Yes, it’s October, but here at Marlin Taylor’s world headquarters in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, we no longer operate at “warp speed” … so this Musings is about a little of what occurred at the National Railway Historical Society’s 2025 Convention – as you see above – in July!
Most of the photos you’ll see here were taken by Mitch Dakelman, who has been the NRHS’s Film & Slide Librarian for more than a quarter of a century. Otherwise, there are a couple taken by yours truly.
The first trip of the 2025 NRHS Convention, headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, was a trip over the Ann Arbor Railroad on Sunday, July 20, 2025, between Clare and Owosso, Michigan, where tourist passenger train rides are offered by the Steam Railroading Institute.
Shown here is a midway stop at Shepherd for those on board to view the rail equipment on display outside the station.
The yellow diesel is an EMD SW1200 switcher … originally built for the Canadian National Railway and more recently owned by Consumers Energy, an electric and natural gas utility serving more than half of all Michigan residents, who donated it to the Institute in 2023.
On this trip, the diesel is substituting for the Institute’s pride and joy, the Pere Marquette # 1225, which was still out of service at the time of our visit in July. However, at this writing in mid-October, I just spoke with an Institute representative who assured me that the steamer is being reassembled and will be up-and-running for the Polar Express 2025 season, which begins on November 21st. BTW, the 25 Polar Express trips have already been sold out for months. The gentleman standing by the 1225 at the Owosso shop is the Institute’s Executive Director, Dean Pyers.
The State of Michigan now owns the railroad line, and the train was operated, as noted, by the Steam Railroading Institute. Freight service is provided by the Great Lakes Central Railroad.
The next day, we traveled south for a trip on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad to see and ride behind not one, but two steam locomotives. We boarded our train in Coldwater, Michigan, being pulled initially by Little River Railroad’s #110, built by Baldwin in 1911, a 4-6-2 Pacific. This “baby” Pacific took us east to Quincy, Michigan … where it was swapped out for what was likely the biggest attraction of our Convention, steam locomotive Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 number 765!
Our next stop, which was for a lunch break, was in Hillsdale, Michigan … where the locomotive was serviced while patiently waiting for its passengers’ return.
Day number three of the NRHS Convention was a rather long bus ride – which was worth it – taking convention attendees to the New York Central Railroad Museum located in Elkhart, Indiana.
As part of its extensive outdoor display, you’ll quickly spot an outlier … which, of course, was not a part of the Central locomotive roster until the late Penn Central days!
The final day of trips during the Convention took us to two different locations in the Greater Detroit area.
After an early start, the first stop was Greenfield Village, part of the Henry Ford museum complex, located in Dearborn, Michigan.
Once arriving, there was plenty to see, including Thomas Edison’s laboratory. If a train-lover wasn’t interested in all that was in the Village, he or she (yes, we had plenty of ladies – mostly were spouses – attend the Convention this year!) could simply ride the train.
Those who were interested could visit the railroad’s roundhouse and shop.
After lunch, we headed into Detroit to be given a tour of the beautifully restored Michigan Central Station. No longer serving as a rail station, it now serves as a technology headquarters for the Ford Motor Company and several other businesses.
And that wrapped up our four days of trips of the 2025 National Railway Historical Society Convention, visiting prominent rail-related operations and facilities in the southern Michigan and northern Indiana region! I hope you enjoyed this brief view of things we did and saw during those days.
The last day of the Convention was occupied by business meetings related to the functioning of the Society, which yours truly has been a member of for the past 48 years! Following this, we all headed off to our respective homes.
Thank you for reading!
