Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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AARR
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Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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Sometime between 2015 and 2020 Jack Lark decided he had enough of operating a railroad and wanted to settle back to maintaining his fleet of vintage Baldwins, other unique equipment and operating his car repair shop.

He had already sold off the Green Bay to Channing/Republic line and what was left of the O&B Branch (Green Bay & Northern) but still operated the original line from Wells to Channing, the Escanaba Beltline and the Marinette Branch (M&M Branch).

He wanted to retain the the tracks around his shops on the Escanaba Beltline and also around the Wells sheds.

The line west of North Escanaba Jct. to Channing (approximately 62 miles) and from North Escanaba Jct. south to the shops yard (approximately 2.5 miles) as well as the M&M Branch (approximately 22 miles) were for sale.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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All three lines were sold. The line west of North Escanaba Jct. to Channing (approximately 62 miles) and from North Escanaba Jct. south to the shops yard (approximately 2.5 miles) is called Escanaba & Western Michigan. The M&M Branch (Crivitz Jct. to Marinette) is called Marinette & Menominee Industrial (M&MI).

Shortly after the acquisition, E&WM was awarded the contract to switch the huge Billerud Americas (former Verso) paper plant. This requires two jobs, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 350 days per year. The plant ships as many as 300 cars per week of inbound chemicals and pulp/wood chips and outbound paper.

The M&M Branch has four customers.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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The M&M Branch has no customers from Crivitz Jct. for nearly 20 miles until just outside of Marinette. The line from just outside Marinette to Crivitz Jct. is used for storage.

Then starting from the west and working to the east first is Alter Metal who just resumed shipping by rail after using exclusively trucks since the 1990's. After a slow start they are shipping 2-5 per week.

Next is the Kimberly-Clark rag and shop towel plant. When E&LS was servicing them, they did not ship much by rail. However, since M&MI took over, they have increased rail shipments. They receive 1-2 tank cars of chemicals each week, 4-6 cars of pulp wood/ scrap paper each week recently started receiving 1-2 cars each week of bulk rag/towel material in large rolls. As large 286,000lbs boxcars become the normal there is an opportunity for additional carloads of pulp wood/scrap paper. All outbound product goes out by truck and that probably will not change soon.

The crossing was removed years ago so M&MI has to zig zag across the CN mainline to access the east side of the branch. On the east side of CN's mainline is Tyco Fire Products that receives a carload of fire-retardant chemical every two to three months.

Finally, is Chem Design which receives 4-6 cars per week of chemicals.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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M&MI has a contract with CN to switch CN's two customers on the Menominee side of town. Resolute Forest Products ships 8-12 cars of wood pulp each week. Dunn Paper receives chemicals and scrap paper and ships out finished paper rolls amounting up to 36 cars per week. CN sets out and picks up from the siding on the Marinette side although there is a small yard off the CN Branch on the Menominee side.

M&MI typically works M-Sat starting a 7am. The typical power is one of the two SW8's, either 1200 or 1201.
Owner: Escanaba and Western Michigan
Model: EMD SW8 Built As: RSMX 1200 (SW8)
Serial Number: 16925 Order No: 6412
Frame Number: 6412-1 Built: 6/1952
Notes: Acquired from E&LS at start-up
Other locos with this serial: EWM 1200(SW8) ELS 1200(SW8) RSMX 1200(SW8)
Image
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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The huge Billerud Americas (former Verso) paper plant awarded their switching contract to E&WM shortly after take over. CN had the contract formerly and since they get all the traffic from the plant (up to 300 cars a week) CN didn't mind losing it.

This requires two jobs, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 350 days per year. At this time E&WM crews work an eight hour shift each. The engines are remote control operated so one person can handle the duties. There were train people upset with the remote operations/one person crew but based on the contract price this is the only way to operate in budget without working the train people more than eight hours per shift.

