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The
Sweet Line
runs from Carson City to Middleton in
Mid-Michigan.
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History
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Carson City Depot in the 1970's (Photo from Doug Leffler)
THE SWEET LINE
On November 15,1984 the Carson City Gazette announced the
purchase of nine miles of track by Dennis Kellogg from G.T.W.
This includes 6.8 miles of connecting track to Middleton. A
group including Ray Fricke of Middleton, and the Klein
Fertilizer Co. of Perrinton, underwrote the purchase of the
line between Middleton and Ashley. Kellogg named the railroad on the Carson City end "Sweet Line Railroad Co." after Ida Sweet, a long time employee of Rockafellow Elevator, Central Bean & Grain Co. and lately with the Kellogg Elevator.
THE TOLEDO, SAGINAW AND MUSKEGON RAILWAY
The Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon Railroad, filed articles of construction 1on January 25, 1886. The line was to run from Muskegon to Saginaw, proposed length 140 miles, with capital stock of $2,800,000.
The Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railway Company was organized December 1886, with the following stockholders : J. M. Ashley, Toledo, Ohio; Win. Baker, Toledo, Ohio; Jno. Cummings, Toledo, Ohio ; D. Robison, Jr., Toledo, Ohio ; E. Middleton, Greenville, Michigan ; L. G. Mason, Muskegon, Michigan. David .Robison, Jr., was elected President, and Win. Baker, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon was organized in the interest of the Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Michigan Railway. The Road as built extended from Ashley, on the Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan Railway, to Muskegon, on Lake Michigan - a distance of 95.8 miles.
The general offices of the Company are located at Muskegon, and the following are its present officers : David Robison, Jr., President ; W. V. McCracken, Vice President and General Manager; J. F. Pennington, Secretary; B. F. Reed, Superintendent; J. K. McCracken, Auditor and G. F. and P. Agent. In 1889, the line was leased to the Grand Trunk, then later sold to the Grand Trunk. Both Jim Ashley, Jr. and David Robinson, Jr. (president), William Baker, and John Cummings made a profit on the construction but lost control of the road.
Every little town wanted a railroad and Carson City waited the longest for the Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon to be built. (The Grand Trunk Railroad owned this road, from the beginning, but did not operate it as the Grand Trunk until the 1920's). The line was completed from Ashley, in Gratiot County, to Carson City on September 24, 1887 and on to Muskegon, on August 1, 1888.
Carson City was the first stop in Montcalm County. On west was Butternut, Vickeryville and Sheridan, where you could connect with the Pere Marquette, and then on to Sheridan Crossing, Millers, Eureka Place and Greenville. There you could again connect with the Pere Marquette and then on through Lincoln Lake, in Kent County, to Muskegon.
THE SWEET LINE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
After the motor car excursions in the mid-1990s the track fell into disuse. The weeds and trees took over. In April 2000 Dean Helwig and Jim Near started to clear the track. The weeds were chest high. They worked from Carson City to the east, clearing all but the last ½ mile. Walt Anschutz and a few other guys came down and finished that. The Sweet Line was open once again.
Tuscola & Saginaw Bay Middleton Branch
Pics from June 1995 Motor Car Excursion
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