D&M-MIGN Ferry Operations

[AARR]

Posted by Alex Huff

Per diem on northbound empties wasn't a problem for MIGN for two reasons. One, return empties didn't match loads. Western carriers would reload an eastern carrier empty rather than deadhead it all the back to Chicago if the car wasn't in a dedicated pool. By the same token, eastern carriers would load a western car for a western destination that would go via Chicago. Second, interchange by agreement back in days of the Michigan Central, the GR&I and the DSS&A occurred when the cars were delivered in Mackinaw City. MIGN's per diem exposure ended when we dropped cars on the tracks on the north side of the depot.

When the D&M acquired the Mackinaw City yard and the attached line south through Gaylord, they did not buy the southern end where it paralleled the D&M. They threw in a connection track between the two lines and the now PC line south of that connection was scrapped, breaking the through route and therefore all through rates on the NYC network. D&M was by its choice unable to participate in any overhead traffic. When I first met young Pinkerton at Mackinaw City, he made it very clear that the rail yard was purchased as a real estate play. He wasn't happy to hear that MIGN had other plans for the Chief. The same situation applied on northbound traffic. MIGN's first winter, we fell heir to a boatload of coal for the steel mill at the Soo when the lake froze early. C&O provided the cars and the only remaining through route was via Reed City. The senior Pinkerton reportedly was displeased, mostly because he had contracted to switch the Chief and oversee its operation for a flat rate paid by the state of Michigan and now had to run the boat more often than he expected with resultant higher costs.