ESCANABA — Delta County has a proud history involving logging and iron ore shipping. In the late 1890s, a railroad was built because hardwood logs wouldn’t float down the Escanaba River. The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railway was chartered on November 17, 1898, and since then has been a driving engine of economic industrial growth in our community.

The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad (E&LS) is a privately-owned shortline railroad company operating in Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company, a founding member of the Chamber of Commerce, has headquarters in Wells, Michigan.

Some thought E&LS would have to fold up when lumbering dwindled to almost nothing in the territory and the railroad lost its iron ore hauling business. Thankfully, E&LS management saw the situation in a more favorable light and decided to convert from coal-burning to more economical diesel engines and their success continued.

At the Chamber’s annual dinner, we were delighted to celebrate the railroad’s many other significant milestones over the last century. In 1923, the first E&LS train left Escanaba and made the trip to Channing in record time after flooding caused serious track washouts, In 1933, the company tried out a “rail mobile” to determine if it would contribute toward the restoration of railroad passenger service, which was non-existent in the Upper Peninsula at the time.

The E&LS made significant investments to better serve their customers and contribute to the local economy. Fifteen railcars and a new diesel engine were purchased in 1951 when the company reported that business was slightly better than the previous year. Their commitment to customer service continued in 1968 when E&LS machinists designed, built, and tested a new snowplow to replace an older model that tended to jump the track when the going got rough.

In 1978, the E&LS Railroad was sold to John Larkin and his father Wade, businessmen from Minneapolis. Under John Larkin’s ownership, the E&LS expanded from the original core line of 65 miles to over 235 miles of operating railroad. His administration also invested $2.5 million in track improvements and the railroad was honored in 1984 by the Northeast Wisconsin Railroad Transportation Commission for rehabilitating 50 miles of track from Green Bay to Crivitz.

John Larkin was elected to the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in 1985 and appointed by Governor James Blanchard to the Entrepreneurial and Small business Commission the following year.

— — —

Vickie Micheau is executive director of the Delta County Chamber of Commerce