On a typical day Billerud will ship/receive:
- 7-10 inbound cars of calcium carbonate, caustic soda, Kaolin clay, latex, sodium chlorate, starch and titanium dioxide.
- 8-12 inbound cars of pulp and wood logs and wood chips. Only 30% arrives by rail. The rest arrives by truck. There is an opportunity here for E&WM that will be discussed later.
- 16-22 outbound box cars of various paper products and wood pulp

The typical power is one of the two SW8's and one of the SD9's.
Owner: Escanaba & Western Michigan
Model: EMD SW8 Built As: RSMX 1201 (SW8)
Serial Number: 16971 Order No: 6412
Frame Number: 6412-2 Built: 6/1952
Notes: Acquired from E&LS at start up
Other locos with this serial: EWM 1201(SW8) ELS 1201(SW8) RSMX 1201(SW8)
Image

Owner: Escanaba & Western Michigan
Model: EMD SD9 Built As: RSMX 1223 (SD9)
Serial Number: 21066 Order No: 5422
Frame Number: 5422-1 Built: 9/1956
Notes: Acquired from E&LS at start up. Restricted to yard work. 1221 & 1224 are authorized for road work/interchange. 1220 & 1222 are used for parts.
Other locos with this serial: EWM 1223(SD9) ELS 1223(SD9) RSMX 1223(SD9)
Image

1220 & 1222 are stored unserviceable and used for parts.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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On the Escanaba Beltline are two customers:
- UP Propane receives 40-50 carloads a year of propane
- A&L Iron & Metal ships one or two cars a week of scrap metal

At the south end of the ex-ore docks is a spot where ships used to unload coal for the local power plant. That area is now being used to store wood pellets for the same power plant after it was converted. GBN delivered a 60-80 car unit train Sunday morning. The E&WM sends engines (usually one or two of the SD9's) Monday morning and spends the day unloading them and staging them for pickup the following weekend.
Owner: Escanaba and Western Michigan
Model: EMD SD9 Built As: RSMX 1221 (SD9)
Serial Number: 19990 Order No: 5389
Frame Number: 5389-2 Built: 6/1955
Notes: Acquired from E&LS at start up
Other locos with this serial: EWM 1221(SD9) ELS 1221(SD9) RSMX 1221(SD9)
Image

Owner: Escanaba and Western Michigan
Model: EMD SD9 Built As: RSMX 1224 (SD9)
Serial Number: 22417 Order No: 5485
Frame Number: 5485-1 Built: 12/1956
Notes: Acquired from E&LS at start up
Other locos with this serial: EWM 1224(SD9) ELS 1224(SD9) RSMX 1224(SD9)
Image

The line from N. Escanaba Jct. to Channing is used for car storage. At the time of purchase the intent was to rehabilitate the line for freight service. Close to 6000 carloads of wood pulp and chips were targeted that could be delivered to Billerud America instead of trucks. CN handles only 30% of the inbound wood feed stock and has no interest in growing the business. 6000 carloads a year, plus any other traffic that could be developed, would pay for the upgrade and reopening of the line. However, there are persistent rumors that Billerud may close this plant (Verso nearly closed it during the last union negotiations) due to the reduction of the types of products it produces. So, while Billerud is open to using any traffic E&WM could develop from the line they will make no commitments. So, instead, E&LM is slowly renovating the track to at the very least handle 263,000-pound cars at 5 mph.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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For now the Billerud switching contract and M&M Branch work is profitable.

The Wells to Escanaba Shops track is also safe because of Mr. Larks Baldwin Fleet and car repair shops.

The 60 miles or so of track to Channing is questionable. For now it pays for itself with nearly 1,000 storage cars. However, with the traditional paper industry in decline and the historic and huge Escanaba paper plant's future up in the air, E&WM's ability to generate enough online or overhead freight traffic is very limited. For now they will continue to slowly upgrade the track and continue to look for customers.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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Mr. Larkin still operates excursions for his car shop customers (very busy) and employees. He pulls them with his famously painted Baldwin RS12 and GP38. Only a very select group of people are notified of these events because of railfan issues in the past that cause Mr. Larkin to be somewhat cynical about railfans. But there are a few that have gained his trust so they can document the excursions and post pictures/videos for all to see.
Image



Business remains strong on the M&MI industrial tracks with the local switching M-F and even occasionally on Saturdays too.

