Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railway

• ARR Reporting Marks - KLSC.

KLSC Overview

The Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railway (legally known as the Southwestern Michigan Railroad) operated between Hartford and Paw Paw, Michigan and provided both freight and passenger excursion service. The railroad was founded in August 1987, after purchasing the former Toledo and South Haven Railroad/Pere Marquette branch line from CSX.

The railroad operated two types of excursions; a scenic train ride and The Wine Country Dinner Train. Both services ran from Paw Paw to Lawrence and return. The scenic train ride was faster and featured open-window passenger cars in the warmer months and enclosed window coaches during the colder months. Sometimes both trains would run simultaneously and follow each other. Passengers boarded the train in Paw Paw at the present site of Tapper Ford.

As for freight service, KLSC forecasted 500 cars a year, but they likely did not handle anything close to this. The largest customer was Hanson Logisitcs in Hartford, with Lawrence Cold Storage in Lawrence and RMI Logistics in Paw Paw receiving occasional carloads. KLSC interchanged with CSX at Hartford.

The KLSC was also home to the Star Clipper dinner train from roughly 1987/1988 until its move to Coe Rail in Walled Lake, Michigan in July 1991. The Star Clipper trainset was replaced by an ex-METRA E8A, and 4 sharply painted cars leased from Trancisco Tours. After Trancisco filed for bankruptcy in 1993, the cars were sold by owner Northern Railcar and were purchased by Union Pacific.

KLSC itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1993 and suspended operations in May 1995.

After KLSC shutdown in 1995, Pioneer Railcorp subsidiary West Jersey Railroad began operating, under a directed service order, the line. In October 1995, the West Jersey Railroad changed its name to West Michigan Railroad, and later that month it bought the line. Pioneer did not invest in the line and by 2008 all customers east of Hartford had stopped using rail service. Pioneer filed to abandon the line between Paw Paw and 56th Street in Lawrence in 2012, and in 2014 the tracks were removed. Pioneer would sell the line in 2015 to present owner and operator West Michigan Railroad. The railroad hopes to eventually relay the line from Lawrence back to Paw Paw.

KLSC Customers

Back to Michigan Shortlines

Back to Fallen Flags

Back to Shortlines