The Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad, a U.S. railroad offering service from Marquette, Michigan, to nearby locations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, began operations in 1896. The LS&I continues to operate as an independent railroad from its headquarters in Marquette. At the end of 1970, LS&I operated 117 miles of road on 241 miles of track ; that year it reported 43 million revenue ton-miles of freight. In 2011, LS&I had been reduced to of track.
History
The Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railway was organized in 1893 as a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, the iron ore mining company. From the start the railroad's primary business was the transport of iron ore from the Marquette Iron Range, west of Marquette, to docks on Lake Superior from which the ore could be shipped to steel mills on the lower Great Lakes. The primary towns on the iron range are Ishpeming and Negaunee, Michigan. In 1904 the railroad carried over of freight, and over of that was iron ore. It had 489 ore cars, 14 locomotives, and 121 employees. In 1923 the LS&I Railway merged with the Munising, Marquette and Southeastern Railway, a short line running from Marquette east to Munising to form the LS&I Railroad. The LS&I's new spur ran through a section of the Upper Peninsula thickly forested with pulpwood, adding a second commodity to the LS&I's workload. The MM&SE/LS&I also operated a second spur from Marquette northwest to Big Bay. Passenger operations were never major. In 1904 the railroad carried over 180,000 passenger-miles, compared to over 24 million ton-miles of freight. In 1931 two trains a day ran each way from Munising to Lawson, Marquette and Princeton. One train ran from Marquette to Big Bay and one on the east branch from Munising to Shingleton. By 1940 the Munising-to-Princeton and Lawton-to-Marquette service had been reduced to one train a day each way, and Big Bay service was operating three times a week. This level of service lasted at least to 1950. By 1955 the only passenger service remaining was a single daily train from Munising to Princeton; Marquette and Big Bay were no longer served. All passenger service had been discontinued by 1960. By 1962, diesel locomotives had replaced steam locomotives on the line. The Big Bay spur was sold in the 1960s and Munising operations ended in the 1980s. A line between Humboldt and the Republic Mine was abandoned and railbanked in 2004. As of 2016, the Lake Superior & Ishpeming's primary remaining business continued to be the transport of iron ore over a short line from the Tilden Mine, operated by Cliffs Natural Resources, south of Ishpeming, to Lake Superior for transport. Tonnage was declining sharply due to the shutdown of the adjacent Empire Mine, also historically served by the LS&I.
Engineering
The Lake Superior & Ishpeming's historic main line operates on a relatively steep grade, called "The Hill", from Marquette to the iron mines. The steepest gradient is 1.63%. Because of the location of the LS&I's Marquette docks, the railroad must cross the Dead River. The trestle is long and high.
Fleet
As of 2011, the railroad operated a total of eight General ElectricAC4400CW and four GE U30C locomotives. The AC4400CWs, leased from CIT Group, typically operated unit iron ore trains and the U30Cs, purchased from Burlington Northern in the mid-90s, run in yard service at the Presque Isle yard in Marquette. The road formerly operated primarily Alco power, including RS-3's and the famous RSD-15 "Alligators" purchased from the Santa Fe.
Nicknames
The LS&I's nicknames have included "Hayden's Scheme," "The Hook and Eye," "Little Sally and Imogene", and "Lazy, Slow, and Independent".
Preservation
The former LS&I #18 a Consolidation, built by Alco in 1910, was owned, like many former LS&I locomotives by the Grand Canyon Railway. It has since been sold, and operates on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad in Alamosa, Colorado. The railroad's former Locomotive #19, a 2-8-0 Consolidation-type built in 1910, is on static display in Frisco, Texas. This locomotive is now lettered as Frisco 19, but it did not actually operate on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. It was purchased by the City of Frisco, Texas specifically for use as a static display to be representative of a typical Frisco locomotive. Frisco operated a number of Consolidations as Frisco-series 1306 engines. this locomotive was also formerly owned by the Grand Canyon Railway. LS&I #20 was also owned by the Grand Canyon Railway and is now owned by the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad. The railroad’s former Locomotive #22, a 2-8-0 Consolidation-type built in 1910 and acquired by the line in 1924, is preserved along with several of the line’s coaches and cars at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin. LS&I #23, another Consolidation, built by Alco in 1910 is on display in Phoenicia, New York at the Empire State Railway Museum. LS&I #24, another Consolidation, is on static display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. LS&I Passenger Car #62 and Passenger/Baggage Car #63 are also found in the NRRM’s collection. LS&I #29, is owned and operated by the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Arizona. It will go out of service in 2019 for a 1472 day F.R.A. inspection. It is not clear if the railway will rebuild it or put it on display. Former Locomotive #33, has been restored to operating condition, and is currently under ownership of the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio. The Illinois Railway Museum had two former Consolidation Locomotives, #34 and #35. #35 remains in the museum collection on Static Display, while #34 was sold to and operated by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland, Maryland as #734. it is currently out of service pending a 1472 day F.R.A. inspection.
