Steam Railroading Institute

Steam Railroading Institute
LocaleMichigan
TerminusOwosso
Commercial operations
Original gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preserved operations
Reporting markMSTX
Length1 mile (1.6 km)
Preserved gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preservation history
1969MSU Railroad Club Founded
1979MSU Railroad Club reorganized as the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, Inc. (MSTRP)
1983MSTRP moved from Lansing, MI to Owosso, MI
HeadquartersOwosso
Website
https://michigansteamtrain.com/

The Steam Railroading Institute (reporting mark MSTX) is a non-profit organization that preserves, restores, and operates historical railroad equipment and items.[1] Located in Owosso, Michigan,[2] it was founded in 1969 as the Michigan State University Railroad Club[3] and later became the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation before adopting its present name.[4][5][6]

Headquartered at the old Ann Arbor Railroad railyard, the organization operates a heritage railroad that offers occasional passenger excursion trains using steam locomotives: Pere Marquette 1225 and Chicago and North Western 175.[7][8][9] It also has passenger cars and other rolling stock.[9]

History

In the late 1950s, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Chairman Cyrus Eaton sought to donate No. 1225, a steam locomotive recently retired by the Pere Marquette Railway, to Michigan State University's College of Engineering so the students could work on a piece of real equipment and keep the locomotive from the scrapyard. He convinced University Trustee Forest Akers, but not the dean of the College of Engineering, so University President John Hannah accepted No. 1225 as a contribution to the MSU Museum. It arrived on campus in 1957.[9] There it sat, getting an occasional coat of paint and visits from the public on football weekends. In 1970, the year-old Michigan State University Railroad Club, at the suggestion of Randy Paquette, decided to restore No. 1225 and use it to pull excursion trains that would bring passengers to football games at the university.

But MSU had no interest in running a steam locomotive. Eventually, University President Edgar Harden proposed to MSURRC President Chuck Julian that a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization be founded to take ownership of No. 1225. In July 1979, the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation was founded.[9]

Later, the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation became the Steam Railroading Institute.

Equipment

Locomotives

Locomotive details[10][7][8]
Number Image Type Model Built Builder Status
1225 Steam 2-8-4 1941 Lima Locomotive Works Operational
175 Steam 4-6-0 1908 American Locomotive Company Under restoration
1313 (Mighty Mouse) Diesel 25-ton switcher 1940s General Electric Operational

Visiting locomotives

Locomotive details[10][11]
Number Image Type Model Built Builder Status Owner Notes
75 Steam 0-4-0 1930 Vulcan Iron Works Operational John and Barney Gramling Leased from John and Barney Gramling. Operated in occasional excursion service.
7471 Diesel SD40 1966 Electro-Motive Diesel Operational Precision Locomotive Leasing Previously operated at Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and Georges Creek Railway. On lease from Precision Locomotive Leasing.
57 Diesel GP40WH-2 1968 Electro-Motive Diesel, Morrison–Knudsen Operational Precision Locomotive Ex-MARC. On lease from Precision Locomotive until 2028.

Former units

Locomotive details[12]
Number Type Model Built Builder Owner
10 Diesel 44-ton switcher Unknown Detroit and Mackinac Railway Southern Michigan Railway Society.
76 Steam 2-8-0 1920 Baldwin Locomotive Works B&O Railroad Museum

Rolling stock

Locomotive details[10]
Number / Name Type Built Builder
5447, 5485, 5576, 5581, 5646 Coaches 1952/1953 Pullman Standard
147 Coach Budd Company 1950
462 Dining car 1958 Budd Company
8652 Dining car 1956 Budd Company
361 Sleeper car 1949 Pullman Company
7 Sleeper car 1948 Pullman Company
2624 (City of Ashland) Sleeper car 1950 Pullman Company
1363 Kitchen car 1950 St. Louis Car Company
16505 Hospital car 1953 St. Louis Car Company
4620 Combination car 1934 Pressed Steel Car Company
72332 Boxcar 1940s Unknown
1314 Boxcar 1940s Pullman Standard
1128, 1138 Boxcars 1920s Unknown
X-127, X-128 Tanker cars Unknown Unknown
31262 Gondola car 1939 Unknown
31262 Gondola car 1947 Unknown
54211, 54263 Flatcars Unknown Unknown
2838, 2839 Cabooses Unknown Unknown
3674 Caboose 1941 Unknown
A909 Caboose 1937 Unknown
5112 Auxiliary Water Tender Unknown Unknown
5112 Bunk car 1920s Unknown
15027 Burro Crane 1940s Burro Crane Company


Former rolling stock

Locomotive details[13][14]
Number Type Built Builder Owner
9936, 39970, 39975 Hi-Level cars 1956, 1964 Budd Company Naugatuck Railroad
Unknown Lounge cars Unknown Budd Company Naugatuck Railroad

Structures

New Buffalo Turntable

The turntable is a 90 ft (27 m) turntable built in 1919 to serve the Pere Marquette railyard in New Buffalo, Michigan. It served a 16-stall roundhouse until 1984, when the Chessie System closed the New Buffalo yard. The SRI acquired the turntable, moved it to its site, and lengthened it by 10 ft (3.0 m) to accommodate larger rolling stock like the PM 1225.[10]

SRI Visitor Center

The SRI Visitor Center sits inside a renovated freight warehouse used by the Ann Arbor road. The foundation dates to the 1880s. It is speculated that the original structure, a creamery, burned down in the 1920s. The Ann Arbor used it to store grain and other freight, then leased it to Bruckman's Moving and Storage. The SRI purchased the building in 2004 and renovated it to serve as their Visitor Center, with exhibit space, a model train layout, and the museum's artifact and archives collection.[10]

References

  1. ^ Magazine, Trains (May 4, 2009). Tourist Trains Guidebook. Kalmbach Publishing, Co. ISBN 9780871162731 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "2020 Steam Railroading Institute | Michigan Life". michiganlife.com.
  3. ^ Elford, Karen (November 9, 2016). "The Historic Pere Marquette 1225 Turns 75".
  4. ^ Walker, Micah (August 11, 2019). "All aboard: Experience fall colors on these historic trains in Michigan". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Railroad Club Records UA.12.3.10". archive.lib.msu.edu.
  6. ^ Lustig, D. (January 2005). "HOLLYWOOD'S STEAM LOCOMOTIVE : WHEN THE PRODUCERS OF THE ANIMATED THE POLAR EXPRESS WENT LOOKING FOR A LOCOMOTIVE, THEY FOUND PERE MARQUETTE 1225". Trains. 65 (1). The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Keefe, Kevin P. (2016). Twelve Twenty-Five: The Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive. Michigan State University Press. doi:10.14321/j.ctt1dnncc6.1. ISBN 978-1611862027. JSTOR 10.14321/j.ctt1dnncc6.1.
  8. ^ a b Rath, Tim (June 7, 2018). "A chance to steam again". The Argus-Press. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d "Steam Railroading Institute to Celebrate 50th Anniversary". www.owossonow.com.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Equipment". Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  11. ^ "Flagg Coal Company #75". Steam Railroading Institute. Archived from the original on October 21, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  12. ^ "The Frisco Survivors" (PDF). All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, November, 1987 (accessed on CondrenRails.com). Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  13. ^ "Tracking the Ex-Pacific Parlour Cars". www.rtabern.com. February 27, 2023. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Franz, Justin (January 24, 2025). "Naugatuck Acquires Ex-Santa Fe Cars". Railfan & Railroad Magazine. Retrieved January 24, 2025.

42°59′40″N 84°10′13″W / 42.99438°N 84.17028°W / 42.99438; -84.17028

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.