Ann Arbor Railroad

Ann Arbor Railroad
Reporting marks	AA
Locale	Michigan and Ohio
Dates of operation	1878–present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Howell, MI

The cover from the Ann Arbor Railroad and Steamship Lines 1911 passenger timetable.

The Ann Arbor Railroad (AAR reporting marks AA), historically, was an American railroad that operated between Toledo, Ohio, and Elberta and Frankfort, Michigan, (approximately 294 route miles) with carferry operations across Lake Michigan. The Ann Arbor ceased operations as a railroad on April 1, 1976, but various operations have continued use of the name to the present. As of 2007, Ann Arbor Acquisition Corp. operates between Toledo and Ann Arbor, Michigan, while Great Lakes Central Railroad Inc. operates the remainder from Ann Arbor to Yuma, Michigan. Some sections have been abandoned: from Yuma to Elberta and Frankfort (approximately 45 miles), about 10 miles in Shiawassee County, Michigan (in 3 discontinuous sections), and the trackage around the now-demolished Cherry Street Station in Toledo. The contemporary Ann Arbor hauls a variety of cargoes but much of its traffic is related to the automobile industry. Its primary cargoes include outbound finished vehicles from DaimlerChrysler's Toledo North Assembly (Jeep) Plant; inbound finished Ford vehicles to a distribution lot in North Toledo; inbound vehicles to a new (2006) distribution lot off Manhattan Boulevard in North Toledo; outbound vehicle transmissions from GM Powertrain in Toledo; auto parts from Visteon in Saline, Mich.; foundry sand interchanged from the Great Lakes Central at Ann Arbor (Osmer), Mich., and forwarded to other railroads at Toledo -- primarily onto NS for delivery to the Ford engine plant in Brook Park, Ohio; outbound cement from Holcim near Dundee, Mich.; and grain trains received in interchange from GLC and delivered to CSX at Toledo. Its current locomotive fleet comprises three Electro-Motive GP38 models (AA7771, 7791, 7802) of Conrail ancestry and two GP39-2 models (AA2368 and 2373) acquired from the Union Pacific. The Ann Arbor also operated a subsidiary, the Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad (M&LS), for many years until the M&LS was abandoned in 1968.

Interchanges

• Toledo, Ohio:
  • Norfolk Southern (NS)
  • CSX Transportation (CSXT)
  • Canadian National Railway (CN)
  • Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad (WE)
• Ann Arbor, Michigan:
  • Norfolk Southern (NS) (Currently out of service)
  • Great Lakes Central Railroad (formerly Tuscola & Saginaw Bay/TSBY)
• Milan, Michigan:
  • Norfolk Southern (NS)
• Diann, Michigan:
  • Indiana and Ohio Rail System (IORY)

See also

• History of railroads in Michigan

External links

• annarbor-railroad.com
• Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Web site