The Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad (M&LS) was an American Class III railroad serving the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

from 1909 to 1968. It provided service from Manistique, Michigan to a junction with the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway at Doty, Michigan, southeast of Munising, Michigan. Its nickname was ''The Haywire''. The M&LS was chartered in 1909 to penetrate what was then a booming

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 pulpwood region of the central Upper Peninsula. Almost from the start, it served as an affiliate of the Ann Arbor Railroad and was connected with the larger railroad's northwestern terminus at

Elberta, Michigan Elberta is a village in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 372 at the 2010 census. The village located in the east of Gilmore Township, on the south side of Lake Betsie, which is formed by the Betsie River before flow ...

, by Ann Arbor Railroad car ferry. The Elberta-Manistique run was one of the longest regularly scheduled railroad car ferry runs operated in North America. The M&LS connected with the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway in Shingleton, just east of Munising, and with the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad at Doty, as well as with the Soo Line in its headquarters of Manistique. After the old-growth timber of the central U.P. had been harvested, the transportation needs of the local area served by the Manistique & Lake Superior declined. While the cold, swampy region continued to yield pulpwood, the construction of

M-94 The M-94 was a piece of cryptographic equipment used by the United States Army, consisting of several lettered discs arranged as a cylinder. It was also employed by the US Navy, under the name CSP 488. The device was conceived by Colonel Parker ...

generally parallel to the M&LS

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

further reduced the need for the little railroad. By the 1960s, the Manistique & Lake Superior had been reduced to only one working

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

. The railroad and its car ferry ceased operations in July 1968.

Current status

In 1970, the abandoned railroad grade was adapted to serve as the Haywire Grade Rail Trail, one of Michigan's first

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

s. The 32-mile-long Haywire Trail follows most of the former railroad's right-of-way from Manistique to Shingleton. A graded, unpaved trail, the Haywire is adapted for snowmobiles and hikers, and is sub-standard for bicycle use. In 2017, mile markers were installed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manistique Lake Superior Railroad Defunct Michigan railroads Railway companies established in 1909 Railway companies disestablished in 1968 Predecessors of the Ann Arbor Railroad Defunct companies based in Michigan Transportation in Alger County, Michigan Transportation in Schoolcraft County, Michigan