The Railfan Chronicles, Railroads of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, 1975 to 2013 - Paperback

by Byron Babbish (Author)

The Railfan Chronicles is a series of books about different railroads during the last quarter of the 20th Century. This was a period of great change in the railroad industry, with mergers of large railroads and creation of regional and short line railroads to operate unwanted lines of the Class 1 railroads. These books cover this period in photographs taken by the author. The railroads of Michigan's Upper Peninsula were traditionally "western" ones versus the "eastern" ones in the Lower Peninsula. Soo Line, The Milwuakee Road and Chicago & North Western Railroad operated in the "UP" along with shortlines Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad and Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad. The isolated and often hostile environment of the UP made the railroads up there work hard to earn their keep and survive. This book chronicles the UP railroads during the years from 1975, when things were still pretty much as they had been for years, to 2013 when most everything had changed since 1975. The evolution of the UP's railroads during this period are shown in both color and black and white photographs.

Author Biography

Byron Babbish is a railroad photographer, writer, activist and historian. He has written books on railroads and has had many of his photographs published. A retired attorney, his time is spent writing, teaching law, playing violin and model railroading. This is his twenty-eighth book.