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I don't have any photos, but I was given a book written by Douglas N. Leffler called "Railroad Town Jackson, Michigan." It was published in 2016 and it gives a complete history of railroading in and around Jackson. Every page has photographs or maps along with descriptions. Hope this helps. Tim.

Another possibility is that the rail wasn't for a railroad at all. In my years of working in the steel erection trade, I've worked a lot of jobs setting and aligning rails on top of rather large girders for overhead cranes to travel on. These cranes can be found inside power houses, steel mills and ...

I was in St. Ignace most of last week so I decided to ask some of the locals what they knew about the SLE. No one could give me specific dates, but the stories were mostly the same. Apparently two partners owned both the Mystery Spot and the SLE. At the time the train was boarded and departed from t...

Just a heads up to any railfans in the northland or heading that way. From The St. Ignace News. "The Mackinaw Area Historical Society will present a free program, "Early Days of Northern Michigan Railroads and Other Tidbits of Railroading," by Don Gezon Monday, April 11, at 7 pm at Pinecrest Village...

Apparently 1760 is back in service. It was in Mason this morning behind 1751.

MiddleMi, I'm just guessing, but I think you most likely saw the JAIL train on the 16th. Usually the JAIL train goes through Lansing with just a few cars and wouldn't block any streets if they were stopped at Michigan Ave. CSX trains on the other hand are usually much longer would likely hold up eas...

Two years ago JAIL started setting out empty tank cars on the spur next to Michigan Packaging. They usually drop three to seven cars at a time with five being the norm. I've been told that crude oil is trucked up to Mason from around Brooklyn and Napoleon where it is then transloaded into the tankca...

Thats a real nice catch you got this morning GTWRalph. Those boxcars you saw went to Michigan Packaging. As a side note,I have been curious about the apparent lack of activity on the JAIL line over the past week. The engines have been out of the barn and the rail has been showing signs of rust both ...

JAIL has been bringing up tank cars from Jackson since about September of last year. They usually drop 5 to 7 cars at a time at the end of the siding near Michigan Packaging south of downtown Mason. The crude oil is being brought in by truck and transloaded into the tankcars. I don't know where the ...

I was there all day working the Capital Area Railway Society (CARS) layout. The place was busy right up to closing. We were told that attendance was the best ever, but there were fewer dealers this year. I didn't buy anything, but several people I talked to said they got good deals on what they boug...

I believe that the Regional Steel Distribution Center (RSDC) has the same work schedule as the auto plants they supply, so I wouldn't expect to see a lot of steel coil cars until after New Years day. Also, from what I've seen over the years MPC will be down for several days too. As far as JAIL goes,...

From what I can tell the JAIL crew usually heads south out of Mason sometime after midnight. They stop at Michigan Packaging Co. and pick up empty cars there and sometimes the loaded tank cars that are on the stone track. They head on down to Jackson and return to Mason between 7:00 and 9:00 am. If ...

I was just wondering if any of you railfans / boatnerds are planning to go to St. Clare tomorrow 9-28 to hear the old steam whistles being blown? It's a long haul for me but according to boatnerd.com news the whistle from the Chief Wawatam will be among about 3 dozen whistles to be blown. It's been ...

MJ Electric is based in Iron Mountain, Mi., but according to their website they have jobs going all over the country. I suspect the supplier has been working with them for quite some time even though most of their jobs are currently in the upper midwest and northeast.

Apparently the Jackson & Lansing RR has picked up some work in Mason. First, MJ Electric has a staging area on the south side of Mason for a transmission tower replacement job that will be starting in the area soon. They have recieved two shipments of hardwood mats on bulkhead flatcars in the past t...

The trackwork you saw was started earlier in the summer and continues whenever the track crew has nowhere else they have to be. The engine house is mostly complete and did have one track going into it. However part of that track was taken up to add the second line into the barn and to tie into the e...

The LTEX GP-15 s were pulled out of the barn today, (Mon 03-11) and taken up to Lansing. One of the GP-9 s was up front and the other 9 was on the end behind three gondolas.

This morning the crew brought a string of 21 coil cars north using one of the LTEX GP-15's and one of the GP-9's. Later on both were tied down in Mason close to the other GP-9. The other GP-15 is most likely still in the new barn.

For at least the last three days, the crews have been working with one of the GP-9's (1760) along with one of the GP-15's (1419). Anyone know what's up with 1443 ?

The March 29th issue of The St. Ignace News states that removal of the apron and debris will begin this week. Apparently the city's insurance will pay for removal but not restoration.