Business also remains strong switching the Billerud Plant. They still receive service 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 350 days per year.

The Channing District continues to be rehabbed slowly and is still exclusively used for storage with usually around 1,000 cars. When cars need to be pulled and spotted it can take both SD9's several days to get to the cars they need.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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Important news about Billerud's mill in Escanaba: https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/20 ... een-light/

There was concern that the mill might close so this is a huge relief for Escanaba and E&WM. E&WM has the in-plant switching contract that requires two jobs operating 24 hours a day (three eight-hour shifts), 350 days per year. The plant receives chemicals, wood chips and wood logs and ships out finished product totaling 11,000-15,000 carloads per year. All traffic is interchanged with CN who sends three transfer jobs per day from their Gladstone Yard, seven days per week.

Typically, the assigned power is one of the SW8’s and one of the SD9’s. Remote units are used to keep costs down and allow an eight-hour shift rather than 12’s.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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E&WM is bundling the following railroads: E&WM, TL&W, ISHW, M&MI and GBN. More details to come later.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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E&WM remains steady, and some might say boring.

The huge Billerud Mill is serviced by two jobs per shift, three shifts per day, 350 days per year. Typical power is usually a remote SW8 and SD9. Typically, they handle 30-40 cars per day, seven days per week. CN used to send over three transfer jobs per day from their Gladstone Yard but now most days they only send one per day, occasionally a second one if there are hot cars.

The original line to Channing receives just enough attention to allow car storage. It is not uncommon for there to be more than 1,000 storage cars which is lucrative for E&WM. However, it can take a day or two of shuffling cars to pull and spot cars. There are few passing sidings and they are not in good shape (not that the mainline is much better). Typically, one or two SD9’s are used to switch this line because they have enough tractive effort to pull several hundred empty cars at a time and yet leave a light footprint by distributing their weight over six axles.

A wood pellet job is called every Monday morning to go down to the unused ore pellet yard in Escanaba to empty the 60-80 cars of wood pellets that come down from Republic Saturday night/Sunday morning. It usually take 6-8 hours to unload all the cars. The wood pellets are used at the power station about two miles north in Wells, Michigan. The pellets are trucked from where they are unloaded from the rail cars to the utility plant.

The M&M lines are still service by a weekday job. This job reports for duty between 6-7am and will work from four to 12 hours depending on how much work needs to be done. Their busiest customer is the Dunn Paper Mill in Menominee. The Resolute Forest Products, next door to Dunn, is next busiest. The customers on the original M&M line are switched twice a week. The K&K Warehouse south of town is switched 3-5 times per week and occasionally receives COFC traffic.

The lines are profitable, the old engines are reliable and meet the needs of the railroads. The work environment tends to be relaxed and as long as railfans check in with the office will not have any issues as long as they stay off the equipment and off of private property.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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WATCO has agreed to purchase the following railroads: GBN, ISHW, M&MI and TL&W. ISHW and M&MI meet the 100 car per mile per year profitability standard. The other two lines are well below the standard. WATCO has the financial resources to operate the lines and make the investments to keep the track reliable and safe as well as aggressively pursue new customers (as they have on their other MI and WI lines). They are preparing to begin operations on 11/1/23.

WATCO will replace the Geeps and F-Units on ISHW and TL&W will be replaced by 38’s and 39’s. WATCO will also return M&MI’s SW8 and replace it with their own SW engine.

For now, the Geeps and F-Units will be stored in Wells. The two Geeps will eventually be returned to ILSX. The four F-Units are in good operating condition and several museums/tourist railroads have expressed interest in them.

The SW8 that was assigned to M&MI will be reassigned to switching Billerud and local work.

