- Mid-Michigan Railroad
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Mid-Michigan Railroad Reporting mark MMRR Locale Michigan Dates of operation 1987[1]– Predecessor CSX Transportation Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) Length 56 miles (90 km) Headquarters Muskegon, Michigan The Mid-Michigan Railroad (reporting mark MMRR) is a railroad owned by RailAmerica, having been acquired in 2000.[2] It operates 56 miles (90 km) of track in Michigan.[2]
Contents
History
The company incorporated in 1987,[2] for the purpose of acquiring railway lines from the CSX Corporation. The company was owned at inception by RailTex, a Texas-based holding company which owned many short line railroads. The Mid-Michigan bought two lines from CSX:Elmdale–Greenville and Paines–Elwell.[3] In 1999 it sold the southernmost 5.6 miles (9.0 km) of Elmdale line, Elmdale–Malta, back to CSX.[4]
Routes
Greenville-Lowell
The northern terminus of the Greenville-Lowell line is Greenville, Michigan. After passing through Belding, Michigan, it interchanges with the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad in Lowell, Michigan. This line was originally built by the Ionia and Lansing Railroad (north of Belding to Greenville), the Patterson Railroad (north of Belding to Belding), and the Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad (Lowell to Belding).[5]
In 1987, 3,500 carloads moved north of Lowell. However, traffic steadily declined after that, especially when the Frigidaire factory in Greenville closed in 2005. By 2007, no traffic was moving at all, and the railroad filed this portion of the line for abandonment. It is planned to be sold to a rail trail.[6][7]
Elwell-Paines
Traffic
The railroad's traffic comes mainly from grain products, such as corn and soybeans. The MMRR hauled around 5,100 carloads in 2008.[2]
Notes
- ^ "Mid Michigan Railroad". http://www.railroadmichigan.com/midmichigan.html. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- ^ a b c d "RailAmerica's Empire". Trains Magazine (Kalmbach Publishing). June 2010.
- ^ Meints (1992), 113.
- ^ Meints (2005), 365. Meints gives Elmdale-Ionia as the branch, but this is incorrect and contradicted elsewhere. See Meints (2005), 127.
- ^ Branch (1916), 246; Ivey (1919), 250-251; Meints (1992), 124.
- ^ "Mid-Michigan Railroad to abandon 26-mile line". Trains News Wire (Kalmbach Publishing). 2007-11-30. http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=2811. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- ^ Request
References
- Branch, Elam Edgar (1916). History of Ionia County, Michigan: Her People, Industries and Institutions. Ionia County, Michigan: B.F. Bowen & Co. http://books.google.com/books?id=pfoBfEoLRrgC.
- Ivey, Paul (1919). The Pere Marquette Railroad Company. Michigan Historical Commission. http://books.google.com/books?id=mGYOAAAAIAAJ.
- Meints, Graydon M. (1992). Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0870133187.
- Meints, Graydon M. (2005). Michigan Railroad Lines. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
External links
Rail transport in Michigan Passenger Other Proposed 
Common carrier
linesHistory See also: Transportation in metropolitan DetroitCategories:- Railway companies established in 1987
- RailAmerica
- Michigan railroads
- Companies based in Michigan
- Muskegon, Michigan
- Spin-offs of CSX Transportation
- Companies operating former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway lines
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