The Alpena and Northern Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated briefly in northern Michigan during the 1890s. The company incorporated on July 28, 1893, with the intention of building an line from Alpena to

Mackinaw City Mackinaw City ( ) is a village in Emmet and Cheboygan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 846 at the 2010 census, the population increases during summertime, including an influx of tourists and seasonal workers who serve ...

, on the south shore of the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects ...

. On November 18 of that same year the company opened a line from Alpena to

LaRocque Larocque is a French language surname found primarily in Quebec, Nova Scotia (formerly Acadia), Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and the New England region of the United States. There are four main branches of the Larocque surname in North America: ...

(now

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

), for a total length of . In Alpena, the railroad used the

Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad The Detroit and Mackinac Railway , informally known as the "Turtle Line", was a railroad in the northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The railroad had its main offices and shops in Tawas City, Michigan, Tawas Cit ...

's station on the north bank of the Thunder Bay River. In 1894, the Alpena and Northern extended its line another southwest from LaRocque into Montmorency County. On April 16, 1895, the A&N was bought by the Detroit and Mackinac Railway and ceased to exist as an independent company. Its original main line between Alpena and LaRocque became part of the D&M's Northern Division, which reached Cheboygan in 1904. The

Lake State Railway Lake State Railway is a railroad operating in the Saginaw Valley and northeastern quadrant of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The railroad moves large quantities of aggregate and limestone, as well as coal, grain, and chemical products. Some of ...

, successor to the D&M, abandoned the line in the early 2000s. The section southwest of LaRocque, known variously as the Valentine Branch or Jackson Lake Branch, was abandoned south of Hurst in 1903 as the logging industry moved on to other areas. The D&M abandoned the remainder of that branch in 1923.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpena Northern Railroad Railway companies established in 1893 Railway companies disestablished in 1895 Defunct Michigan railroads 1893 establishments in Michigan American companies established in 1893 1895 mergers and acquisitions 1895 disestablishments in Michigan