History
The Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad, a short line operating from Bay City northward to the Lake Huron port of Alpena, was reorganized into the Detroit and Mackinac (D & M) on December 17, 1894. During the late 1890s and the first decade of the Twentieth Century, the timber resources of northeastern Michigan were fully utilized and the D & M expanded its trackage northward from Alpena to Cheboygan. The Bay City-Cheboygan main line prospered, and a stone passenger depot was constructed in Harrisville.
D&M's main traffic was timber from the vast northeast Michigan forests and the D&M built spurs and branch lines to the forested areas. Another branchline served the limestone quarries of Rogers City. In 1922, the railroad also had branch lines to Au Gres, Au Sable, Curren, Hillman, Lincoln, Prescott, and Rose City.
The D&M mainline from Bay City to Alpena offered sleeping car and meal services between Detroit and Alpena in the 1930s. By the 1940s, meal services had disappeared, with sleeping cars and Detroit connections gone by the 1950s. Passenger service was eliminated by 1955.
In the 1940s, D&M had enough revenue to be a Class I railroad and it was one of the first such to eliminate steam locomotives in 1948.
In March 1976, the Detroit & Mackinac acquired a combination of trackage and operating trackage rights from the remains of the bankrupt Penn Central that created an alternate main line from Bay City northward, through Gaylord and Cheboygan, to Mackinaw City. However, adverse economic conditions continued to affect railroad operations in the northeastern United States. The road was sold to the Lake State Railway in 1992, and ended its existence as an independent railroad.
The Detroit & Mackinac called itself the "Turtle Line" and its logo symbol was "Mackinac Mac". The railroad bore the hostile backronym of "Defeated & Maltreated".
Read more about this topic: Detroit And Mackinac Railway
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