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SHORT LINE RAILROADING IN THE THUMB Huron & Eastern BY STEVE DAVEY/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR


THE LANDSCAPE OF MICHIGAN RAILROADS has gone through many changes in the past 30 years, when most Class I rail- roads made a push to sell or abandon many of their lightly used secondary and branch lines, helping to spur the growth of many short line railroads throughout the region.


Among these railroads was CSX,


which was looking to sell 83 miles of former Chesapeake & Ohio trackage in Michigan’s thumb in 1986. The Huron & Eastern was formed to take over those lines, and began operations with a small fleet of GP9s painted in a Pere Marquette inspired paint scheme to honor the heritage of the route. The Bad Axe Subdivision was pur- chased from CSX two years later, and


the railroad grew again in 1991 when a cluster of former New York Central lines were acquired from the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay Railway. In 1992, the HESR was purchased by RailAmerica, the first of many short lines to be ac- quired by the Florida holding company. The Huron & Eastern expanded once gain in 1998 with the purchase of the CSX Port Huron Subdivision. Another major acquisition


occurred in 2004


when RailAmerica acquired the Cen- tral Michigan Railroad, which was formed in 1987 and operated on former Grand Trunk Western lines stretching outward from Durand. The Central Michigan also provided the railroad an- other Class I interchange partner with the Canadian National at Durand.


Ownership of the railroad recently changed hands once again with the purchase of the RailAmerica family by Genesee & Wyoming Industries at the end of 2012. The Huron & Eastern’s main offices remain in Vassar.


Operations Huron & Eastern typically sees the


most scheduled train movements oc- curring on weekdays, but extras will operate over the weekend also. Operations on former Central Michi- gan trackage are largely based out of Wenona Yard in Bay City, which is also the main engine house and mainte- nance base for the railroad. A scheduled freight bound for Durand is called each weekday in the late morning hours.


OPPOSITE: Huron & Eastern Train 702 is about to duck under the Liberty Bridge in Bay City, Mich., as it heads for Durand on March 19, 2012, with a colorful former BNSF unit in the lead. ABOVE: On September 10, 2012, a former BNSF GE C30-7 leads Train 702 though Carrollton on its way to Durand. The GE’s have since been retired since the Genesee & Wyoming takeover in 2013.


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