Southern Michigan Railroad
Reported by Erik Smith
Web produced by Christiana Ciolac

It might be called the little train that could. Only two cars and a caboose, but it is a train with a heart. Once upon a time, well, let's say about 160 years ago, tracks belonged to the very first railroad west of the Pennsylvania Mountains.

It is the machine that makes the railroad run. It started running between Toledo and Adrian back in 1836. Made it on up to Tecumseh in 1938 and then 15 years later rumbled into little old Clinton.

By then it was known as the Michigan Southern Railroad. Wow. How old roughly is this? About 1920. The fact is it has had a lot of names over the years.

It was part of the New York Central, the Penn Central, even Conrail who finally abandoned the tracks in 1981. That is when some local business folk and a group of high school model railroaders got together to create the volunteer Southern Michigan Railroad. It is not everybody that gets a chance to run their own railroad, of course, but in this case everybody does run their own railroad.

A dedicated, fervent, hard-working corps of volunteers keeps the little train that could on the right track. I guess by Amtrak's standards it really isn't much of a train, but if nostalgia and just plain fun have a price tag, then the Southern Michigan Railway is priceless.

From June through October, the little train that can, does slowly, from Clinton to Tecumseh, 4 1/2 miles in an hour or so. The SMR really is not about getting anywhere; it is about going there.

The little train rests up over the long Michigan winter and volunteers do what they can to get the lines shaped up for still another season.

Round trip fare? Well, they are still only 10 bucks. Eight bucks for seniors, six bucks for those under 12. Not much to ride the rails of the first railroad in Michigan.

So, if the magic of a passing train has ever made your heart beat just a little faster, well, it's nice to know the Southern Michigan Railroad is there waiting to slow you down.

For more information on Southern Michigan Railroad, please call (517) 423-7230.

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