Lake State Railway HO Scale Models

Lake State Railway was founded in 1992 when entrepreneur Jim George acquired the lines formerly operated by the Detroit and Mackinac Railway, a historic Michigan carrier whose history stretched back into the nineteenth century. The acquired trackage included a line originally built by the Michigan Central Railroad running from Bay City northward to Cheboygan, as well as trackage that had been original Detroit and Mackinac territory, branching off at Pinconning and following Michigan's eastern coastline toward Rogers City. In the years immediately following the startup, Lake State abandoned the northern portion of the Cheboygan line above Gaylord, and in 2001 it removed the Rogers City Branch, which extended past Alpena to the northeastern tip of the Lower Peninsula. These contractions notwithstanding, the railroad established itself as a significant carrier of aggregate, limestone, coal, grain, and chemical products across the Saginaw Valley and northeastern Michigan, serving major industrial customers including Dow Chemical Company and Consumers Energy. The railroad expanded significantly in 2005 when it acquired approximately 67 miles of trackage from CSX Transportation in the Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City area, operating those lines through a subsidiary called Saginaw Bay Southern Railway. The two entities functioned under different interline settlement arrangements, with Lake State operating as an Interline Settlement System carrier while Saginaw Bay Southern settled traffic through CSX as a Junction Settlement carrier. In late 2011 the two companies were formally merged, with Lake State Railway surviving as the single reporting entity and converting the former Saginaw Bay Southern lines to its own settlement system. Further expansion came in June 2018 when Lake State began leasing approximately four miles of former Grand Trunk Western trackage in Port Huron from Canadian National, a segment running from CN's Tappan yard to the head of the St. Clair River. That same year, Railway Age magazine recognized Lake State with its Shortline of the Year award, and in March 2019 the railroad extended its reach further by beginning to lease 53 miles of the CSX Saginaw Subdivision between Mount Morris and Plymouth. Lake State continued to grow its operations into the early 2020s, taking on automotive traffic originating from the former Buick City facility in Flint beginning in March 2021. That November, Railway Age elevated its recognition of the carrier by naming it Regional of the Year, reflecting the railroad's growth from a modest shortline into a more substantial regional operation. In March 2022, Lake State Railway was purchased by Antin Infrastructure Partners, a European infrastructure investment firm, marking a transition in ownership that positioned the railroad within a broader portfolio of transportation assets. Throughout its history, the railroad has interchanged traffic with several carriers including the Huron and Eastern Railway, the Mid-Michigan Railroad, CSX, and Canadian National, serving as an important connector for industrial and agricultural shippers across a substantial portion of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.