  Little_buddy Member Username: Little_buddy Post Number: 74 Registered: 03-2006 |
Does anyone know where a person can get old maps of Michigan that show all the railroads that ran at one time here? I think about it when I see a rails-to-trails somewhere and wonder how many tracks there where at one time in Michigan. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1587 Registered: 04-2006 |
MARP? www.marp.org | ||
Jsmyers Member Username: Jsmyers Post Number: 1978 Registered: 12-2003 |
Not the easiest to navigate but what you are looking for: http://www.michiganrailroads.c om/RRHX/Maps/MapMenu.htm If you have GIS software: http://www.bts.gov/publication s/national_transportation_atla s_database/2007/ | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1540 Registered: 12-2005 |
I have a copy of the "1917 Michigan Manual" which includes various 8.5 x 11.0 inch fold-out maps. Two of these maps show all of the steam and electric railroad lines in the Lower and Upper Peninsulas and they are identified with the names of the railroad companies. Total track mileage in the state as of 1916 was 8,953 (steam) and 1,244 (electric). Here is what the Lower Peninsula railroad map looks like.  Contact me if you would like a 1.8 MB scan of this map and/or the UP map. (Message edited by Mikeg on March 28, 2008) | ||
Shark Member Username: Shark Post Number: 346 Registered: 12-2003 |
Just search "Michigan, railroad" on eBay and you'll always find a lot of maps for sale. | ||
Clark1mt Member Username: Clark1mt Post Number: 138 Registered: 06-2005 |
http://www.michigan.gov/docume nts/MDOT_Official_Rail_130897_ 7.pdf | ||
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy Post Number: 227 Registered: 08-2006 |
lil buddy greenways initiative has what you need http://greenways.cfsem.org/res ources/index.html the rails-to-trains conservancy has some thorough work in the Planning for Detroit's Rail-Trails Study hope this helps | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1591 Registered: 04-2006 |
Delorme's atlas has 15 minute quadrangles that show old railroad beds. There is an grown-over bed by my cabin but I have yet to find it. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1348 Registered: 11-2003 |
A great reference is SPV's Great Lakes East (Lower Peninsula) and Great Lakes West (Upper Peninsula) Railroad Atlases. Available at hobby shops or Amazon. These atlases attempt to show all current and abandoned (dashed line) railroads in the state. Obviously with such an all-encompassing goal there are a few errors. The second editions of the atlases also show where the interurbans went. Graydon Meints's 2-volume "Michigan Railroad Lines," published by the MSU Press, attempts to describe when every segment of line in Michigan was constructed, sold, and if it was the case, abandoned. There are small county maps in one section of the books, measuring a couple of inches by a couple of inches, that show all the lines, including some that the SPV atlases miss. Delorme's atlas neglects to show many of the lines that have been abandoned for a *long* time. | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 117 Registered: 08-2006 |
There was a great, big railroad-themed pizza joint adjacent to the Valley Plaza Resort in Midland(an 0-8-0 steam switcher was parked out front), they had a vintage Michigan railroad map that covered most of one wall..you could figure out which line was which, pre-merger mania(PRR owned the line that went between Mound & Van Dyke, as I recall) | ||
Downriviera Member Username: Downriviera Post Number: 186 Registered: 02-2008 |
A little off topic, but here's a good site for rail cams: http://www.railserve.com/RailC ams/ | ||
Bigb23 Member Username: Bigb23 Post Number: 941 Registered: 11-2007 |
Scanned a couple of local pics. "Edward Barnes, local jeweler, optician and inventor in 1895 near Rochester Junction. Barnes designed and built this steam powered hand car which he operated on the Grand Trunk Line." Second pic is the South hill bridge and DUR circa 1900.(Rochester, Mi.)  (Message edited by Bigb23 on March 30, 2008) | ||
Bigb23 Member Username: Bigb23 Post Number: 942 Registered: 11-2007 |
Scanned a couple of local pics.  "Detroit United Railway In January 1899, the Avon Township board granted John Winter and Oliver Law a franchise to construct and maintain a street railway for thirty years for transporting passengers and light freight across Avon Township. The pair promised that the railway would make at least four round trips per day in the winter and six round trips per day in the summer. The fare was also fixed at one and one half cents per mile. In the fall, Law and Winter sold their franchise to the Detroit, Rochester, Romeo, and Lake Orion Railway. Farmers in town were eager for a light railway to come through; some even gave up land in order for that to happen. Work commenced in May 1899, and on September 27, 1899 the first electric interurban railway car reached the south end of Rochester. A large excited crowd greeted the 42 foot long maroon car. Many in Rochester hoped the car would increase the population and show those outside Rochester that it was a "good place to live and start a business." A long bar called a trolley extended from the roof and connected the car to the electric wire (where the power to run the car came from). A motorman (or driver) stood at the front of the car and the conductor stood at the rear. Some of the cars even had heated bathrooms or separate smoking cars. The cars usually traveled between 35 and 40 miles per hour in the city and between 50 to 80 miles per hour outside Detroit. The interurbans provided passenger service between Detroit and the rural suburbs. The tracks sometimes ran alongside railroad tracks and roads or even down the main street of towns. In 1901, twelve lines were purchased and consolidated into the Detroit United Railway (D.U.R.). Detroit workers used the interurban to get to jobs in Rochester such as the Detroit Sugar Mill or Parke-Davis. It also allowed farmers to get dropped off right at the market. The D.U.R. built a powerhouse, mechanical department, and main barns (which were east of Main St. between Paint Creek and the Michigan Central tracks) in Rochester, employing many men. People in Rochester could go to stores in Detroit in a short amount of time and come home quickly because cars ran every hour or half hour. By 1925, Rochester was a thriving community; citizens, however, did not need to travel to Detroit so often for supplies because of the new stores in their town. Some patrons also had bad experiences on the D.U.R.; the companies were often improperly run or profit-driven and not very kind to its patrons. When the D.U.R. hit hard times and went bankrupt in 1928, few people mourned its loss. By 1930, there were 4,000 residents in Rochester (compared to 1,535 residents at the turn of the century); the interurban played a large part in Rochester's growth. In April 1931, the Era reported with sadness, "a parade of cars [left] the Rochester carhouse on their last trip to Highland Park." Today, there are no tracks that remain from the D.U.R. in Rochester." . (Message edited by Bigb23 on March 30, 2008) | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 118 Registered: 08-2006 |
Bigb23, a guy on PBS out here named Huell Howser did a thing on those, a group that rides them in the abandoned lines out in the desert; http://www.railbike.com/histor y.htm I could only find a prom o for the Fairmont Speeder collectors tho; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =Q1OyTrywXyM But as far as Michigan railroad inventors go, Shay outranks Edison; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E phraim_Shay | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1055 Registered: 10-2003 |
For info about speeders, try www.narcoa.org It's the website for the North America Railcar Owners Of America. They're the folks who organize trips and such. Interesting website. There's an excursion scheduled for Sept. 12-14 on the Great Lakes Central (the former TSBY) with set on at Clare, with a Friday trip to Ithaca, and a Saturday/Sunday trip to Traverse City and back. Wonder if they'll use PM 1225 as a chase vheicle...... |
