The Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad is a railroad in western

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The line runs east–west through

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

to Lowell. Its of trackage ends at the Saint Mary's Siding, where it meets the Coopersville and Marne Railway. It interchanges with CSX Transportation and the

Grand Elk Railroad The Grand Elk Railroad is a Class III railroad which operates in the states of Indiana and Michigan. It is one of 40+ short-line railroads owned by Watco. The company leases a line from the Norfolk Southern running south from Grand Rapids, Mich ...

at Grand Rapids. It was established in 1993 and purchased by

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...

in 2000. The railroad was later acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. as part of its acquisition of RailAmerica in late 2012. Most of the railroad's traffic comes from grain,

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, and sodium carbonate. The GR hauled around 1,250 carloads in 2008.

References

External links

Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website
Michigan railroads RailAmerica Railway companies established in 1993 Companies operating former Grand Trunk Railway lines {{Michigan-transport-stub