THE ANN ARBOR RAILROAD
A couple of photos from THE ANN ARBOR RAILROAD, published August 2005 by Arcadia Publishing Co. 
The Ann Arbor Railroad carferry "WABASH" leaves Frankfort Harbor, 1957. From Page 62 of THE ANN ARBOR RAILROAD.
The Annie's train "FT-2" leaves Elberta's Boat Landing Yard on a snowy day in March 1976 with a train bound for Toledo. The freight cars in the consist have just come across from Wisconsin on the AA's carferries.
The Ann Arbor Railroad
So much has changed -- forever. The Ann Arbor's northern Michigan trains may be history, but this book helps bring them back to life.
I recall the Ann Arbor Railroad's Boat Landing Yard in Elberta in 1971. We spent a lot of time on the hill overlooking the yard there, waiting for trains back to Ann Arbor ... decades before the days of satellite TV, PartyPoker (http://www.partypoker.com/) and more modern forms of entertainment.
What a unique operation: carferries to Wisconsin from there.
I go in depth on this era of my life in the Arcadia Publishing Co. release, "THE ANN ARBOR RAILROAD," out in August 2005. The book features maps, photos of all eras, from 1880s-2005, steam, diesel, freight cars, advertisements, photos of connecting roads, and some railroad paperwork forms even.
Some requested details of who some of the photographs were from, so here's a bit about that: The photos in the book came from a variety of former or current Michigan residents, including Ypsilanti-native M. -- who wonderfully captured the author on an Ann Arbor caboose in Owosso one day in 1974, in a perfect visual statement of the freedom of those times. There are also shots from the camera of the author himself.
Other images include those from fellow travelers SS, TL, LY, and more. Dennis Schmidt of Alma is featured in particular; his work is excellent. Also excellent: Kris Foondle's foreword.
Reviews
"The Arcadia Publishing photo-essay series continues with "Images of Rail: The Ann Arbor Railroad'' by Jackson native D.C. Jesse Burkhardt. The South Carolina-based publisher's previous Michigan titles include several on Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, as well as numerous books on Detroit. The book features more than 200 photos, some never before published." -- The Ann Arbor News
"This certainly seems to be the definitive work on the Ann Arbor Railroad and has the right blend of emphasis on all aspects of it! It will be something worthwhile looking at again and again. Lots of nostalgia there for me." -- Jim Hannum, M.D., Olympia, Wash.
"For $19.99 the "Ann Arbor" book is a fantastic buy. It has steamers, diesels, cars, carferries, ads, etc, etc, etc. There are even a couple of M&LS shots. The quality of all but one or two of the pictures is excellent. As always with Arcadia publications, all are
in B&W. Anyone interested in the Annie would be missing a bet if they didn't pick up this book and do it soon." -- Hugh Hornstein
"A worthy member of the 'Images of Rail' series. The book has mostly images of locomotives and stations of the Ann Arbor Railroad, with a fair representation of the carferries. My copy was donated to the library of the Kalamazoo Model Railroad Historical Society, and it has not stayed on the shelf for more than a minute or two since. The text gives enough information to put the pictures into context, but doesn't go into a lot of corporate history. I consider that an asset in this case." -- Mark E. Tomlonson
To Order
To order this 128-page softcover book, call Arcadia Publishing at 1-888-313-2665.
For signed copies, contact:
D. C. Jesse Burkhardt
P.O. Box 1054
White Salmon, Wash., 98672
$21.99 + $4 shipping.
Washington residents, please add $1.56 sales tax.