A post relating to track speeders and motor cars.
-
Replicating an NYC speeder
The mid to late-1980s was the age of the railway motor car on the Southern Michigan Railroad, which owned the line between Clinton and Lenawee Junction, Mich. The recent large sales of used motor cars by the Norfolk and Western […]
-
The Staib Road shuffle
On 31 May 1987, the southbound Southern Michigan Railroad “caboose train” (made up of Plymouth switcher #57 and 1-2 caboose cars) has just crossed Staib Road, heading for Tecumseh. The single-ended siding at Staib (which once served Tecumseh Crop Service) […]
-
Photo day—Fall Festival 1986
The parade is over, and the 1986 Clinton (Mich.) Fall Festival is coming to an end. At the Southern Michigan Railroad, the day isn’t over. A crowd of parade-goers is now descending on railroad, ready to ride back to their […]
-
Photo day—Sutton Southbound
On the warm afternoon of 03 September 1985, a group of motor cars is southbound on the Southern Michigan Railroad. This location is located south of the River Raisin “high bridge”, as the line enters an s-curve heading towards Raisin […]
-
Photo day—Night crossing in Clinton
On the winter evening of 07 February 1987, Southern Michigan Railroad Plymouth 35-tonner O&M 57 poses with an ex-N&W Fairmont M19 motor car #64553. The Plymouth had returned from a day trip to Tecumseh, and was ready to be put […]
-
The “Cut-Off” come to life—Michigan motor car adventures in the 1950s
by Jeffrey Dobek photos from the Gary Zeitler collection This article originally appeared in Issue 34 of “The Speeder”, the publication of the Motor Car Collectors of America, in Autumn 1995. Over the last decade, the motor car hobby has grown, […]
-
Photo day—MRC visits the SMRS
It’s 06 September 1986, and a busload of members of the Michigan Railroad Club set out from Dearborn, Michigan on one of the club’s “mystery” trips, today for a visit and ride on the Southern Michigan Railroad. The SMR prepared […]
-
Santa arrives in Clinton—SMRS 1983–84
In the early 1980s, the Village of Clinton, Michigan held a “Christmas Walk” on the Sunday after Thanksgiving each year. Being civic-minded, the newly formed Southern Michigan Railroad Society (SMRS) worked with the village to bring Santa to town each year […]
-
Photo day—at Tecumseh Junction
It’s early days for the Southern Michigan Railroad Society (SMRS). Our first piece of rolling stock was a Fairmont M19 motor car, #M-76, donated by Thelma Miller of Dundee, Michigan. Her late husband had worked for the Ann Arbor Railroad, […]
-
SMRS Fall Color Tours (1986)—addendum
In follow-up to the post SMRS Fall Color Tours (1986), I located two more photographs from the 1986 Tours: And even more interesting, a photo from the original 1985 Color Tours showed up! In this year, most dates were rained out, […]