The Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad is a railroad in western

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The line runs east–west through

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

to Lowell. Its of trackage ends at the Saint Mary's Siding, where it meets the

Coopersville and Marne Railway The Coopersville and Marne Railway is a non-profit tourist railroad and common carrier in West Michigan. It connects with the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad in Grand Rapids. The company owns the track, which runs from Walker, Michigan to Coopersvi ...

. It interchanges with

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

, and the

Grand Elk Railroad The Grand Elk Railroad is a Class III railroad which operates in the states of Indiana and Michigan. It is one of 40+ short-line railroads owned by Watco. The company leases a line from the Norfolk Southern running south from Grand Rapids, Mich ...

. It was established in 1993 and purchased by

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it t ...

in 2000. The railroad was later acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. as part of its acquisition of RailAmerica in late 2012. As of 2023, the railroad can handle freight cars with loads up to 286,000 pounds. Most of the railroad's traffic comes from

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, and

sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water ...

. The GR hauled around 1,250 carloads in 2008. The Grand Rapids Eastern only has three customers on its line currently: Precision Poly in Grand Rapids,

Amway Amway Corp. (short for "American Way") is an American multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells health, beauty, and home care products. The company was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and is based in Ada Township, Michi ...

in Ada, and King Milling in Lowell. King Milling is the largest customer on the line. King Milling receives grain to make into flour. In the past, King Milling has attempted to ship out flour via the GRE, however, the process takes too long for the customers. The flour is not currently shipped by rail.

References

External links

Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website
Michigan railroads RailAmerica Railway companies established in 1993 {{US-rail-company-stub