Working rail roads and their tracks.

[ultrarunner]

Is it representative of the area asked by someone that has only visited Michigan once on pilgrimage to the Henry Ford places of interest?

 

[RobS]

Northern Michigan and especially the UP are quite different than the Henry Ford part of the state! All good, but VERY different.

 

[ultrarunner]

Enjoyed my Greenfield... Detroit Museum, Ford Home, etc...

Always wanted to come back

Quite a few docs I work with here in the SF Bay Area are from Michigan...

Most have little family remaining but from the little I know Michigan looks beautiful with small towns in abundance ..

 

[MossRoad]

I'm going to agree with Rob there. The Henry Ford is in a very urban and industrialized area of SE Michigan. Drive north and it gets quite different. Cross that big bridge and it's really nice. The upper peninsula of Michigan is quite forested and devoid of large condensed areas of people.

My wife and I did the Lake Michigan Circle Tour twice. Once counterclockwise and the other clockwise. You get the whole gambit of Chicago down to little hamlets and everything in between. We take the harbor tours as well. Going in and out of all the little towns with harbors.

The northern shores of Lake Michigan on the southern edge of the upper peninsula are very picturesque. The eastern shore offers spectacular afternoons and sunsets.

The northern edge of the upper peninsula offers Lake Superior. C-O-L-D water! Great side excursions.

 

[MossRoad]

Something else on our Michigan list is to ride the SS Badger over to Wisconsin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Badger

 

[MossRoad]

Since this is a RR thread, there are still remnants of harbors along the great lakes where RR tracks end in the water. In the not so distant past, they'd dock RR ships to the tracks, roll the RR cars right onto the ships, take them to ports around the great lakes, dock, and roll them off. It was apparently faster than taking the routes around the lakes.

 

[MossRoad]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_City_of_Milwaukee

 

[MossRoad]

The Carferries of the Great Lakes [City of Milwaukee]

 

[buckeyefarmer]

You mean like right now? Is it an updated diesel unit?

No, it’s an old logging RR that is now a state park. They use shay steam engines.

Switchback

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I think he meant Cass Scenic Railroad in WV. They have quite a collection of operational (steam) Shay locomotives used for tourist excursions. On my list to visit someday.

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park - West Virginia State Parks

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