The Annie

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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
HISTORICAL MICHIGAN RAILROAD REMEMBERED IN EXHIBIT AT CLARKE HISTORICAL LIBRARY
MEDIA CONTACT: Mike Silverthorn, (989) 774-3197
PROGRAM CONTACT: Frank Boles, (989) 774-3965

Though the golden age of railroads faded long ago, one Michigan rail line, the world’s first to provide a car ferry service, will be remembered in a new exhibit at Central Michigan University’s Clarke Historical Library.

The history of Michigan’s Ann Arbor Railroad, nicknamed The Annie, is the focus of the exhibit, featuring original documents and published information about the railroad, as well as seldom seen photographs.

The exhibit in the library’s Francis and Mary Lois Molson Exhibit Gallery and the Meijer Exhibit Gallery runs from Feb. 1 to July 15. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Annie began operating in 1878 and ran diagonally from Frankfort, Mich., to Toledo, Ohio. In addition to its land route, the railroad began operating car ferries in 1892, traveling from Michigan to Wisconsin. These car ferries eventually became the core of the Ann Arbor Railroad’s operations. The ferry service was the first of its kind across Lake Michigan, and the idea was quickly copied by other railroads.

“In many ways the Ann Arbor was a ferry company that used track to collect railroad cars for its boats on one side of the lake and deliver them on the other side to the main lines of larger competitors. The Ann Arbor Railroad covered more miles over water than it had track on land,” said Frank Boles, director of the Clarke Historical Library.

The exhibit includes an abundance of historical relics, including plans detailing the refitting of one of the ferries, a 1935 inspection report of The Annie’s locomotive, and a logbook for one of the ferries from 1916 documenting the vessel’s arrivals, departures and even delays.

Today, most of The Annie’s tracks are either abandoned or operating in a greatly diminished capacity, and ferries carrying railroad cars are no longer allowed to ply Lake Michigan.

“This exhibit allows viewers to revisit an era when the timeliness of trains was how people set their watches and railroad technology was the pride of America,” said Boles.

The Clarke Historical Library, located on the main level of CMU’s Park Library, maintains year-round hours to serve scholars, the CMU community and the public. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. most Saturdays during the academic year.

http://www.news.cmich.edu/news/index.asp?id=458