''Northern Arrow'' was one of the named

passenger trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

of the Pennsylvania Railroad, starting at

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

and ending at

Mackinaw City, Michigan 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 ...

. It had merging branches originating from

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, converging in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, and a train from

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

from the west, converging at Richmond, Indiana.. Carrying the number #519 northbound and #520 southbound, it used the

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 ...

, a leased subsidiary of the Pennsylvania system. The train was frequented by northbound travelers to popular

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...

resort destinations north of

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 ...

, such as Petoskey, Bay View (only northbound trains stopped there; it was the stop after Petoskey),

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 Mackinac Island. One section of the ''Northern Arrow'' was a seasonal summer-only weekly service between Chicago and Mackinaw City. Additional northbound sleeper sections after leaving Petoskey diverged west to

Harbor Springs 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 Li ...

. The ''Northern Arrow'' ran express from Grand Rapids to Cadillac (albeit, available for flagstops and Reed City). The PRR ran a local counterpart from Grand Rapids to Mackinaw City (later cut back to Petoskey) which served the bypassed stations. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway operated the ''Resort Special'' that served the Chicago to Petoskey market. For the Grand Rapids to Petoskey route, the ''Resort Special'' was a competitor with the ''Northern Arrow.'' During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and immediately after, 1942–1946, the ''Northern Arrow'' was one of the named trains dropped from service. On May 26, 1950, the ''Northern Arrow'' was re-equipped with a lightweight lounge and sleeping cars plus a dining car decorated with

photomurals. It did not operate outside of the summer months, as there were no trains on the route north of Grand Rapids during the colder months. The PRR ended its local counterpart service between 1954 and 1955. ''Northern Arrow'' service ended in 1961. In 1976, 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 Interstat ...

initiated the Michigan Northern Railway, which operated passenger service from Grand Rapids to Mackinaw City until 1986.

References

Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad Night trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Michigan Passenger rail transportation in Indiana Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Railway services introduced in 1935 Railway services discontinued in 1961 {{US-train-stub