The Michigan Northern Railway was a railroad that provided service to the northern part of the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

from 1976 to 1986. At the beginning of service on April 1, 1976, the MIGN operated the former

Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad at its height provided passenger and freight railroad services between Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, USA. The company was formed on January 18, 1854. Beginnings After grappl ...

from Comstock Park 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 ...

and the Walton Junction Branch to

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

. In 1982, the MIGN assumed operation of the former

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

from Grawn to Williamsburg and from

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

to Petoskey, and the former Ann Arbor Railroad from

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

to Frankfort.

History

The Michigan Northern Railway was established in December 1975 to operate the former Pennsylvania Railroad's

from Comstock Park to

. As the

Penn Central Transportation Company The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

sought to abandon railroad lines in northern Michigan, the

Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstate ...

arranged subsidies for the MIGN to acquire the segment from Comstock Park to Mackinaw City. Operations began on April 1, 1976. At Mackinaw City, the MIGN interchanged with the

Detroit and Mackinac Railway 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 with its main line r ...

. The DM switched cars onto the SS Chief Wawatam, a railroad ferry that provided service across 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 ...

from Mackinaw City to

St. Ignace St. Ignace is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Mackinac County. The city had a population of 2,452 at the 2010 census. St. Ignace Township is located just to the north of the city, but the two are administered auto ...

. This enabled the MIGN to offer through freight service to the

Upper Peninsula 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 ...

. Due to a controversial rate "flag-out" that began in 1978, the MIGN saw increased overhead car counts. In 1977, the MIGN handled 568 overhead cars while in 1978, the MIGN handled 4781 overhead cars. After nationwide railroad deregulation in 1980, the overhead car counts reduced considerably. In February 1982, the Michigan Department of Transportation purchased two segments of the former

intended for abandonment. The MIGN was contracted to operate from Grawn to Williamsburg via connection with the Walton Junction Branch in

and from Charelvoix to its existing route in Petoskey. Additionally, on October 1, 1982, the MIGN assumed operations of the former Ann Arbor Railroad from

to Frankfort. In May 1984, due to poor accounting and operating practices, the Michigan Department of Transportation withdrew subsidies from the MIGN; operations on the state owned railroad lines were transferred to the

Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway The Great Lakes Central Railroad is an American Class II regional railroad, operating in the state of Michigan. It was originally called the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway , which was formed on August 26, 1977, to operate over former Penn Cen ...

. Service south of Reed City to Comstock Park was discontinued. At this time, only the segment from Petoskey to Mackinaw City was operated by the MIGN. Following Penn Central's departure from ferry services and unsuccessful attempts to operate regular excursion trains, the MIGN abandoned the railroad line from Pellston to Mackinaw City. A "truck-to-rail" transfer facility was established in Pellston to handle steel products from

Algoma Steel Algoma Steel Inc. (formerly Algoma Steel; Essar Steel Algoma) is an integrated primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Its products are sold in Canada and the United States as well as overseas ...

in Sault Ste. Marie. This constituted the MIGN's sole source of revenue at the time with the only exception being the odd excursion train. However, in January 1986, after claims the MIGN had been delinquent on payments to Penn Central for the remaining railroad line, a federal judge granted the MIGN a six-month grace period to make a payment of $150,000 to the Penn Central. Despite this, the MIGN was unable to make payment due to limited revenue and the railroad line was removed in June 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michigan Northern Railway Defunct Michigan railroads Transportation in Wexford County, Michigan Defunct companies based in Michigan Railway companies established in 1976 Railway companies disestablished in 1986