Michigan Ausable Valley Railroad

04/30/2021

Update: We are not going to reopen. My father the owner has been diagnosed with a medical condition that has impacted both his physical and mental health. We purchased the railroad with the impression that it would be operable for years to come and with the revelation of the trestles and my fathers diagnosis we have decided it isn’t reasonably possible to reopen. Currently we are in the talks with people interested in purchasing the trains and when we have an update we will inform everyone.

05/29/2020

Hey everyone, although we cannot run the railroad currently we are still running our catalog business and would really appreciate your support, please check out our website https://railroadcatalog.com/
Thanks!

05/22/2020

Hey everyone we would just like everyone to know we are not going to be operating this summer due to the inability to repair trestles and COVID-19. We might allow visitors to come and take pictures of the trains and the antique Fords at a later date. Thank you.

04/08/2020

Stuck inside? Buy puzzles, books and other train memorabilia at

11/15/2019

11/12/2019

Hey everyone if you don’t know we also run a railroad catalog along with the miniature railroad. We’re sending out our winter catalog this week. Several of y’all have asked if you can help with the trestles and purchasing from our railroad catalog is the best way to support the reconstruction of the trestles.

You can order online at https://www.railroadcatalog.com/
Or call 1.800.842.4828 Monday thru Friday 9:00 AM -5:00 PM EST

Thank you for the support!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JVLvwIUVabzoPNANqVJT4lIqHOl2rdrH/view?usp=drivesdk

05/10/2019

I wanted to make a couple of clarifications from my post yesterday, first of all I meant steel not steal. Second I agree with all of you who are telling me to buy American I agree. Unfortunately, the 12 lb. gauge steel rail this railroad requires is only made in China and Japan. No one in the US produces, because so little is used. It is still more common overseas, because people use it for mining trains.

05/09/2019

I wanted to update everyone to what is going on with the railroad. Repairing the trestles has been much more of an undertaking than we anticipated. It took us to the first of April to have them both re-engineered and have the plans approved by the state. It is going to take $50,000+ to make the needed improvements. Tariffs on steal has not been our friend. We have been trying to secure funding, but have not yet been successful. We are currently selling our house in Texas, and will then be in a better position to get funding. We are planning on doing the needed repairs this summer and opening Memorial Day 2020. Several people have asked if there is a way to help, ordering your railroad items from our website railroadcatalog.com is always a financial help. Also if anyone has time to donate help this summer, let us know. 🚂🚂🚂

Send a message to learn more

08/15/2018

Several of you have asked for an update, the short version is we are going to have to replace both trestle bridges on the ride. We are replacing them with steel, so we don't have the problem with deterioration that we are currently experiencing. The state is requiring us to have the new plan certified by an engineer, and as you may have guessed there are not that many train trestle engineers around. Every engineer that we contacted were backlogged, and we finally have one coming next week to look at the bridges and our plans. However, this will be a major project even after it is approved, so we will be closed the remainder of this season. However, we are looking forward to opening Memorial Day weekend May 2019 with 2 new trestles and a new steam locomotive. We will keep you updated with pictures. Sorry to disappoint everyone, trust us we are disappointed as well, but everyone's safety is our top priority. Thanks for all of your support our first short season, and we look forward to a much longer season next summer. For those of you who follow our catalog business, we are updating our website, and getting a new catalog out. We will post when they have been updated as well.

07/28/2018

We have had some maintenance problems that came to light last weekend. We are working to have them corrected as quickly as possible. We are hoping to reopen before the end of the season. Check back for latest updates. We assure you the train will run again, just not for a few weeks. Our main priority is for everyone to be safe, and have a great time. Looking forward to announcing our reopening.

07/23/2018

I am sorry to announce we are temporary close until further notice.

07/22/2018

We are sorry to announced we will be closed rest of the day.