Mid-Michigan Railroad
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| Mid-Michigan Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Reporting marks | MMRR |
| Locale | Michigan |
| Dates of operation | 1987[1]– |
| Predecessor line | CSX Transportation |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Muskegon, Michigan |
The Mid-Michigan Railroad is a railroad owned by RailAmerica.
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[edit] History
The company incorporated on December 16, 1987, for the purpose of acquiring railway lines from the CSX Corporation. The company was owned at inception by RailTex, a Texas-based holding company which owned many short line railroads. The Mid-Michigan bought two lines from CSX:Elmdale–Greenville and Paines–Elwell.[2] In 1999 it sold the southernmost 5.6 miles (9.0 km) of Elmdale line, Elmdale–Malta, back to CSX.[3]
[edit] Routes
[edit] Greenville-Lowell
The northern terminus of the the line is Greenville, Michigan. After passing through Belding, Michigan, it interchanges with the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad in Lowell, Michigan. This line was originally built by the Ionia and Lansing Railroad (north of Belding to Greenville), the Patterson Railroad (north of Belding to Belding), and the Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad (Lowell to Belding).[4]
In 1987, 3,500 carloads moved north of Lowell. However, traffic steadily declined after that, especially when the Frigidaire factory in Greenville closed in 2005. By 2007, no traffic was moving at all, and the railroad filed this portion of the line for abandonment. It is planned to be sold to a rail trail.[5]
[edit] Elwell-Paines
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mid Michigan Railroad. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
- ^ Meints (1992), 113.
- ^ Meints (2005), 365. Meints gives Elmdale-Ionia as the branch, but this is incorrect and contradicted elsewhere. See Meints (2005), 127.
- ^ Branch (1916), 246; Ivey (1919), 250-251; Meints (1992), 124.
- ^ "Mid-Michigan Railroad to abandon 26-mile line", Trains News Wire, Kalmbach Publishing, 2007-11-30. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
[edit] References
- Branch, Elam Edgar (1916). History of Ionia County, Michigan: Her People, Industries and Institutions. Ionia County, Michigan: B.F. Bowen & Co.
- Ivey, Paul (1919). The Pere Marquette Railroad Company. Michigan Historical Commission.
- Meints, Graydon M. (1992). Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0870133187.
- Meints, Graydon M. (2005). Michigan Railroad Lines. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
[edit] External links
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