Detroit Edison Trains

[Anonymous]

During the 70’s and 80’s Detroit Edison ran unit coal trains of their own. I was just curious about a few aspects of the operation. My questions are these:

What was the main motivation of Detroit Edison to run their own trains?

What was the specific routing of the trains?

Did Detroit Edison own all the operating equipment?

Who supplied the crews for the trains?

What was the relationship with the railroads in which the trains traveled? I assumed DE was charged a trackage right fee, but was it relatively high to compensate for the major railroads not running the trains themselves?

Why did the trains quit operating?

And finally…… are there any examples of privately owned trains like this still operating. (Obviously many unit trains are owned by one customer, but are there any trains in which a private firm owns their own locomotives and cars, but operate over Class I right of ways.)

I appreciate any information, Thanks!