Photos of the Grand Rapids and Indiana (GR&I) Modular Railroad in Sunset Manor

 

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If you are a newcomer to the hobby of model railroading and are interested in learning some of the proper operating terminology and procedures, the below videos are a good place to start. Note that full screen is available by hovering and then clicking on the bottom right corner of the screen where you see four brackets making a square. To return to the normal mode press your "Esc" button on your keyboard.

Helpful Hints for Operating a Model Railroad - Part 1 (9:22 Minutes)

Helpful Hints for Operating a Model Railroad - Part 2 (21:52 Minutes)

Helpful Hints for Operating a Model Railroad - Part 3 (8:00 Minutes)

Helpful Hints for Operating a Model Railroad - Part 4 (28:18 Minutes)

 

 History of the Superior Northern Railroad

Superior Northern RailroadA detailed, all encompassing history of the Superior Northern Railroad is all but impossible due to the rather short history of the railroad and the fact that all records of its operations and all equipment lists were lost in a disastrous fire that destroyed the home office of the Superior Northern Railroad.  Some records, mostly lists of assets, of the Superior Northern must exist in the old records of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad (DSS&A).  However the DSS&A did not fully complete its absorption of the Superior Northern before it in turn was purchased by the SOO Line.  These records have not come to light and apparently are lost in the DSS&A files.

During the late forties and into the fifties a group of financial investors from Chicago and Michigan began to purchase abandoned rights-of-way and obtain trackage rights to many of the small towns and smaller mines in the iron mining ranges of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan specifically in and around the Marquette and Gogebic Ranges.  The trackage rights were obtained from both the DSS&A and the SOO Line and possibly some from the Lake Superior and Ishpeming railroads.

In May of 1951 the Superior Northern Railroad was officially formed.  The expressed intention of the railroad was to handle the small amounts of iron ore produced by many of the smaller iron mines, assemble unit trains of ore and interchange with the larger railroads to have the ore moved to shipping docks for sale to the Asian markets. In addition to iron ore cargos the company also planned to handle smaller freight movements that the larger railroads were contracting to land-based freight haulers.  Plus the forest industry generated substantial amounts of freight movement that could also be moved by rail.  In consideration of the fact that this group of financiers and investors also controlled a lake shipping firm, Riverbend Transportation, there is a possible unexpressed intention of obtaining exclusive cargos for Riverbend boats.

The initial years of operation were very promising for the Superior Northern, new track was being laid, older mine leads were being refurbished, new equipment, mainly ore cars and locomotives were being delivered.  The Superior Northern appeared to be headed for economic viability and a position in the economy of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

However by the mid-1950s economy and geology began to drastically affect operations of the Superior Northern and, in fact, affect the economy of the entire iron mining industry in the US and Canada.

Many of the smaller mines serviced by the Superior Northern were getting deeper and working lower grade ore at higher costs.  Ore shipments and ore quality began to fall off.  In point of fact, this same situation was affecting the entire industry, high grade “soft” ore was running out.  US Steel was already beginning experiments with taconite in the mid-50s.
New iron ore deposits in Labrador and South America were coming on stream and beginning to ship high quality ore to European and Asian markets at lower cost than ore from the American iron ranges.  Plus these new “iron ranges” could ship ore year around.

By 1959, the combination of economy and geology had pushed operating costs up and revenues down to the point where the return on investment fell below the level acceptable to the investors controlling the company and advances were made to the DSS&A to purchase the assets of the Superior Northern.  The  DSS&A at this time was in trouble itself for the same reasons but we do know that the assets of the Superior Northern were purchased by the DSS&A sometime in late 1959.  The records of these assets may yet surface but to date appear to be lost somewhere in old DSS&A storage.

In 1962 the assets of the DSS&A were purchased by the SOO Line.  The absorption of the DSS&A into the SOO Line further compounds the search for any Superior Northern records.  Someday, as historians continue to chronicle and detail the histories of these three railroads, we can only hope the complete records of the Superior Northern can be compiled.

After the fire consumed the headquarters buildings of the Superior Northern very little remains of an operating railroad can be found except for several locomotives, a large number of ore cars and a caboose or two.  These are still being operated by the SOO Line in their original markings and lettering.  We assume that eventually all markings and lettering will be changed to SOO Line reporting marks.  But, a real possibility exists that, considering the decline of iron mining, the SOO may well leave reporting marks as they are and scrap Superior Northern equipment as it wears out.

The Superior Northern was formed by hard-headed businessmen with an eye for profit and sold out of existence by the same businessmen because the profit wasn’t there, a cold-blooded, although normal, approach to business.  Yet somewhere in that group of hard-headed businessmen was one with a somewhat whimsical sense of humor.  When it was time to create a herald for the Superior Northern no conventional railroad symbols of eagles, winged letters, etc. would do.  No, the herald of the Superior Northern would be a moose looking through a large circle inscribed Superior Northern.  A rather unconventional herald for a railroad but somehow suited to the independent, off-beat spirit of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  A rumor, not well substantiated, has been reported that Riverbend Transportation may name one of their newer boats the Superior Northern.  Let’s hope, if it’s true, that they keep the Moose.

