Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway | |
|---|---|
| Reporting marks | TSBY |
| Locale | Michigan |
| Dates of operation | 1977 – 2006 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Owosso, Michigan |
The Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway (AAR reporting marks TSBY) was formed on August 26, 1977 to operate over former Penn Central lines from Millington to Munger, Michigan, and Vassar to Colling, Michigan. Its name was derived from the three Michigan counties it operated in: Tuscola, Saginaw and Bay.
In October 1982, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) contracted the TSBY to operate the former Ann Arbor Railroad line from Osmer siding just north of Ann Arbor to Alma, Michigan. On October 1, 1984, MDOT cancelled its contract with the Michigan Northern Railroad and the TSBY assumed operation of the rest of the Ann Arbor Railroad mainline from Alma to Thompsonville, former Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway (GR&I) trackage from Reed City to Petoskey (crossing in Cadillac, Michigan) and Walton to Traverse City and former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from Grawn to Williamsburg (through Traverse City). The track from Cadillac to Reed City was removed in the early 1990s. On January 22, 1991, the TSBY sold its original lines to the Huron and Eastern Railway, now owned by Rail America. Today the TSBY operates former Ann Arbor track from Osmer to Yuma, Michigan (just west of Cadillac), former GR&I from Cadillac to Petoskey and Walton to Traverse City, former C&O from Grawn to Williamsburg, former Penn Central from Owosso to Fergus, and former Grand Trunk Western from Ashley to Middleton. The TSBY also operates a small portion of the abandoned CSX Ludington Subdivision in Clare, Michigan, to serve a local plastics factory.
In March 2006 the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway was purchased by Federated Railways, Inc.[1] and has changed their name to Great Lakes Central Railroad, leaving TS&B as a fallen flag.