E&WM will continue to operate as an independent. Its primary service is switching the huge Billerud paper mill and car storage on the line to Channing. They also switch the wood pellet train every Monday morning and the two customers on the Escanaba Beltline.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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Here is a quick recap of the E&WM since selling all lines outside of Escanaba proper to WATCO:
• Jack Lark continues to own the tracks around his shops on the Escanaba Beltline and around the Wells sheds. He also owns all the Baldwins and the remaining F Units.
• E&WM owns the track west of North Escanaba Jct. to Channing (approximately 62 miles) and from North Escanaba Jct. south to the shops yard (approximately 2.5 miles).
• E&WM has the contract to service the huge Escanaba Billerud paper mill. A single person operates a remote control engine, two engines per shift, three shifts per 24 hours, seven days per week.
• E&WM provides contract service for GBN every Monday to switch the wood pellet train at the south end of CN’s old ore pellet yard. This takes place at the site where ships previously unloaded coal. Every Monday they have 60-80 covered hoppers to empty and stage for pick up the following weekend by GBN.
• Two customers are serviced on the Escanaba Beltline: UP Propane (35-50 cars per year) and A&L Iron & Metal (60-90 cars per year).
• The engine roster consists of 1200 & 1201 (SW8’s ex-RSMX), 1202 (TR4A ex-BRC) and SD9 1223 ex-RSMX. Two of the SW’s are used to switch Billerud, the SD9 the wood pellet job and both the SD9 and remaining SW for any storage car work on the line between Escanaba and Channing.
• SD9’s 1221 and 1224 ex-RSMX are stored serviceable.

In other news, prospectors have been drilling and gathering samples around the area east of Channing. It’s not known at this time what they are looking for, but the rumor is possibly copper, nickel or taconite. E&WM has not been able to establish a revenue customer on the Channing Sub, it is strictly used for car storage, sometimes as many as a 1,000 cars at a time, so management is very interested in what might be going on.
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Re: Escanaba & Western Michigan (E&WM)

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E&WM is operating as indicated above with some changes at the Billerud mill (detailed below) so I am taking an opportunity to share information about the huge Billerud mill.

For many years the mill was owned by the Escanaba Paper Company, then later acquired by Mead Corporation's Publishing Paper Division, was operated by the Verso Corporation until 2022 when it was sold to Billerud.

E&LS served the mill until 1969, when the E&LS stopped serving the Escanaba Paper Company during a strike on July 1, 1969, at the mill. In response, the mill's owners built a new connection to the C&NW and Soo Line and cut car movements on the E&LS more than five-fold in two years, from 2,200 carloads in 1968 to 449 in 1970.

Shortly after E&WM took over, MeadVerso changed the switching contract from CN to E&WM. CN continues to receive 100% of the traffic and did not mind losing switching the plant proper. Initially E&WM switched it seven days per week, three shifts per day. But in 2023, under the ownership of Billerud, due to economic downturns, the mill changed its product line, reduced production and as a result E&WM right-sized its service to two jobs on the day shift (when CN runs its transfer over) and one on the afternoon and midnight shifts six days per week. E&LS also has a day job on Sunday when CN operates its transfer job. CN runs a transfer job from Gladstone Yard once per day, seven days per week. E&LS use radio-control engines and one crew member in all jobs.

The plant generates 25-35 cars per day, six days per week of the following traffic:
• 11-15 outbound loads of paper per day, six days per week (approximately 4,500 annually). 75% of production is shipped by rail.
• Eight to eleven inbound loads of pulp logs and wood chips for paper manufacturing per day, six days per week (approximately 3,150 annually). This represents 30% of the mills total requirement.
• Seven to ten inbound loads of chemicals (calcium carbonate, caustic soda, Kaolin clay, latex, sodium chlorate, starch, & titanium dioxide) for paper manufacturing per day, six days per week (approximately 2,950 annually). 75% of the plants usage is received by rail.
• Receives spot loads of coal and miscellaneous high and wide equipment. Although the plant converted to natural gas in 2015, due to Michigan’s fickle and sometimes unfriendly business climate, they still stockpile coal to safeguard against government inflicted cost premiums. At its peak, the mill received around 900 cars a year of coal.

Any of the four engines can be assigned to the mill jobs. The SD9 is handy when long strings of pulp logs and/or wood chips arrive in blocks of 20-30 cars at a time and gross out over 4,000 tons.
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