Michigan Southern Railway

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The Michigan Southern Railway was created on March 1, 1976, a month before Conrail itself was created. MS was the result of massive restructuring at the former Ann Arbor Railroad and was created based on speculation that Conrail would eventually abandon the entire AA north of Osmer. In order to stay afloat, the state of Michigan would own and operate MS, with trackage under a two-year lease agreement with Conrail.

In the beginning, MS inherited the entire AA roster, which was in various states of disrepair. All engines would be given quick paint jobs to cover up all AA lettering and had "MS" lettering on the cabs. MS' original lines were all former AA lines: Sallings to Owosso, Cadillac to Ashley and Pitt to Toledo, with trackage rights over the Grand Trunk Western from Pitt to Ashley.

In June 1977, under orders from the state of Michigan, MS acquired Grand Trunk Western's former Denmark Junction Branch from Saginaw to Denmark Junction, Conrail's former Vassar Secondary from Millington to Munger and Conrail's former Caro Secondary from Vassar to Colling. These transactions gave MS access to the Saginaw area.

On October 1, 1977, MS was privatized. However, no new line acquisitions were made until 1979, when MS acquired the Hastings Secondary (Grand Rapids to Vermontville) from Conrail and to reach it acquired trackage rights between Grand Rapids and Cadillac. In 1980, MS acquired the remainder of the former AA to Frankfort, as well as car ferry operations between Frankfort and Wisconsin. Just two years later, in April 1982, the car ferries were discontinued, citing continuing decreases in profitability in that field. Also in 1980, MS entered new territory when it acquired all of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton south of Diann from GTW, which had recently acquired the DT&I and was only interested in the mainlines north of Diann. To make this possible, MS built a new connector track at the northwest corner of the junction between the former AA and the former DT&I.

In 1981, MS entered Detroit when it reached an agreement to purchase CSX's Oak-West Detroit branch in order to save it from abandonment. In addition, MS also acquired trackage rights along the CSX Plymouth and Detroit Subdivisions from Oak to Annpere, where MS built a connector track at the northeast corner of that junction. A year later, in 1982, MS acquired the CSX Traverse Subdivision between Grawn and Williamsburg, the GTW Greenville Subdivision between Owosso and Greenville and the GTW Jackson Subdivision from Lakeland to Pontiac. In 1984, MS outbid Conrail for control of the Detroit Terminal Railroad and in an unrelated deal purchased the Union Belt of Detroit as well. Also, MS acquired all former Conrail trackage north of Grand Rapids, giving it a system that stretched from Mackinaw City to Cincinnati.

In May 1985, GTW wanted to abandon the Imlay City Subdivision north of the new GM Lake Orion Assembly plant, but decided to instead sell the entire subdivision to MS. The following year, in 1986, GTW also sold the Saginaw Subdivision to MS and as a result, MS abandoned their existing Owosso-Saginaw route. In 1987, the GTW Grand Rapids Subdivision would be sold to MS too. In 1988, MS acquired former CSX Vassar Subdivision from Saginaw to Port Huron and abandoned the portion from Saginaw to Vassar.

MS' biggest transaction took place in 1992, when it acquired all Conrail trackage in Michigan except for the Detroit Line, North Yard Branch, Sterling Secondary, Utica Industrial Track and Lincoln Secondary. In 1996, MS sold the Michigan Line between West Detroit and Kalamazoo to Amtrak, retaining trackage rights, as part of a project to electrify the entire Michigan Line between West Detroit and Porter and construct a flyover across the CSX Saginaw Subdivision in Wayne, a project that was completed in 2000.

In 1999, MS acquired the GTW Romeo Subdivision and purchased trackage rights along the Mount Clemens Subdivision from Richmond to Port Huron. In 2001, to receive funding to purchase the Wisconsin Central Railroad, CN sold the Dearborn, Flat Rock and River Subdivisions to MS, with CN retaining trackage rights between Flat Rock and FN Junction (now CP Rodney). MS' most recent acquisition came in 2005, when it acquired the former northernmost portion of the CSX Saginaw Subdivision between Saginaw and Mount Morris.

Today, Michigan Southern is one of the largest Class II railroads in the United States, with a large network that spans the Midwest from Mackinaw City to Cincinnati and across lower Michigan.

Roster info and history coming soon.

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Looking forward to more