The 10 miles from Durand to Owosso was under diesel power, with our consist being pulled by two GP-35's owned by the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway (TSBY) Railroad. This 10 miles of track, originally belonged to the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railroad, is now owned by the Central Michigan Railway.
At Owosso, the GP-35's were uncoupled from the train and Pere Marquette 1225 was coupled to the train for the run from Owosso to Clare and back. This 72 miles of track was originally built by the Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railroad in the 1880's. In 1895, the line was renamed the Ann Arbor Railroad. Today, this trackage is operated by the TSBY.
Pere Marquette 1225 has the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement known as the Berkshire type. It was built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1941. The engine weights in at 442,500 pounds. At full power, this steam engine consumes 4.8 tons of coal and 7,750 gallons of water per hour. #1225. The 1200 series locomotives were used in fast freight service on the Pere Marquette Line from 1937 - 1951. In 1957, #1225 was placed on display on the Campus of Michigan State University as a monument to Michigan railroads age of steam. In 1971 a student railroad club began restoring #1225 to its original condition. The Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation (MSTRP) - Project 1225 was formed in 1979 to maintain and operate Pere Marquette 1225. The current home of the locomotive is in Owosso Michigan.
In the picture above, 1225 is pulling into the station in Clare, Michigan. In the foreground is Larry Lindner, who took the trip with me. If we had it to do over again, we would by one ticket, instead of two. This way, one of us would chase the train and take pictures on the way up while the other rode. We could then positions at Clare.
The excursion from Durand to Clare was put on by the Bluewater Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Bluewater puts on several different excursions each year, some under steam power and some under diesel power. We boarded our train in Durand at about 8:45 AM. We arrived in Clare, after a stop in Mt. Pleasant to let off passengers who wished to go to the casino, shortly after 1 PM. In Clare, we had a buffet lunch at the Doherty Hotel and then had time to explore the town. The train, meanwhile, went on to Lake George where 1225 was uncoupled from one end and coupled to the other end of the train for the return trip. Before boarding for the return trip in Clare, 1225 did a photo run-by for those of us riding the train. We departed Clare sometime between 4:30 and 5 PM and arrived back in Durand around 10:30 PM.
The following photos were all taken in Clare, either during the run-by, or while waiting to board. All photos are copyright 1999 by Fred Lux. Any of the photos can be downloaded and used for your own personal use, providing that 1) you send me an e-mail indicating that you are using a photo, and which one you are using, and 2) proper credit is given for the photo.
Pere Marquette 1225 is entering the station area in Clare under power for the run-by. Behind the tender, you will observe auxiliary tender MSTX which originally came from a Rock Island 5100-class 4-8-4 built in the early 1940's. The green car behind the auxiliary tender is tool car NCCX. This car was originally a World War II troop sleeper. It was sold to Pere Marquette in 1945, was later converted to a baggage car, and still later a crane tender.
In this picture, 1225 is rolling through the station area at about 25 mph. The engineer had just blown the whistle. Notice the little boy who still has his ears plugged!
In addition to the tender and tool car, our train was made up of 12 passenger cars. Some of these cars are owned by the Bluewater Chapter of NHRS, while others are on loan. They came from a variety of different builders and were originally built for many different railroads.
In this last photo, 1225 has rolled completely through the boarding area and is continuing out of town. In a few minutes, it will disappear from sight, and then stop and back up to the boarding area. Watching the train leave the boarding area, I found myself wishing that I had paid the extra money to ride in the last car. This train, like most passenger trains of the 50's and 60's really does have a front end and a back end.