Steam Railroading Institute
The Steam Railroading Institute is a non-profit organization that preserves, restores, and operates historical railroad equipment and items. Located in Owosso, Michigan, it was founded in 1969 as the Michigan State University Railroad Club and later became the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation before adopting its present name.
Headquartered at the old Ann Arbor Railroad railyard, the organization operates a heritage railroad that offers occasional passenger excursion trains using steam locomotives: Pere Marquette 1225 and Chicago and North Western 175. It also has passenger cars and other rolling stock.
History
In the late 1950s, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Chairman Cyrus Eaton sought to donate No. 1225, a steam locomotive recently retired by the Pere Marquette Railway, to Michigan State University's College of Engineering so the students could work on a piece of real equipment and keep the locomotive from the scrapyard. He convinced University Trustee Forest Akers, but not the dean of the College of Engineering, so University President John Hannah accepted No. 1225 as a contribution to the MSU Museum. It arrived on campus in 1957. There it sat, getting an occasional coat of paint and visits from the public on football weekends. In 1970, the year-old Michigan State University Railroad Club, at the suggestion of Randy Paquette, decided to restore No. 1225 and use it to pull excursion trains that would bring passengers to football games at the university.But MSU had no interest in running a steam locomotive. Eventually, University President Edgar Harden proposed to MSURRC President Chuck Julian that a 501 nonprofit organization be founded to take ownership of No. 1225. In July 1979, the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation was founded.
Later, the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation became the Steam Railroading Institute.