History
The Steam Railroading Institute, dedicated to educating the public about steam-era railroad technology, is the product of the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation Inc. For many years, the MSTRP centered on a single steam locomotive, former Pere Marquette Railway No. 1225. After 1225’s retirement, the locomotive was donated to Michigan State University as an icon of the steam-era and there it sat until 1969 when a group of students took an interest in the locomotive. The Michigan State University Railroad Club was formed with the ambitious goal of restoring 1225 and using it to power excursion trains that would bring passengers to football games at the university. After toiling away at the locomotive for many years, the Michigan State University Railroad Club evolved as the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation and started its corporate run in July 1979. Recognizing the daunting task that was ahead of them, the early MSU students saw the necessity to form a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and in 1981, Michigan State University donated 1225 to the newly formed MSTRP.
In the past thirty-five years the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation and its Steam Railroading Institute have grown tremendously, now housing two steam locomotives, a fleet of passenger cars, and numerous pieces of rolling stock.
Situated on the site of the old Ann Arbor Railroad’s steam shops and roundhouse, the Steam Railroading Institute exhibits the intricacies of working steam locomotives.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“He wrote in prison, not a History of the World, like Raleigh, but an American book which I think will live longer than that. I do not know of such words, uttered under such circumstances, and so copiously withal, in Roman or English or any history.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)