Ann Arbor
Railroad - (en)
The Ann Arbor Railroad (AAR reporting marks AA), historically, was an
American railroad that operated between Toledo, Ohio, and Elberta and
Frankfort, Michigan, (approximately 294 route miles) with carferry
operations across Lake Michigan. The Ann Arbor ceased operations as a
railroad on April 1, 1976, but various operations have continued use of
the name to the present. As of 2007, Ann Arbor Acquisition Corp. operates
between Toledo and Ann Arbor, Michigan, while Great Lakes Central Railroad
Inc. operates the remainder from Ann Arbor to Yuma, Michigan. Some
sections have been abandoned: from Yuma to Elberta and Frankfort (approximately
45 miles), about 10 miles in Shiawassee County, Michigan (in 3
discontinuous sections), and the trackage around the now-demolished Cherry
Street Station in Toledo.
The contemporary Ann Arbor hauls a variety of cargoes but much of its
traffic is related to the automobile industry. Its primary cargoes include
outbound finished vehicles from DaimlerChrysler's Toledo North Assembly
(Jeep) Plant; inbound finished Ford vehicles to a distribution lot in
North Toledo; inbound vehicles to a new (2006) distribution lot off
Manhattan Boulevard in North Toledo; outbound vehicle transmissions from
GM Powertrain in Toledo; auto parts from Visteon in Saline, Mich.; foundry
sand interchanged from the Great Lakes Central at Ann Arbor (Osmer),
Mich., and forwarded to other railroads at Toledo -- primarily onto NS for
delivery to the Ford engine plant in Brook Park, Ohio; outbound cement
from Holcim near Dundee, Mich.; and grain trains received in interchange
from GLC and delivered to CSX at Toledo.
Its current locomotive fleet comprises three Electro-Motive GP38 models
(AA7771, 7791, 7802) of Conrail ancestry and two GP39-2 models (AA2368 and
2373) acquired from the Union Pacific.
The Ann Arbor also operated a subsidiary, the Manistique and Lake Superior
Railroad (M&LS), for many years until the M&LS was abandoned in
1968.
