The town of Byron sits between Lansing and Fenton. It was the last stop on a stagecoach run from Detroit that ran west along what is now Rose Center road and Silver Lake road. The Village of Byron was incorporated in 1873 and the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan Railway was built through Byron following the pledge of a $15,001 bonus and the right of way in 1885. I wonder what the significance of the $1 is. It seems like an odd number. Anyway, I saw the old train depot in Byron. It must be privately owned and it looks like the owners love Vernors. It is rather obvious with the yellow and green paint job and the Vernors signs.

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The area around Charlevoix became a popular summer resort starting in the late 1870s with the establishment of Bay View in 1877, the Charlevoix Summer Resort (now the Belvedere Club) in 1878, and the Chicago Summer Resort (now the Chicago Club) in 1880. In response to the increase in traffic, in the early 1890s the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad extended its line from Traverse City north to Petoskey.

The railroad waited until 1892, 12 years after the rail line went through to Petoskey to construct the train depot because they believed most visitors traveled to Charlevoix by boat. After the war, the Pere Marquette merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1947, and service to Charlevoix was gradually scaled back. Passenger train service to Charlevoix was completely discontinued in 1962. Rail freight runs continued until 1982, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway abandoned all its lines in northern Michigan. Shortly after the railroad tracks and the bridge over the canal leading into Lake Charlevoix was removed.

In the 1980s, the Charlevoix Yacht Club occupied the building. In 1992, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Pew donated the Charlevoix Railroad Station to the Charlevoix Historical Society. The Depot building was restored by the society and is now a venue for Historical Society events and programs.

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This is the old train depot in Saginaw. It’s known as the Potter Street Depot because. you guessed it, It’s on Potter Street. It is the second largest depot in Michigan, second to only the Michigan Central Station. The enormous brick depot in Saginaw is not abandoned, although the railroad no longer uses the building, a preservation group still maintains and preserves it. Hopefully one day it will be given a new life like the depot in Detroit. For now, it quietly sits along the tracks with some holiday lights hoping Santa will not forget about it.

If you are not aware of it, Saginaw is my hometown where I was born and raised. I will be at Arthur Hill Highschool’s Holiday Bazaar this Saturday, December 1st. from 9-3 selling books and calendars.  If you are in the are in the area stop by and say hello. If you can’t make it to the bazaar books are on sale this week and you can order them HERE 

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The old stone train depot in Harrisville sits a few blocks from downtown. It seems so lonely isolated from the heart of town. The historic depot was built in 1901 and welcomed passengers traveling from Alpena to Bay city until 1951. It’s a beautiful little depot and the Alcona county historical society must be maintaining it. It looks sad with the boards on the windows. but It was late in the fall when I was visited. I am thinking they put those on to protect it from the harsh Michigan winters.

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I crossed over the grand river in the town of Saranac, and I saw the dark red train depot with the conical roof. I had to stop and get a pic of it. The historic depot was built in 1907, and served the town until the 1950s when cars and trucks became the preferred method of transportation. The dilapidated depot was purchased by the historical society in the 1990s who restored it and moved to its current location.

I got a long look at the old grand old depot, when I went to leave after taking pics of it, my old minivan would not start. I guess I should have taken my jeep but you know what they say about hindsight. Thanks to White Knight Towing for the tow, and to Young’s Chrysler in Ionia. they squeezed me in and getting two techs on it to change my fuel pump so I could get back home. One thing I have learned in my travels around the mitten state is there are a lot of nice people in this wonderful state.

P.s. I made good use of my downtime and wrote this post while waiting for my car to be fixed.

Good thing I have my books on sale this weekend. I hope you will consider getting one since I have a new fuel pump to pay for.

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In 1865 the Grand Trunk Railroad built a station to service the town of New Haven in southeast Michigan. It was along this route that a young Thomas Edison worked as a “News Butch” selling newspapers and snacks to passengers riding on the train. In 1940, on a  publicity tour for the movie Young Tom Edison, Mickey Rooney, who played Tom Edison in the movie, took an 8 car train from Port Huron to Detroit. The train made various stops along the way, including the New Haven Depot, where he was greeted by over half the village. While the train was moving, Mickey Rooney, dressed as Tom Edison, walked through the train hawking newspapers, candy, etc. just as Tom had originally done.

Passenger trains no longer stopped at the little depot after 1954, and by the 1990s the railroad no longer used the station. It was sold to a nonprofit group who renovated it and is now used as a museum.

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I was in Grand Haven and I saw an enormous steam locomotive on display and my first thought was, ” that looks like the Polar Express” but I knew it wasn’t since the 1225 is in Owosso. I looked at the number and it was the Pere Marquette 1223. I wondered what holiday that was and looking on Wikipedia it says that December 23rd is Festivus. Maybe someday the old train will be restored to working order and I can air my grievances on the Festivus Express, I wonder what town it would go to on its journey.

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