Michigan Railroad History Conference

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Michigan Railroad History Conference To promote the Michigan Railroad History Conference (MRHC) and Michigan Railroad History. The MRHC occurs every two years at a different city in Michigan

Many thanks to all that made the 2026 Michigan Railroad History Conference a success and to all those that attended. We...
10/07/2026

Many thanks to all that made the 2026 Michigan Railroad History Conference a success and to all those that attended. We had a wonderful day of presentation on Saturday at the Durand Union Station and the bus tour of the former Michigan United Owosso/Corunna lines as well as the line to St Johns was amazing!

One of the upcoming talks on the MRHC:"Suburban Trains of Petoskey"Long before the automobile played a role in ‘a trip u...
09/14/2026

One of the upcoming talks on the MRHC:

"Suburban Trains of Petoskey"

Long before the automobile played a role in ‘a trip up north’ the Grand Rapids & Indiana (GR&I) promoted northern Michigan tourism and provided astonishing passenger train operations related to the tourist center of Petoskey. From the suburban train depot in Petoskey, trains radiated out to Harbor Springs, Walloon Lake and Alanson as well as to Mackinaw Island via intercity trains. Starting with a look at how the GR&I promoted tourism and provided inter-city trains from Midwestern cities to the resorts of the north, the suburban trains will be examined through their origin as a horse drawn railroad, the resort communities served, the attractions marketed, and the suburban stations used. The Pere Marquette suburban service between Petoskey and Charlevoix also be discussed.

Hope you are able to attend!

Tonight I am working on portions of the conference booklet that comes along with attending this year’s conference in Dur...
09/04/2026

Tonight I am working on portions of the conference booklet that comes along with attending this year’s conference in Durand. One of the sections will be a handful of excerpts from timebook of Howard Haller, a brakeman on the GTW based out of Durand who kept better notes than a lot of timebooks I have seen. Here is a excerpt from February 1936.

One great opportunity at this year’s Michigan Railroad History Conference is the field trip to explore the interurban Mi...
08/06/2026

One great opportunity at this year’s Michigan Railroad History Conference is the field trip to explore the interurban Michigan United’s Owosso and St Johns branches led by one of top historians on Michigan interurbans, Norm Krentel. The all-day field trip is on Sunday, October 4, 2026. The field trip bus departs Durand and first follows the Owosso branch from Corunna and Owosso to Lansing. Lunch will be at Lansing then the field trip will continue following the St Johns branch from Lansing to St Johns before returning to Durand. See the conference flyer for additional details.

Final details continue to be set for the 18th Michigan Railroad History Conference which will take place in Durand on Oc...
07/30/2026

Final details continue to be set for the 18th Michigan Railroad History Conference which will take place in Durand on October 3, 2026. Catering for lunch has been set and planning of Sunday October 4’s interurban field trip is on-going. We have a great set of speakers this conference and I hope to see you there!

The crew of Grand Trunk Western #7017 (SW1200) confer while switching in town. Note the C&NW box car at the grain elevator in the background. Scanned from undated negative, photographer unknown.

Here is the Conference flyer! The flyer has information on the speakers, conference details and registration. A great ...
07/07/2026

Here is the Conference flyer! The flyer has information on the speakers, conference details and registration. A great selection of topics and a great field trip. Look forward to seeing you there!

The speaker board has made their selection of speakers and released the tentative schedule for the speaker portion of th...
04/18/2026

The speaker board has made their selection of speakers and released the tentative schedule for the speaker portion of the conference on Saturday October 3, 2026.

Final arraignments are being made on the field trip and catering so that the conference cost can be set. Look for registration information soon…

Hope to see you at this wonderful event!

Speakers are being confirmed, the field trips plans are being set…keep October 3rd open for an exciting day of Michigan’...
04/01/2026

Speakers are being confirmed, the field trips plans are being set…keep October 3rd open for an exciting day of Michigan’s railroad history in Durand!

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P. O. Box 16235
Lansing, MI
48901

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