AuSable & Northwestern

Company History: The AS&N was established as a 3’ gauge logging line under the J.E. Potts Salt & Lumber Company in 1887 to deliver logs to the company mill in Potts, Michigan. After two years of construction, they reached rail connections in Alpena and with lake boat terminals at AuSable. At this point, the AS&N became a common carrier. Potts then sold his mill and railroad to Henry Loud who expanded the operation. Mileage peaked at 108. Loud died and the railroad sat idle in 1906 and 1907. His heirs relaunched the company and it ran until 1911 when the mill burned. The AS&N was leased to the Detroit & Mackinac the following summer. In May of 1914, the D&M bought the AS&N, converted it to standard gauge and merged it into their system.

Successor/Parent History: First of all, Mackinac is pronounced “MACKinaw.” The Mackinac region is where Lake Superior and Lake Huron meet. Some towns in the region spell it with a W but not the D&M.

The D&M was established in 1894 as part of the reorganization of the Detroit Bay City & Alpena Railroad. The D&M ran from Cheboygan to Bay City and La Rocque plus branches, all in Michigan’s lower peninsula. The total mileage was 348, making it nearly as big as cross-lake neighbor Duluth Missabe & Iron Range. D&M had picked up some former Penn Central lines excluded from Conrail but service ended in 1990 on those routes. Traffic was primarily forest products and aggregates. In addition to connections on the southern end of the D&M, they interchanged with the Duluth South Shore & Atlantic (later SOO) on the Upper Peninsula via car ferry from Bay City across the Straights of Mackinac.

D&M’s diesel roster (around 12 units) was almost entirely Alco. They also had about 1200 freight cars. Their logo had a cartoon of an engineer named Mackinac Mac holding a wrench. The Detroit & Mackinac flag fell in 1992 when the owners sold it to a new railroad, Lake State Railway.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.