Southern Michigan Railroad Society

Infobox SG rail
railroad_name=Southern Michigan Railroad Society
marks=SMRS
locale=Michigan
start_year=1985
end_year=Present
old_gauge=
hq_city=Clinton, Lenawee County, MichiganThe Southern Michigan Railroad Society is a heritage railway in the United States. It has preserved 13.5 miles of track and a variety of railroad equipment including the only GMDH-3 locomotive ever built.

The Society operates a museum at 320 S. Division Street in Clinton, Michigan. About six months of the year, it also operates historic trains on two sections of the railroad.

Society

The Society began as the "Lenawee Area Railroaders", an informal association of railway buffs and modellers. They held monthly gatherings in Tecumseh, Clinton and Adrian, Michigan, and starting in June 1981 they published a newsletter, "The Cross Tracks". They soon learned that Conrail was likely to abandon their Clinton Secondary Track, so in August 1982 they founded the nonprofit Southern Michigan Railroad Society, a volunteer membership organization, "to back an attempt by local citizens to purchase and preserve the former New York Central Railroad's Clinton Branch rail line." [ cite journal
journal = The Cross Tracks
title = Perspective
last = Dobek
first = Jeff
volume = 3
issue = 1
pages=2 ]

The Village of Clinton donated a building to the Society, the former Clinton engine works, adjacent to the railroad. In July 2004, they reached agreement with Conrail to purchase the railroad, for $100,000. [cite journal
journal = The Cross Tracks
title = Society News
volume = 3
issue = 4
pages=6 ]

The SMRS's focus has largely shifted to restoring and operating the heritage railroad. They continue to publish a newsletter, "The Railway Express".

Heritage railroad

The railroad runs 13.5 miles from Clinton, Michigan, through Tecumseh, Michigan, to Lenawee Junction, Michigan. This line is the second railroad constructed in the State of Michigan, and the first branchline. It was originally the Palmyra and Jacksonburgh Railroad, running between Palmyra (near Lenawee Junction) and Jackson, Michigan.

The railroad runs 5 miles between the towns of Clinton and Tecumseh, then an additional 6.5 miles from Tecumseh to the rural railroad junction of Raisin Center, then two more miles to rural Lenawee Junction, an interchange with the freight and passenger Adrian and Blissfield Rail Road. Most trains operate between the two towns, permitting stopovers. In October, "Fall Color Tours" use the longer 6.5 mile segment to Raisin Center.

Notable characteristics of the line include unusual, New York Central "105 lb. Dudley" rail and Bridge 15, [http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/tecumseh/] a Howe deck truss bridge listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

At Raisin Center, there is a level junction with the Norfolk Southern Railway (former Wabash) mainline from Detroit to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Norfolk Southern's predecessor, the Norfolk & Western Railway, illegally removed this level crossing shortly before the SMRS took possession of the line. This isolated most of the track from the national railroad system. As part of the railroad, the SMRS inherited a crossing agreement which obliged the Norfolk & Western to maintain the level crossing at their expense. The Norfolk & Western refused to respect the crossing agreement, and the Society's limited budget prevented launching a lawsuit. This was a serious problem, as the SMRS had leased and purchased locomotives and cars intending to run full sized trains.

However, a small "track speeder" motorcar had been donated to the Society, and during Clinton's Fall Festival, they improvised speeder rides for the public. This proved serendipitous. The Society was able to obtain other motorcars, and for several years operated a successful passenger service while they gathered funds to truck in full-size equipment.

Operations

Operations began with "speeders", operated in trains as large as five.

The first large equipment to be trucked in and operated was a Plymouth locomotive and two cabooses. Within a few years, this was augmented with a pipe gondola car fitted for passengers with a wooden deck and seats. Later, a 1920 Chicago South Shore interurban car was trucked to Clinton and added to the train. Additional locomotives arrived, including a former Western Maryland Railway GE 44-ton and the GMDH-3.

Collection

Among the Society's equipment:
* The two Ann Arbor ALCO RS-1 locomotives, #20 and #21. #20 is located in Shepherd, Michigan in static display. Both units are believed to be in operational condition.
* The only General Motors GMDH-3 diesel-hydraulic locomotive ever built. It is operational.
* Two 1920 Chicago South Shore cars, #1 and #36.
* The Ann Arbor passenger coach "Emerald Vale".
* New York Central caboose #21692.
* New Haven Railroad caboose #C305, for a time repainted as Penn Central #19882, a caboose which ran on this line.
* Two cabooses purchased from Conrail (of New York Central and New Haven heritage).
* A large collection of "track speeder" railway motorcars.

External links

* [http://www.southernmichiganrailroad.org/ Southern Michigan Railroad Society Web site]
* [http://www.railroadmichigan.com/southernmichigan.html Photos of Society equipment]
* [http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/tecumseh/ The line's truss bridge]
* [http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Maps/Counties/46-LenaweeMap.htm Map of railroads in Lenawee County]
* [http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?partner=justgive&ein=38-2445950 Data about nonprofit from justgive.org]

References