Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Hancock, Michigan |
Locale | Hancock, Michigan |
Dates of operation | 1890–1945 |
Successor | None |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
Length | 15 miles |
The Quincy & Torch Lake Railroad (Q&TL), an affiliate of the Quincy Mining Company, was a 3-foot-gauge shortline railroad located at Hancock in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, [1] not far from Torch Lake. [2] It was created to replace an existing tramway, and was designed to take copper-bearing rock from the Quincy Mine downhill to a mill, and return coal uphill to power mine operations. [1] The mainline was just six and a half miles in length, while sidings and extensions added about 8 miles, for total trackage under 15 miles. [1]
The line was chartered in July 1888, and construction started in April 1889. [1] The narrow gauge was chosen because railroads in the area, namely the Hancock and Calumet Railroad as well as the Mineral Range Railroad, were narrow gauge at that time. [1] The railway began operations in March of 1890. [1] Its first engine was the "Thomas F. Mason," a 32-ton 2-6-0 Mogul built by the Brooks Locomotive Works of Dunkirk, New York. [1]
In 1905 the Quincy Mining Company bought the locomotives and rolling stock from the Q&TL and began operating the line directly, although the Q&TL remained the nominal owner of the track. [1] This continued until the Q&TL was officially liquidated in 1927, although the rail operation continued until the mine was shut down in 1931. [1] The line was reactivated in 1937 as World War II-era demand for copper caused the mine to reopen. [1] The mine and the railway were shut down permanently in 1945. [1]
The Quincy Mine area is preserved as a cooperating site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. [3] Visitors are transported to and from the mine on the Quincy and Torch Lake Cog Railway. [4] While that tramway is recent in origin, [5] the tram bears the "Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad" name. [4]
Locomotive #1, the Thomas F. Mason, has ended up in preservation at the Quincy Mine. [1]
Locomotive #3, a 2-6-0 Mogul acquired from Brooks in 1892, is currently stored dismantled at the Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad attraction in Genesee County, near Flint, Michigan. [1] [6] [7]
Locomotive #6, the last engine purchased for the line, being a 2-8-0 Consolidation acquired in 1913, [1] was sent to Pine Creek Railroad at Allaire State Park in New Jersey in 1975 with the intent for it to be returned to operational condition. [8] This did not occur, and the locomotive was sent back to the Quincy Mine in 2009, where it is undergoing restoration work. [8] [9]