalOaker]

I am not modeling any specific location but the DT&I, AA and PM run along my unnamed imaginary Michigan town.

I personally live about two blocks away from the Holly GT sub in Royol Oak and I expect some GT and CN power making it into my town someday.

[ClinchValleySD40]

I model some DT&I, but don't know if that counts as a Michigan shortline. Other than that, I'd anything from the UP.

[Anonymous]

I happen to like the Grand Rapids & Eastern. I plan on getting an HO GP38 to detail for GRE.

[caboose63]

Man, i can not believe i forgot to mention the Ann Arbor and Lenawee County. For any that don't know it ATSF created their CF7's from F7A's,F3A's and F9A's in their Cleburne, Texas shops starting about 1970.

[Anonymous]

jrinnorthcountry63,

From what I've heard, I think ATSF just converted their F7s into CF7s. Hence the C''F7".

[Anonymous]

Lake Shore & Ishpeming in the U.P.. No, I don't model it, but I am a fan of theirs.

[dinwitty]

I thought I would mention about a long abandoned narrow gauge line that ran in Berrien County, name of it defies me at the moment, roadbed may be barely discernable today. Not modeling it or a favorite line, just thought I would mention it...

[fmilhaupt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dinwitty

I thought I would mention about a long abandoned narrow gauge line that ran in Berrien County, name of it defies me at the moment, roadbed may be barely discernable today. Not modeling it or a favorite line, just thought I would mention it...

Might you be thinking of the St. Joseph Valley Railroad?

It operated between Berrien Springs and Buchanan until it was sold at a bankruptcy sale in 1889, and subsequently was converted to standard gauge. It later became part of the Pere Marquette, which operated it until abandonment in 1924.

A little more information can be found at http://www.pmhistsoc.org/narrow.shtml#stjvrr

[dinwitty]

I know of another SJV line, that sounds famiar, I have to check on it, I know I got some data here on it, is just not at the top of my head.

[dinwitty]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fmilhaupt

QUOTE: Originally posted by dinwitty

I thought I would mention about a long abandoned narrow gauge line that ran in Berrien County, name of it defies me at the moment, roadbed may be barely discernable today. Not modeling it or a favorite line, just thought I would mention it...

Might you be thinking of the St. Joseph Valley Railroad?

It operated between Berrien Springs and Buchanan until it was sold at a bankruptcy sale in 1889, and subsequently was converted to standard gauge. It later became part of the Pere Marquette, which operated it until abandonment in 1924.

A little more information can be found at http://www.pmhistsoc.org/narrow.shtml#stjvrr

That was it, I checked the Narrow Gauge book I have covering all the US Narrow Gauges, very informative.
I will be using the name of a Virginia Narrow Gauge that interchanged with the N&W or Virginian as a freelance prototype to handle coal traffic similar to the EBT.

[gmpullman]

OK, I haven't heard anything about the Indiana Northeastern here... I have a friend who owns the CV 4043 caboose in Pleasant Lake, IN, and he is able to run it into Michigan occasionally on the INE. INE still runs several first generation EMDs and IMHO is "railfan friendly". They host a "Speeder" run every August (NARCOA.COM) and its fun to run the old Fairmont motorcars over the system. I think INE has a website... I'll let you know when I find it.
Ed

[gmpullman]

Sorry... narcoa.ORG

[gmpullman]

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/MichRRs/Railroads/IndianaNE.htm

This is the unofficial INE webpage

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by clinchvalley

I model some DT&I, but don't know if that counts as a Michigan shortline...

Sure it does. It was started by Henry Ford and owned by the Ford Motor Co., HQ'd in (or near) Detroit, because ol' Henry wanted to own and control every single facet of his auto manufacturing process, including the transportation.

I like it because it's an industrial RR an I love those solid orange locos![:p]

[caboose63]

Another shortline favorite of mine i forgot to mention is the Manistique & Lake Superior which was abandoned in 1968. is there any Michiganians that know what industries it served and what the company names of them were? by the way my now deceased great-grand aunt dorothy used to love only about 150 feet north of the Lenawee County's line in blissfield on beagle street. as a teen in late 1970s i thought it was cool to see the Lenawee County's alco locomotives pass by her house.

[caboose63]

another shortline people would enjoy would be ford motor company's railroad up in baraga county. this line ran from about 1920 to about 1952. it ran from baraga to pequaming and over to place on baraga-marquette county line called dorgan. traffic was lumber to be made into panel sides for cars and shale and slate at quarries at Arvon. i have a michgan county map from about 1945 that showed the railroad's tracks. that would make for an interesting layout and also for prototypical operation if it still existed and ran up to pequaming.