Mason and Oceana Railroad

Mason and Oceana Railroad
Locale	Michigan
Dates of operation	1887–1909
Track gauge	3 ft  (914 mm)
Headquarters	Ludington, Michigan

The Mason and Oceana Railroad was a short (35-mile-long) narrow-gauge line in the U.S. state of Michigan.^[1] Organized in 1887 and in operation from 1887 until 1909, it served the counties of Mason and Oceana in the northwestern quarter of Michigan's Lower Peninsula in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The railroad operated on a three-foot gauge; its 32-mile-long main line stretched from near Ludington southeast to Crystal Valley,^[2] and the former railhead of Goodrich, Michigan (not to be confused with the Goodrich, Michigan located in Genessee County).^[1] The short line used geared Shay locomotives.^[3]

The Mason and Oceana was originally built by the Butters family, at a cost of $178,000, to help exploit the old-growth timber resources of Michigan. The M & O's service area, in southeastern Mason County and northern Oceana County, lacked rivers used in other parts of Michigan to transport heavy logs to sawmills. Instead of water transport, local loggers used the M & O to carry logs to the Butters Salt and Lumber Company sawmill in Buttersville, near Ludington.^[1]

The Mason and Oceana had expansion plans to extend its main line to Hesperia in 1901, but the extension was never built. After the first-growth timber resources of the Mason and Oceana's service area had been exhausted, there was no longer any reason for the tiny railroad to continue in operation. It was abandoned in 1909.^[2] At least one of the M & O's narrow-gauge engines was sold to the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge line in Alaska.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Atwood, Commissioner Theron W. (1903). Thirty-First Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads of the State of Michigan, For the Year 1903. Lansing, Michigan: State of Michigan. pp. 38, 393–95. [1]
2. ^ ^{a b} "Railroad History Time Line: 1887", MichiganRailroads.com, accessed April 16, 2011.[2]
3. ^ "Shay Images - Ma - Mh". Geared Steam Locomotive Works. http://www.gearedsteam.com/shay/images_ma-mh.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-09.