Detroit & Mackinac #10

Detroit & Mackinac is a railroad which operated between Bay City and Cheboygan, ultimately reaching its namesake Mackinac City via takeover of former Penn Central lines.   D&M was famous for being the first railroad to completely dieselize, and its Alco fleet included the first true road-switcher ever built, RS-2 #466.  These Alcos have been scrapped in recent years, despite last minute attempts. 

D&M #10, a GE 44-ton unit very similar to SMRS's own Western Maryland #75, was for sale by the  Steam Railroading Institute / Project 1225, who was near to scrapping it for lack of a buyer.  A donor arranged for it to be donated to SMRS, in a three-way trade which generated significant income to help repair the Mighty Chooch.

I took a trip to Owosso to take a look at the historic machine.  The locomotive spent most of the last 20 years unused, but indoors, either at the Tawas City roundhouse or the Project 1225 shop.  It had been primed in preparation for a return to the burgundy and gray D&M scheme.  The white primer held up OK, but the red deteriorated (as can happen with primers).   Internally, the machine is dusty and rusty, and will need a lot of mechanical love, but it should be a champ once restored.  

Getting a reliable locomotive

SMRS's financial revenues absolutely depend on hauling passengers.  And that depends on the Society's GE 44-ton locomotive, Western Maryland 75.  It's been giving a lot of trouble lately, and here are most of the problems. 

- Sanders not working due to clogs or water in sanders

- Oil drips falling directly onto the rails

- Contactors stuck or not working
- Battery won't hold a charge

- Electrical drain on battery 

- Neither auxiliary generator works

- Very poor pulling on grades

- Electrical diagram not updated 

- Poorly labeled controls

- Leaky windows

The trouble is, in many cases, when one system is having problems, people overload or overwork another system to compensate.  For instance, the lack of power makes it necessary to run both engines, doubling wear and tear.  

Over the next month or so, it is my hope that we can look at many of these issues.

Changing the purpose of this blog

You may be wondering about listings older than this.  This was originally the SaveSMRS blog which related to the 2009 takeover attempt.  As things worked out, not much could be said except in the most general sense, so it didn't amount to much.  The archival data has some value, so I'm retaining the information, but re-tasking the blog to more routine affairs.