Copper Range

Company History: COPR (who also used CR reporting marks long before Conrail) was established in 1899 to take over the 108 mile Northern Michigan Railroad between McKeever and Gay on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. As you might guess, the line was owned by copper mining interests. In addition to copper, a fair amount of pulpwood also rode the Copper Range. During the Second World War, COPR ran a passenger train that connected with Milwaukee Road’s Chippewa, providing a route for passengers from an important copper mining region to Chicago. COPR was another line in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to rely heavily on Baldwin diesel power. Eventually, the copper production faded away and the Copper Range Railroad was abandoned in 1972.

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