As it stands now, in the early 60’s not much of the Superior Northern has survived except some rolling stock and a few miles of newly laid rail.  One thing will survive for a long time is the Moose herald, it fits the spirit of the Upper Peninsula too well not to be remembered.
sup logo
 
General Information and History about "The Club"
 
The  Riverbend Model Railroad Club was organized in 1992 and has been located in various buildings  through out the years including the Tell Building, a Grandville Industrial Suite, and the Antique Mall.  In 2005 the club started to build its signature theme layout of a fictitious Superior Northern railroad that was a 32'x22' double level HO scale layout and was located in the Grand River Construction Building in Hudsonville just west of Gemen's Hardware.    The Superior Northern railroad represented Upper Peninsula railroading circa 1960 with some "modeler's license" to allow the presence of the last of the steam locomotives as well as a few newer diesel locomotives.  The principle industries on the railroad were pulp wood, paper products, and, of course, iron ore mining.  The Superior Northern mainline ran from Sault St. Marie, Michigan to just west of Ishpeming.  The club modeled the towns of Sault St. Marie, Soo Junction, St. Ignace, Newberry, Munising, Marquette, Negaunee, Ishpeming, and Palmer.  Some points of interest were the Chief Wawatam railroad car ferry at St. Ignace, the International Bridges at Sault St. Marie, and the DSS&A ore dock and ore boat at Marquette.  This was a fully operational layout with operating sessions held once per month.  A photo gallery of our now defunct Superior Northern layout is available by clicking here.   While still operating the Superior Northern layout, in 2007 the club also started  a modular HO scale railroad based on the Grand Rapids and Indiana (GR&I) which was located in the basement of Sunset Manor.


In 2011 the club lost the Hudsonville location and the railroad was disassembled and the last operating session was held on November 14, 2011.  All the signature pieces were saved and stored at the Sunset location.  When permission was obtained to build a new layout at Sunset Manor, the initial thinking was to use the GR&I modular layout and some initial expansion was started.  However, that decision was soon rescinded and the club decided to recreate a bigger and better Superior Northern.  In September of 2015  construction was started on the new layout in the basement of Sunset Manor but a portion of the existing GR&I was maintained until February of 2017 in order to have some operating trains while construction of the new layout was underway.  In February the GR&I was completely disassembled and some sections were given to a club member while at the same time construction of phase II of the Superior Northern was started.  Information and pictures of the old GR&I layout can be found by clicking here. In August, 2019 the first operating session was held on the new layout.  As of January, 2020 no regular operating session schedule has been set yet and work is now centered on getting some of the signature scenery constructed.  If you are interested in participating in an operating session please use the "Contact Us" page to send an Email and your name will be added to the list to be notified of future operating sessions.
 

The Club meets every Monday night to work on the new layout and run a few trains.   Visitors are welcome from 7:15pm-9:00pm.  Please check out the Superior Northern Construction page on this web site to see where the new railroad is in the construction process.  All the track has been built but some may be out of service due to ongoing construction.  If you are an experienced model railroader, a person just new to the hobby, or somebody just curious about what is going on down in the basement of Sunset Manor  you are invited to come and visit us on Monday evenings and check out the Riverbend Model Railroad Club.  Club dues are currently $10/month ($5/month for seniors over 65 and free for Sunset residents) for individuals interested in joining the club.  Junior memberships are also available.   If you are interested in learning more about some of the operations involved in the operating sessions of a model railroad please click here.  

GR I Model StationThe Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad (GR&I) was formed in 1854.  The modular model layout by the Riverbend Model Railroad Club was started in 2007 in a basement room at Sunset Manor while at the same time the club operated a layout of the Superior Northern in the Grand River Construction Building in Hudsonville.  When the Superior Northern had to be disassemble in November of 2011 the club started to expand the GR&I and operated the railroad until September of 2015 when the decision was made to dismantle the GR&I and rebuild a new Superior Northern layout at the Sunset location.  A portion of the GR&I was retained to operate trains until trains could run on the new Superior Northern.  The last train ran on the modified GR&I in January of 2017 at which time the entire GR&I layout was disassembled and the parts and space used for the new Superior Northern.

Compare the actual picture of the Union Station Train Shed at right to the model created by Gene VanderArk at lower right for the GR&I layout.  While some "modelers license" is used in the construction and operation of the club's layouts we try to stay as prototypical as possible. 

 

Photos of the Grand Rapids and Indiana (GR&I) Modular Railroad

 

View the embedded image gallery online at:
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Click on the Youtube video below to see some trains running on the GR&I.