Silver Lake Express

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NS3322
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Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NS3322 »

Does anybody know what happened to this miniature train located near St. Ignace? What year did it close?
I am also curious if there is anything left of this railroad and what happened to the equipment.

Image
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Ride the Silver Lake Express "Streamliner" or the C.P. Huntington 1861 Model "Old Timer" on one of the World's Longest
and most scenic narrow gauge train rides. This ride will thrill all from one to ninety-nine as it winds its way for more than three
and one half miles through beautiful evergreens, rustling hardwoods, then across bridges over a rippling brook to spring fed Silver Lake.
The wild flowers are in abundance and many species of wild life may be seen "at times"
Last edited by NS3322 on Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

NYCMan
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NYCMan »

The C P Huntington "steamer" was listed for sale a few years back on the D. F. Barnhardt & Associates web site. Couldn't tell you what happened to it from there.

MRC_Andrew
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by MRC_Andrew »

I remember riding this in the mid 1970s as a kid. Seems like it was gone by the early 80s.

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NS3322
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NS3322 »

MRC_Andrew wrote:I remember riding this in the mid 1970s as a kid. Seems like it was gone by the early 80s.
Do you remember where it was located?

MRC_Andrew
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by MRC_Andrew »

NS3322 wrote:
MRC_Andrew wrote:I remember riding this in the mid 1970s as a kid. Seems like it was gone by the early 80s.
Do you remember where it was located?
Best I remember it was out on US2 west of town. I looked on google earth and there is no real sign of it. I THINK it was approximately in the space of land between US2 and the actual Silver Lake. Seems to me it ran in a loop. The building pictured in the postcard view was visible from and parallel to US2 if my memory is correct. I wish I could remember more.

Tom Train
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by Tom Train »

It was located on U.S.2 west at Deer Ranch,which is still there and usually busy. The building is different now and is a souvenir store and fenced in deer area for viewing. I have not been there since I rode the train, back in the early 70's.
I seem to remember the deer area there viewed from the train.

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NS3322
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NS3322 »

Tom Train wrote:It was located on U.S.2 west at Deer Ranch,which is still there and usually busy. The building is different now and is a souvenir store and fenced in deer area for viewing. I have not been there since I rode the train, back in the early 70's.
I seem to remember the deer area there viewed from the train.
Wow the postcard makes it look much bigger! :lol:
I guess Deer Ranch has been in business since 1950, so the building wasn't built specifically for the train.

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wawatam
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by wawatam »

I was in St. Ignace most of last week so I decided to ask some of the locals what they knew about the SLE. No one could give me specific dates, but the stories were mostly the same. Apparently two partners owned both the Mystery Spot and the SLE. At the time the train was boarded and departed from the Mystery Spot. Sometime in the late fifties or early sixties the partners had a falling out and one of them moved the SLE operation one mile west on US2 at Gudmunson Rd. (The elevated ground where the station was can still be seen from US2.) The SLE closed sometime in the early eighties . A few years after that the station building was moved east on US2 to the Deer Ranch where it still stands. Apparently some of the rail was used for a small tourist train on the property. I don't know how long that operation lasted. These days any sign of the ROW are long gone and overgrown with cedar trees and other vegetation.

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NS3322
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NS3322 »

wawatam wrote:I was in St. Ignace most of last week so I decided to ask some of the locals what they knew about the SLE. No one could give me specific dates, but the stories were mostly the same. Apparently two partners owned both the Mystery Spot and the SLE. At the time the train was boarded and departed from the Mystery Spot. Sometime in the late fifties or early sixties the partners had a falling out and one of them moved the SLE operation one mile west on US2 at Gudmunson Rd. (The elevated ground where the station was can still be seen from US2.) The SLE closed sometime in the early eighties . A few years after that the station building was moved east on US2 to the Deer Ranch where it still stands. Apparently some of the rail was used for a small tourist train on the property. I don't know how long that operation lasted. These days any sign of the ROW are long gone and overgrown with cedar trees and other vegetation.
Thank you for all this information! I talked with one of the owners of Deer Ranch and she mentioned the ROW can still (barely) be seen by pens 3 and 4. And she also mentioned almost the same information you provided (except of the failing out between the two partners).

The only mystery left is where the equipment ended up....
Last edited by NS3322 on Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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NS3322
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NS3322 »

wawatam wrote:Sometime in the late fifties or early sixties the partners had a falling out and one of them moved the SLE operation one mile west on US2 at Gudmunson Rd. (The elevated ground where the station was can still be seen from US2.)
Here is how the site looks today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139989418 ... ed-public/

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NS3322
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Re: Silver Lake Express

Unread post by NS3322 »

Confirmed today that #4 (C.P. Huntington) was sold to Story Land in Glen, New Hampshire and is still in service!
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Also confirmed that the Ottaway Aerotrain was sold to the Ellis Railroad Museum in Ellis, Kansas (apparently in 1993). It also is still in service. Two mysteries finally solved.
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