The Railfan Chronicles, Ann Arbor Railroad, Volume 1, 1975 to 1981

The Railfan Chronicles is a series of books about different railroads during the period from 1975 to 2000. 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 One railroads. Ann Arbor Railroad is the subject of this next book in The Railfan Chronicles. This is Volume 1 of our coverage of this unique Michigan railroad, looking at its operations from Toledo, Ohio across Michigan from 1975 to 1981. The Annie had an interesting mix of operations, including railroad carferries sailing across Lake Michigan and motive power which included three models of Alco locomotives. During this period it went from being a stand-alone railroad to one owned by the State of Michigan and operated by different contractors. All the changes occurring with the Annie during this time are seen in color and black and white photographs taken by the author.