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Category Archives: Train Depots

The Flushing Depot

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

From its 1888 origins as a passenger depot, serving the community until 1971, the Flushing Depot underwent a dramatic transformation. A short-lived restaurant venture ended abruptly in 1980 when fire ravaged the building. Rescued from ruin in 1984 by the Flushing Area Historical Society, who received it as a donation, the depot was meticulously restored and reborn as the Flushing Area Museum and Cultural Center.

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The Locomotive Boneyard

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots, upper peninsula .

The North Shore Boat Launch is located north of downtown Escanaba. Next to it is an old Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad facility. A line of old locomotives sit on tracks next to the boat launch parking lot.

The facility is not accessible to the public but you can see all of the old locomotives behind the fence. If you love trains it a nifty place to check out and look at the old trains that are past their prime.

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The Little Brick Depot in Gaines

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

According to early Genesee County histories, the first building in Gaines was a wood-frame railroad depot. It was replaced by this brick depot in 1881. The station closed when rail service ended in the 1950s. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Genesee Avenue / Walker Street Historic District in 1983, it deteriorated over the years. In 1991 concerned citizens formed Gaines Station, Inc. to save the depot. Rehabilitation work lasted from 1992 to 1997. In 1998 the building reopened as a branch of the Genesee Public Library

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The Depot Under The Bridge

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Thumb, Train Depots .

Underneath the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron is the old Grand Trunk Railway Depot built in 1856. This is the depot a young Thomas Alva Edison worked at while selling newspapers and books to passengers. This is the part where I am supposed to write about Edison’s accomplishments, but I am thinking most people already know what Edison did, and how he impacted the way we live with his light bulb and other inventions. The depot is now a museum and welcomes visitors.

P.S. Maybe it’s just me, but I think Port Huron is one of the most underrated tourist cities in Michigan. I love walking along the river watching the ships sail past. Checking out the historic buildings and visiting the lighthouses. There is a lot to see and do in Port Huron and I think many Michiganders overlook it for trips and vacations.

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The Other Depot in Battle Creek

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

A few years ago I was driving out of downtown Battle Creek and near the railroad tracks, I saw this magnificent Spanish church/castle-like building. I figured it must have been built by the railroad since It was near the tracks but there was no platform for the passengers but the twin towers looked like church steeples. I kinda forgot about the photo I took and now here we are a few years later and I finally found out it was the old Grand Trunk Railroad passenger depot. It was one of the largest depots in Michigan built in 1907 and it was used up until 1971. A grant from the Kellogg Foundation refurbished the old depot, and it is now being used by a nonprofit community group. It is definitely one of the more unique looking train depots I have seen, and I am glad it found a new purpose instead of being left to decay like so other depots around the state.

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Six Lakes Depot

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

This little old wooden depot served the town of Six Lakes. It is located between Alma and Newaygo at the junction of M-46 and M-66. It is named for (you guessed it) the six lakes that are nearby. It looks as if it has been a while since any trains have stopped at this old depot. The sign on it declares it is now a museum.

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The Red Roof and Caboose

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

I saw this old building with the red barn style roof next to the tracks in Plainwell. I am not sure what it used to be or what it is used for now but it caught my attention with the old caboose sitting next to it.  I don’t have a story or history to go along with it, I just like old buildings and cabooses. ( or is it caboosi, or whatever the plural of caboose is)

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The Old Dock

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

This strange looking dock sits along the river walk near downtown Port Huron. It was used by the railroad for a ferry that transported rail cars across the St. Clair River to Canada. It was constructed in 1903 and operated until 1933 when the need for it declined during the Great Depression.

In 1950 after Dow Chemical opened a plant in Sarnia the ferry service was put back into operation because of the rail traffic between the plants in Midland and Sarnia. In 1994 the ferry officially retired and the dock was left abandoned. In 2013 the old dock was refurbished by the Community Foundation and it makes for a nice platform to watch the many ships that travel down the St. Clair River.

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Michigan’s Deadly Knights Templar Locomotive

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

This steam locomotive sits in R.A. Greene Park in Jackson. The Grand Trunk Western 5030 was built in 1912 and proudly pulled train cars along Michigan’s railroad tracks for years.  On June 5th, 1923 A train was commissioned to take the Knights Templars of Michigan to a Masonic convention in Flint. The 5030 picked up passengers in Grand Rapids, Ionia, and stops along the way. As it was traveling near Durand the gravel roadbed gave way and the train derailed killing the engineer and fireman and three other passengers. 32 other Knight Templars riding the train were injured.

The locomotive was repaired and continued riding the rails of Michigan. It traveled to Jackson on a regular basis and after it was retired from service in the 1950s it was donated to the city. It is surrounded by chain-link fence, probably to keep people from climbing on it, but it feels more like a caged animal to protect people from getting hurt.

Last thing I read about it was that Jackson sold the locomotive to a historic train organization in Pennsylvania. As far as I know it is still in the park until funds are raised to move it to its new home out east.

PS. Thank you so much to all the people that came out to see me last night in Lakeview. It was nice to meet all of you, and thank you to the Tamarack District Library for Inviting me.

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Nahma Locomotive

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots, upper peninsula .

The historic town of Nahma started as a company sawmill town. It sits along Lake Michigan a few miles from US-2.  The town of Nahma was established in 1881 by the Bay De Noquet Lumber Company. They built a railroad to haul logs to the sawmill. In 1912, The Nahma and Northern Railway purchased Locomotive #5. The tracks are gone but the old locomotive sits in a park in town. If you have kids that like trains, or a big kid like me that likes trains it is a nice little side trip from US-2 to see this old locomotive.

I have a story about the town of Nahma in my latest volume of Lost In Michigan HERE.

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