A post relating to the former-LS&MS/NYC/PC/CR/SMRS Jackson (later Clinton) Branch
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SMRS summer service begins (1988 edition)
Spring is a time to look back at how the SMRS entered the 1988 tourist season… Summer Service Begins Originally published in “The Cross Tracks” winter 1988 issue By Jeff Dobek Saturday, April 30, 1988 will mark the start of […]
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Clinton Yard—then and now
Since the early 1960s, when the section north to Manchester and Jackson was removed, Clinton, Michigan has served as the terminus of the Jackson (later Clinton) Branch of the New York Central, Penn Central and Conrail. In the 1980s, the […]
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Tecumseh’s last freight train—35 years on
Before March ends, I thought it worth noting that March this year marks 35 years since the last freight train passed through Tecumseh, ending 145 years of continuous freight service on the Clinton Branch between Lenawee Junction and Tecumseh. It […]
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The Artrain comes to Tecumseh
The Michigan Artrain was founded in 1971, as a project to take art to the many small towns in Michigan where there was a railroad, but not an art museum. Over the next several years it toured the state, but later […]
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CR 5457 and the Clinton Branch
Throughout the first half of the 1970s, standard motive power on the Clinton Branch was a black EMD SW-7/8/9 switcher, leading the Clinton Local down and back the 13.5 miles between Clinton and Lenawee Junction, Michigan. With the arrival of Conrail in […]
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Final freight in Clinton
Conrail’s days as the operator of the Clinton Branch from Lenawee Junction to Clinton, Michigan were coming to a close at the beginning of 1982. The company had already applied to abandon the line, and the only active shippers remaining […]
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Photo day—the SMRS ICE train
No, this was not a tour by the German ICE train, but rather a trip made by members of the Southern Michigan Railroad on an icy day in January 1988. Starting from Clinton, a group of members set out with […]
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A walk along the DT&M Spur
When the Southern Michigan Railroad Society purchased its line in the 1980s from Conrail, the sale included what was known as the DT&M Spur in Tecumseh. This was the last remnant of the former-Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee Railroad (DT&M), which […]
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Tecumseh southbound
It appears to be a warm day on 13 June 1980, when photographer David J. Mrozek caught the Conrail “Clinton Local” just after leaving Tecumseh. At this time the “Local” would leave Clinton mid-afternoon each day, traveling through Tecumseh and […]
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Dashing through the snow—in a Plymouth!
The first piece of full-sized railroad equipment owned by Southern Michigan Railroad Society (not counting the track cars which were accumulating at the time), was the 35-ton Plymouth locomotive. It was donated by the Hayes-Albion Company in Albion, Michigan, and […]