After a long delay, the C&M finally operated again on March 31, 2026.
Hello railfans. The Chicago & Mackinac Railroad is back in operation after a nearly 5 month hiatus. The management has been dealing with a variety of health issues but we are now back!
We had a full crew of 5 operators and I think everyone had a good time. We moved 144 cars in 12 trains so we kept the Yardmaster, Steve, pretty busy, but he kept the railroad running all session.
We ran two turns down to Kalamazoo so those new customers are very pleased with our service. Management tried a new operating scheme and it seemed to work well and will probably be used for the next session. Not many photos this time, as the corporate photographer was asleep at the switch. There are no photos of Mike this session – Mike, I’m really sorry about that. You get double photos next time!!
Using my standard income and expense template, our crew of 5 operators generated a profit of $4,097 during our 4 hours of work. That’s an annualized net income of over $2.1M. Remember, this is 1967 when the average annual salary in America was approximately $7,000 a year and the average cost to purchase a home was $22,000.
The Consumers Price Index (CPI) was approximately 1/10 of today’s CPI so in today’s numbers we would have made over $40K for our 4 hours of work. Not bad for five old guys!
Left: Steve volunteered to be the Yardmaster and did a great job. He kept the railroad running at peak efficiency. Thanks Steve!
Right: Bob was working the Grand Rapids Industrial District turn (on the bottom level). He looks pretty happy.
Left: Andy looks pretty happy! He is working the Cadillac Turn and has things under full control.
On the right: while
Andy was working, the Petoskey Turn, driven by Mike, rolled through town, a second time – had some problems on the first try!!
As the old “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons used to say – No blood-no foul.
Thanks guys for a great operating session. It was great to get back at it again.
The Superintendent/Dispatcher/Company Photographer asleep at the camera and not many photos to share this time. I promise more photos next time.