Lake State-Saginaw Bay Southern

• AAR Reporting Marks - LSRC.
• Official Website

Lake State Railway Company History & Overview

Lake State began operations in 1992 when it acquired all the lines operated by the Detroit and Mackinac Railway. The railroad also inherited a unique all Alco locomotive fleet. One of the lines acquired was originally Michigan Central from Bay City to Cheboygan. Another line, originally D&M trackag, branched off in Pinconning and followed Michigan's eastern coastline to Rogers City. Around 1992, trackage north of Gaylord to Cheboygan was abandoned. While a few minor spurs were abandoned, no other mainline was until 2001, when its line past Alpena to Rogers City was removed.

In 2005, Lake State acquired 67 miles of trackage from CSX Transportation around Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City. This trackage was previously operated under the subsidiary Saginaw Bay Southern Railway. Trackage to McGrew Yard in Flint was included in the sale.

The railroad began a changeover to an all-EMD fleet in the early 2000s. The EMD changeover was completed by 2011, with all of the Alco locomotives retired, then either scrapped or sold.

In late 2011, it was announced that the SBS would merge with Lake State, with LSRC being the surviving company. The merger was strictly for railway accounting purposes; LSRC functions today as an Interline Settlement System (ISS) carrier, while SBS functioned as a Junction Settlement (JS) carrier through CSX. Lake State will convert the former SBS lines to ISS. Following the news of the merger, Lake State has stopped painting the Saginaw Bay Southern logo on its locomotives.

In early 2018, LSRC acquired the Port Huron paper mill industrial spur from CN. Traffic is interchanged with CN at Tappen (Tunnel) Yard. This branch is isolated from the rest of the railroad.

In 2018, Railway Age awarded Lake State with their "Shortline of the Year" award.

In March 2019, LSRC began leasing 53 miles of the CSX Saginaw Subdivision from Mt. Morris (McGrew Yard) to Plymouth (Plymouth Yard). This expansion officially designated the railroad as a Class II regional railroad.

During the Summer of 2019, LSRC received trackage rights over the CN Flint Subdivision to Torrey Yard in Flint. Allowing for a direct interchange with CN.

In January 2020 it was announced that LSRC received the coal contract for CMS Energy's Essexville Power Plant. The contract will expire once the plant closes in 2023.

Interchanges

Lake State Railway interchanges with:

• Canadian National in Flint and Port Huron.
• CSX in Flint, Wixom, and Plymouth.
• Huron and Eastern in Saginaw and Bay City.
• Mid Michigan Railroad at Paines.

Current LSRC Locomotive Roster

Paint Scheme Summary:

• Phase I: Blue with white Zebra Stripes, plus LSRC Logo on the hood. Before SBS merger, dual LSRC/SBS logos were used on the long hood. Dual-logo units are noted as such.

• Phase II: Introduced in 2013, and has been applied to all locomotives acquired since. In 2017, the 25th Anniversary unit featured a modification of this scheme with a 25-year logo in place of the usual long hood design.

• Grey & Yellow: Former KCS/TFM paint. This scheme is in its sunset on the Lake State, a holdover from when the purchase of the ex-FURX leased units. They're being cycled through paint along with the Phase I units over time.

• CSX Patched Equipment: The first of the six former CSX SD50-3's arrived in patched paint from MEI. The next engines to arrive in Michigan will be painted, while the remaining pair will need extensive work and haven't entered the shops yet. (December 2019)

LSRC Customers

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