Michigan Interstate... What is that?

The ALCO RS2 locomotives on the front of this post card have the Ann Arbor Railroad name on the side. The lead engine has a Michigan Interstate logo on its side. When Conrail began on April 1, 1976, the Ann Arbor Railroad ceased to exist. Michigan arranged for a new company, Michigan Interstate Railway, to run it, which lasted from October 1, 1977, to September 30, 1982. This last bit of information came from this website, which has a great article about the history of the Ann Arbor Railroad: https://www.trains.com/ctr/railroads/fallen-flags/remembering-the-ann-arbor-railroad/ The Ann Arbor Railroad (AA) was as much a steamship line as a railroad. Built from Toledo, Ohio, northwest to Frankfort, Mich., it existed for one reason — to move freight in car ferries across Lake Michigan to bypass Chicago. From 1910 to 1968, “the Annie” operated 320 car ferry route-miles versus 292 miles of railroad. During the 1940s, up to six ferries made the round trip from Boat Landing, as AA called its yard in Elberta on the south side of Frankfort harbor, to two Wisconsin and two Michigan Upper Peninsula ports. The boats ran year-round on a tight schedule, timed to match with three pairs of scheduled Toledo freights, where AA interchanged with five trunk lines. Well-kept 2-8-2s powered those short, fast trains across AA’s rolling profile until 1950, when Alco FA2s took over. The Wabash had eyed the Ann Arbor since the late 1890s, as the car ferry service fit into its expansion plans. On November 2, 1925, it took stock control, and soon, Wabash ordered the last ferry built for the Annie, the Wabash. Launched March 19, 1926, she was the largest Great Lakes car ferry to date. AA began to dieselize in 1941 with a 44-ton Whitcomb, adding two Alco S1s in 1944. By fall 1951, steam was done as AA finished its roster with 14 FA2s, 4 S3s, and 2 RS1s. The Eastern mergers of the 1960s ultimately doomed the old Ann Arbor. As planning for Penn Central went on, the Norfolk & Western (N&W) merged with Wabash, Nickel Plate, and two smaller roads in 1964. N&W wanted no part of the Ann Arbor and its costly ferries, so AA was foisted off on the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad (DT&I), which was profitable by the 1960s. With Interstate Commerce Commission approval, DT&I took over the Ann Arbor on August 31, 1963, Today, the last two AA car ferries and the two RS1s still exist, and a new Ann Arbor Railroad, owned by Watco, operates Toledo to Ann Arbor. Their website has a great video that tells us about the current owners. https://www.watco.com/service/rail/ann-arbor-railroad-aa/ Ann Arbor Railroad (AA) • Primary Commodities Watco moves any commodity, and on this railroad, it’s primarily auto parts and finished vehicles, along with bulk materials like flour, sugar, grain, plastics, sand, cement, recyclables, fertilizer, paper, lumber, and petroleum. • Track Miles • 82.43 • Track Capacity • 286 • Interchange Points • Diann, MI – IORY • Milan, MI – NS • Osmer, MI – GLC • Toledo, OH – CN, CSX, NS, WE • Year Watco Operations Began • 2013

The post card was published by that great mystery publisher www.Railcards.com out of Alameda, California.