The Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad was a , 1/4-scale

ridable miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

, located in

Fairview, Michigan Fairview is an unincorporated community in Oscoda County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Comins Township at the intersection of highways M-33 and M-72 at . Fairview is considered the wild turkey capital of Michigan. The ...

. The railroad runs through the scenic

Huron National Forest The Huron National Forest is a National Forest in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It was established in 1909 after the logging era began to decline. In 1945, it was administratively combined with the Manistee National Forest, to create the Hur ...

and the Comins Creek valley. The railroad has remained in operation since 1994 before closing permanently in 2021.

History

Michigan_AuSable_Valley_Railroad_Engine_House

Michigan_AuSable_Valley_Railroad_Black_Bear_Trestle

This

Minimum-gauge railway Minimum-gauge railways have a gauge of most commonly , , , , , or . The notion of minimum-gauge railways was originally developed by estate railways and the French company of Decauville for light railways, trench railways, mining, and farming ...

truly a big

backyard railroad __NOTOC__ A backyard railroad is a privately owned, outdoor railroad, most often in miniature, but large enough for one or several persons to ride on. The rail gauge can be anything from to or more. Smaller backyard or outdoor railroads that c ...

was created by Joanne and Howard Schrader. They began construction of the Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad station and the engine house in 1994. In 1995, seven passenger cars from the Pinconning and Blind River Railroad were restored for use on the line. The cars are named after area counties and other points of interest in the

. From 15 April to 2 December 1996, the Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad constructed two wooden

trestles ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Labora ...

and a wooden

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

. The longest trestle spans over . The railroad meanders through

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

country near the valleys of the Au Sable River. The Schraders are publishers, distributors and operators of a railroad catalog. Trainorders.com reported in 2017 that the Schraders were retiring from operating the railroad and the catalog. The facility, owners' residence and acreage was listed for sale in 2017, together with the affiliated railroad catalog store. The railroad was sold to Kings Lights of Texas

Locomotives

Michigan_AuSable_Valley_Railroad_Slug_unit

The Custom Locomotive Works in

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

constructed a pair of miniature F-7 A diesel locomotive units for the Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad over a period of nine months. The front locomotive contains the engine while the slug unit balances the weight. The units have a combined weight of 11,000 pounds and length of long; they are high. The powered unit has an 80 hp Perkins diesel engine driving 16 wheels and supplying power to an air-brake system. Locomotive No. 5661 is a 4-6-4 oil-fired steam engine, known as the "Hudson", built in 1961 by E.C. Eddy of Fairview. The locomotive originally ran on the Pinconning and Blind River Railroad. It now runs on the AuSable on selected Sundays and holidays. The Hudson steam locomotive was restored circa 2002. The trackage was laid by family and friends. It is serpentine, sometimes with parallel and crossing tracks, making a surprising trip, approximately 18 minutes long. The railroad uses over 5,500 railroad ties. In 1995 four

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

es were added to the route.

Schedule

The Summer Schedule in 2015 was Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The Fall Color tour for 2015 ran on two weekends in October. The scheduled days were extremely limited at about 38 days per year. 2017 was said to be the railroad's final year of operation. It is in the environs of the

North Central State Trail The North Central State Trail is a 62-mile (100 km) recreational rail trail serving a section of the northern quarter of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Following a route generally parallel to Interstate 75, the trail goe ...

. The ride, which is about , takes just under 20 minutes.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Photos
at Michigan Railroad Photo Collection hobbyist site
Schraders' Railroad CatalogPhoto gallery at Weichert Realty
* * * {{Coord, 44.6737315, -84.0508437, display=title 1994 establishments in Michigan Amusement rides based on rail transport Backyard railways Backyard railroads in the United States Heritage railroads in Michigan Miniature railways Miniature railroads in the United States Minimum gauge railways Rail transport hobbies Tourist attractions in Oscoda County, Michigan Transportation in Oscoda County, Michigan