Copper Range Railroad Historical & Technical Society

02/14/2026

Many of our back issues of The Miscowaubik are now on sale. Some quantities are extremely limited. See our STORE page on our website: https://www.coprhts.org/

02/14/2026

We’re excited to announce that we have not one but two new issues of The Miscowaubik hot off the press. In an effort get back on schedule, our Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 issues have been completed and will be sent to members together.

There is a lot to like in this 2nd half of our Volume 5.

The Quarter 3 issue starts off with a couple letters to the editor adding some great details to topics we featured previously (Copper Range’s order for diesels 100 and 101, and the Houghton County Traction Company). Research by Matt Mihalo and Gordy Schmitt sheds a lot of light on the locomotive roster of the Keweenaw Central, including where the various locomotives came from and where they went after the KC abandoned the line. Recounting a time some decades later, Dennis Leopold details one of the most significant milestones in the history of Calumet & Hecla’s railroad, specifically converting the operation to diesel power. We also cover the history of a C&H diesel after leaving the C&H property.

Quarter 4 includes part two of the Keweenaw Central roster, the balance of the excellent photos illustrating the various models on the line. Our main feature is photographer John Briggs’ recollection of his trip to the railroad and industrial landscapes lining the west end of Lake Superior in 1971. It was on this trip that John crossed paths with the Copper Range at Houghton sparking an ongoing interest in the fading shortline and the mining industry that surrounded it.

COPRHTS members will receive these issues shortly. Issues are available on our STORE page: https://www.coprhts.org/

11/09/2025

The Copper Range Railroad Historical and Technical Society is happy to announce that the 2025 Q2 issue of The Miscowaubik has been published. In this issue, Mark Worrall covers the last run to gay and Dennis Leopold discusses the conversion to diesel.

COPRHTS members will receive this issue shorty, if they have not already. Join today to get your copy! ALL 2024 issues are now available on our STORE page: https://www.coprhts.org/

10/12/2025

Mark Worrall recently presented during the Copper Range Railroad Historical and Technical Society’s annual meeting. This presentation, covering four Upper Peninsula carferries, is available to view here:

Mark Worrall talks about four car ferry locations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula:Champion Iron Co. on Lake MichigammeJohn Bagley railroad near Lake LindenOsca...

08/08/2025

Please note this upcoming presentation by our board member Mark Worrall. Please attend if you will be in the area!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16qdyNFeRu/

If you find yourself in the Copper Country next Thursday (August 14, 2025) I’ll be giving my talk “Iron Horses in the Woods - A look at Logging Railroads in Michigan” at the Chassell Heritage Center.

In this hour long talk we will explore several aspects of Michigan logging railroads from the early operations starting in the 1850s, the types of logging railroads with their differing operations, equipment used (the locomotives, the loaders, etc.) before finishing the evening with a few case studies of Upper Peninsula logging railroads in Michigan. This is a special UP edition of the talk with many of the examples in the talk specific to the Peninsula. If you have attended a previous edition of the talk, many examples will be different and would be worth seeing again.

Learn about this behemoth and its relation to Chassell along with many other of Michigan’s logging railroads with a special focus on Upper Peninsula logging railroads. The talk is for the Chassell Historical Organization which meets at the Chassell Heritage Center, 42373 Hancock Street in Chassell. The talk starts at 7pm on August 14th and is free to attend but if you are inclined the museum would enjoy a donation while you are there. Bring your questions about Michigan logging railroads and I hope to see you there!

07/03/2025

The Copper Range Railroad Historical and Technical Society is happy to announce that the 2025 Q1 issue of The Miscowaubik has been published. COPRHTS members will receive this issue shorty. Join today to get your copy! ALL 2024 issues are now available on our STORE page: https://www.coprhts.org/

07/03/2025

The Houghton County Historical Society is getting ready to return steam to the Copper Country! Please support them and their mission, if you are able to do so! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BWCPQtxdf/

We are gonna give it a try!!! Tonight!! The plan is to start warming up #3 later this afternoon and then run her on the track With Passengers! We are working out tickets and cost.

01/28/2025

The Copper Range Railroad Historical and Technical Society is happy to announce that the 2024 Q4 issue of The Miscowaubik has been published. This issue, and ALL 2024 issues are now available on our STORE page: https://www.coprhts.org/
Members issues are IN THE MAIL. If you are not a member and want to get this great publication, please head over to our website and hit the link to the Store, where all four issues that we have published this year are available.

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas!

12/02/2024

The Copper Range Railroad Historical and Technical Society is happy to announce that the 2024 Q3 issue of The Miscowaubik has been published. This special DOUBLE issue was published in conjunction with Copper Country Rails convention and the DSS&A HTS.

Now available on our STORE page here: https://www.coprhts.org/

Members received theirs a few weeks ago. If you are not a member and want to get this great publication, please head over to our website and hit the link to the Store, where all three issues that we have published this year are available.

09/29/2024

Thank you all that attended Copper Country Rails 2024 and making it a wonderful success! Copper County Rails 2024 was a collaborative effort between the DSS&A Division of the Soo Line H&TS and the Copper Range Railroad H&TS that took place September 19-22. The purpose of the event was to promote the study of the rail history of the Copper Country and had participants from the DSS&A Division, the Copper Range Railroad H&TS, the local community and Michigan Tech students.
The activities started the evening of September 19th, with a mutual event between the Chassell Historical Organization and Copper Country Rails 2024 at the Chassell Heritage Center where I cage my lecture “A Trip on the DSS&A” which was a look at DSS&A passenger operations in the early 20th century then focusing in on 1917; the second part a trip on Train No. 2 from Calumet to Mackinaw City, seeing some of the sights you would have seen along the way before ending the evening looking at the passenger trains that used the ferries across the Straits of Mackinac. The event was a packed house!
On September 20th, we had field trips. To start the day, we had a tour of the surface works of the Adventure Mine looking at where the Copper Range Railroad had been, the rock houses, and the hoist houses. Driving to Ontonagon we looked a little bit of the Mineral Range’s South Range branch ROW and the Victoria Mine’s infrastructure at Rockland where the interacted with the St. Paul. After a pasty lunch at Ontonagon, we looked at the Lake Mine, the south Lake Mine and the Lake Mine South Shaft before touring the Copper Range mainline in the vicinity of Firesteel Trestles.
The 21st was symposium day at Michigan Tech. We had many wonderful presentations including: “Copper Cords & Cabbage, the Mineral Range’s South Range Branch” by Mark Worrall, “Working for the Calumet & Hecla” by Ray Sauvola, “Travels on the DSS&A” by Dean Sauvola, “Update on the Mineral Range’s Calumet Depot” by Jim Flood, The Life of Clinton Jones, Jr.” by Chris Jones, a video presentation of the Copper Range taken by Clint Jones, “Narrow Gauge Railroads of Keweenaw County” by Matt Mihalo, and “Railway Post Offices Operating in the UP” by Steve Lund. In the evening, we had a dinner with Keynote speaker Glenn Bugni talking about his days working for the Copper Range Railroad.
The last day September 22nd, we had a field trip of the Houghton County Traction Company, the UPs only true interurban that ran from east Houghton to Hancock to Laurium to Red Jacket and branches to Wolverine, Mohawk, and Lake Linden/Hubbell. A tour of the line with an emphasis of existing infrastructure and key points of the system was the order of the day. A mid break was taken to visit the Mineral Range Calumet depot which the new owner, Jim Flood graciously opened up to us to tour and answer questions.
Thanks to all that helped and participated,
Mark Worrall, president of the DSS&A Division of the Soo Line H&TS