THE MICHIGAN SOUTH CENTRAL HISTORY
The one thing about modeling a freelance railroad is that you have to write the railroad's history to the point that it could have existed. In my case with the Michigan South Central it was easy because of some key factors in history.
The Central Factor.
DT&M was controlled by predecessors of the New York Central Railroad. Instead of being abandoned in the early 1930s it could have easily been merged and operated by the NYC (later Penn Central) as the DT&M Branch.
The Conrail Factor.
New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad on February 1, 1968 to form the Penn Central Railroad. This was done with the intention of strengthening both railroads but had the reverse effect. By 1970, Penn Central was in bankruptcy and track conditions and service deteriorated. Conrail was formed to keep up rail service on parts of Penn Central and several other bankrupt eastern railroads.The creation of Conrail in 1976 was a milestone year for railroading in Michigan. Thousands of miles of branch lines owned by Conrail's predecessor roads were to be cast off and abandoned. The DT&M branch could have been one of those branches.
The State of Michigan Factor.
Unwilling to see many communities left without rail service, the State of Michigan stepped in to maintain this service. Initially, the state acquired several segments of track (which became the Hillsdale County Railroad and the Michigan Northern), and on others supplied a subsidy for Conrail to keep operating them. This factor would have kept the DT&M Branch alive as a new railroad.
The Michigan South Central Railroad.
The Michigan South Central Railroad (MSCR) was formed in December 1975 to take over operation of the DT&M Branch of the former New York Central Railroad between Battle Creek and Dundee, Michigan. The line was not slated for inclusion in Conrail and it was purchased by the Michigan State Highway Commission to maintain rail service in the area. The MSCR began operation on April 1, 1976, which was also start-up day for Conrail.
The MSCR was given a 10 year lease from the State of Michigan and the money to rebuild the entire 96 mile rail line. Four F7As acquired from Penn Central provided the motive power for the line.
Operations were straight-forward. Train MB-1, Moscow to Battle Creek, operated Monday-Saturday to interchange cars with Grand Trunk Western in Battle Creek, while switching industries along the way, then returning immediately as train BM-2. After any necessary switching in the Moscow yard, a new crew boards train MD-2, Moscow to Dundee, where cars was interchanged with the Michigan Interstate. Train DM-1 would then head back to Moscow, switching a few industries on the way.
In 1982, Conrail filed to abandon most of what remained of the Michigan Air Line Branch, between OD Tower near Jackson and Three Rivers. Seeing an opportunity for expansion and to gain new traffic, the MSCR was able to convince the state to purchase the line from Homer to Three Rivers Jct. Trackage rights was granted from Three Rivers Jct., over Conrail's Kalamazoo Branch to get into Conrail's Elkhart Yard, to interchange cars.
The MSCR operated the Three Rivers line with train ME-1, from Moscow to Elkhart, on Mondays and Thursday nights with the crew tying up for a rest. They return east as EM-2, from Elkhart to Moscow on Tuesdays and Fridays.
In 1986, MSCR renewed its contract with the State of Michigan by signing two 10-year extension to continue to operate the lines for the state. When this contract became effective in 2006, another two 10-year contracts was signed calling for the MSCR to be the designated operator of the lines through the year 2026.
