Harbor Beach Railroad

Harbor Beach Railroad. . In 1878 the Port Huron and Northwestern Railroad began laying track from Port Huron to Minden City, where it would branch off to Bad Axe and Port Austin. J. Jenks and Co. convinced the railroad company to continue the track from Minden City to Sand Beach to make it easier and less expensive to get their products to market. The first railroad was a narrow 3-foot gage but in the early 1900s it was converted to the 4 foot 8 1/2 inches standard. , A passenger and freight depot was built in town, and another depot was built on the Harbor Beach Resort Association property for its guests. A large stockyard was constructed north of town, near present day North Park, for area farmers to sell their cattle and ship them by rail and a roundhouse was built north of the city limits. , There were two major train accidents on the Harbor Beach tracks. In 1912 a locomotive, tender, and passenger and freight cars were derailed when the track failed 2 miles north of town. The second occurred in 1915 when the engine and several cars fell from the Rock Falls trestle south of town. , The Huron and Eastern Railroad purchased the track in the Thumb in 1986. In 1995 the railway was in need of expensive repairs and it was more economical for trucks to transport products produced in the Harbor Beach area, and the rail service was discontinued., Sand Beach Times, January 1881.. "Some statistics of narrow gauge railroad building may be interesting. The rail used weighs 30 pounds to the yard, and it takes 47 1/2 tons to lay a mile of track. For each mile of track laid with rails 30 feet long, 352 space bars, 2,640 bolts are required. Locomotives costs from $3,400 to $6,000, and weigh from 10 to 17 tons. First class passenger cars cost S3,000 and sear 48 persons, Box freight cars cost $365 and flat cars $280." , Sand Beach Times, March 1881..."The following is a statement for the month of February (1881) of business done by the Port Huron and Northwestern railroad, at this station. Tonnage forwarded from Sand Beach, 361 ,285, which consists of the following: Grain, 4,671; flour, 30,800; stock, 21,000; salt, 181,800: merchandise, 123,014. Tonnage received at Sand Beach, 600,270. Freight collected $675.10, passenger receipts $254.75; total receipts $929.85." , A very unique locomotive can be seen near the entrance of the old Huron Milling Company. Called “The Dinky", the little locomotive worked at the plant from 1946 until 1995. It was used to switch railroad cars on the factory grounds. The 36-ton, 26-foot long steam locomotive did not generate its own steam; rather it was filled with steam from the factory and operated for two hours before needing to be recharged. "The Dinky" was retired when rail service was discontinued.,