Photo by F. D. Richards from Clinton, MI, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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About Little River Railroad
Steam Train Rides - The Little River Railroad is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and operation of historic railroad equipment.
📍 COLDWATER, MI 49036
History
The Little River Railroad was organized in 1975, taking its name from the original Little River Railroad and Lumber Company of Townsend, Tennessee — the logging operation whose locomotive No. 110 it now runs. Based in Coldwater, Michigan, the heritage railroad operates most excursions to the village of Quincy, where passengers can step off and enjoy the park while the locomotive runs around the train for the return trip, with occasional longer runs to Hillsdale. Track conditions between Coldwater and Quincy have improved drastically over the years, smoothing the ride past landmarks like the I-69 overpass, two Sauk Creek bridges, and a U.S. Highway 12 grade crossing. In 2023 the railroad opened the Trainwreck Grill & Ale House across from its depot; on April 24, 2024 it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a doubleheader pulling every passenger car on the roster; and in July 2025 it marked 20 years of operating out of Coldwater.
The Trains
Star of the roster is No. 110, a 4-6-2 Pacific built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in November 1911 for the Little River Lumber Company of Townsend, Tennessee, where it spent twenty-eight years hauling logging and passenger trains. It later moved freight for the Smoky Mountain Railroad out of Knoxville, sat abandoned on a siding for years after that line's demise, and was rescued after Terry Bloom spotted the derelict engine in 1968 and bought it for $3,100. Restored to service in 1976, No. 110 has hauled Coldwater excursions ever since, completing a Federal Railroad Administration 1,472-day overhaul in late 2020; the railroad also fields locomotive No. 1, which has joined No. 110 on doubleheader specials.
Nearby
Coldwater, the Branch County seat in south-central Michigan, is a lakes town: the Coldwater River flows in from Coldwater Lake to the south, and the Coldwater chain of lakes feeds a series of shallow, connected lakes on the city's west side. First settled around 1830 by arrivals from New York and New England, incorporated as a city in 1861, today's Coldwater is a community of about 13,800 — and the jumping-off point for steam excursions east to the village of Quincy.
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Most heritage railroads sit well off the interstate. Picking up a rental at the nearest airport is usually the easiest way in.
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