Detroit and Mackinac Railway

Detroit and Mackinac Railway
Reporting mark	D&M, DM
Locale	Michigan
Dates of operation	1894–1992
Successor	Lake State Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)

The Detroit and Mackinac Railway (reporting marks D&M, DM), informally known as the "Turtle Line", was a railroad operating in the northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The main line stretched from the southern hub at Bay City, to its northern hub at Cheboygan. It operated from 1894 to 1992.

The Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad, a short line operating from Bay City northward to the Lake Huron port of Alpena, was reorganized into the Detroit and Mackinac (D & M) on December 17, 1894. During the late 1890s and the first decade of the Twentieth Century, the timber resources of northeastern Michigan were fully utilized and the D & M expanded its trackage northward from Alpena to Cheboygan. The line prospered, and even built a stone passenger depot in Harrisville.^[1] The D & M also built many spur lines into tracts of adjacent timberland. One spur, in service for many years, served the limestone quarries of Rogers City.

In March, 1976, the Detroit & Mackinac reached its maximum extent, purchasing a combination of trackage and operating trackage rights from the remains of the bankrupt Penn Central that created an alternate main line from Bay City northward, through Gaylord and Cheboygan, to Mackinaw City.

However, adverse economic conditions continued to affect railroad operations in the northeastern United States. The Detroit & Mackinac sold itself to the Lake State Railway Company in 1992, and ended its existence as an independent railroad.

A collection of D&M artifacts, including a 1920's switching engine, are housed at the depot in Lincoln, Michigan. The stone depot in Standish, Michigan is also a museum, with rolling stock.

The Detroit & Mackinac called itself the "Turtle Line" and its logo symbol was "Mackinac Mac".^[2] The railroad bore the hostile backronym of "Defeated & Maltreated".

External links

• Detroit and Mackinac Railway Historical Society home page
• Detroit and Mackinac Railway photographs and history.
• Detroit and Mackinac Railway System Map.

References

1. ^ How Harrisville got a Stone Depot
2. ^ Detroit and Mackinac Railway photographs.

Further reading

• Wakeman, George L., My Story of the Detroit & Mackinac Railroad Library of Michigan, Lansing, 1940.

See also

• Harrisville, Michigan -- stone depot
• Lincoln, Michigan -- wooden depot museum, with rolling stock -- switch engine and caboose
• Standish, Michigan -- stone depot museum, with rolling stock