RailRoadFan.com

Just recently came back from making a delivery with my truck to a little town called Ralph which is north of Iron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The route that I took allowed me to parallel about 20 to 30 miles of abandoned trackage between Escanaba and Channing, Michigan. Closer to Escanaba, I could see that it was being used for railcar storage to include some new looking E&LS Railroad TOFC flatcars but, beyong that, un-used. Now, why I am writing this is because never in my life have I seen a more beautiful stretch of track. Unspoiled territory and with its remoteness, not vandalized. Switch targets with lamps or, reflectors, intact albeit completely rusted (not telling you to go there and take them!). The beautiful cedars and pine forests are beginning to reclaim the trackage and in some cases, looks like a roller coaster due to the warpage. If any of you are passing thru the Escanaba/ Gladstone area, go take a look around and you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you'll see out in the woods up there....... (Plus, the CN yard there is pretty interesting to)

Use to go deer hunting there in Ralph. Chased EL&S Baldwin in Great Northern livery to the general store in Ralph. Crew stopped also to get snacks before going on to Channing to interchange with the north/south line which had Missabe SD9s on the road job.

MIGN-Todd wrote:I could see that it was being used for railcar storage to include some new looking E&LS Railroad TOFC flatcars but, beyong that, un-used.

Just before the mill in Ontonagon closed E&LS moving TOFC to Green Bay. They would place three trailers per two flat cars. Possibly that's what those flat cars are from. ELSHogger would know.

In my archives I have a vhs tape of E&LS operations. At one point the action shifts to Ralph, and the scene shows the crew hooking up jumper cables from an idling Baldwin to a dead one. I believe the host of the video was the same guy who was the editor of Railfan and Railroad magazine during that era (1980's). This was when the E&LS line through Ralph was still being used for through trains.

Well shoot, I didn't realise that was you on the facebook group!

I believe there is a photo on Railpics.net of a sharknose heading through Ralph? it's for sure on that Escanaba-Channing line. When did that line go out of service?

I think we are using abandoned in the wrong context here. I followed the line and all the tracks and cross bucks are in place through to Escanaba. There might not be materials being shipped any more but it is being used for car storage. Infact there are cars stored in places more remote to Ralph. If lumber were to comback, it those cars were needed, or if some of those quarries decided to ship then the line will be active again. I would love to hike it and probably get eaten by a bear or a particularly ferocious squrril.

The last freight ran from Channing to Wells on April 26, 1993. The reason given for discontinuing service was the track couldn't take 130 ton pulpwood cars anymore. So we continued to switch storage cars with 200 ton SD9s, go figure. At one time we had cars stored from Channing to Alfred which is 25 miles east. We won't be shoving cars out that far anymore as the track is so bad that in places the rails are just laying in the ballast, the ties have given up the ghost.

The flats are the piggyback flats that were used for the mill in Ontonagon. They had been stored since 2008, I have heard they have been sold.

Greg Bunce