The Harbor Springs Railway was a narrow gauge railway built at

Harbor Springs, Michigan Harbor Springs is a city and resort community in Emmet County, Michigan. The population was 1,194 in the 2010 census. Harbor Springs is in a sheltered bay on the north shore of the Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan. The Little Traverse Lig ...

Little Traverse Bay Little Traverse Bay is a small bay, 170 feet (55 m) deep, off Lake Michigan in the northern area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The cities of Harbor Springs and Petoskey are located on this bay. Harbor Springs originated as ''L'arbre de C ...

on Lake Michigan. It was nicknamed the Hemlock Central because of the great numbers of hemlock trees growing in the area. The railway was chartered by

Ephraim Shay Ephraim Shay (July 17, 1839 – April 19, 1916) was an American merchant, entrepreneur and self-taught railroad engineer who worked in the state of Michigan. He designed the first Shay locomotive and patented the type. He licensed it for manufactu ...

, the inventor of the Shay locomotive, on February 2, 1902, but may have started construction as early as December 10, 1900. It was primarily a

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 ...

-hauling operation, although summer vacationing tourists were carried for a fare of 25¢. It originally operated a route of to Stutsman and Race Mill; it was extended a further mile in 1904 to Carter's Mill. Small temporary branches were also constructed as well as the moving of the right of way when logging operations moved, as was typical for a logging railroad. The line was laid with very light rail of and worked by three locomotives built by the railroad to the design of its President and General Manager, Ephraim Shay. They were

geared locomotive A geared steam locomotive is a type of steam locomotive which uses gearing, usually reduction gearing, in the drivetrain, as opposed to the common directly driven design. This gearing is part of the machinery within the locomotive and should no ...

s of the typical Shay pattern, but were unusual in that they had no frames, the boiler being the main structural component. The line was built and funded without debt (thanks to Shay's royalties and licenses from his locomotive designs) and by 1906, the investment in physical plant was estimated at $51,346 (equivalent to $ in ). The line ceased operations in 1910 and was dismantled in 1912. The company dissolved on January 17, 1912.

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Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure: Harbor Springs, Michigan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harbor Springs Railway Defunct Michigan railroads 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States Logging railroads in the United States Narrow gauge railroads in Michigan