Burkhardt’s new book details early days of Ann Arbor Railroad

With approximately 185 archival photographs and historical research, the book details the history of this unique Michigan railroad, from its origins in the 1880s to its operations in 2005.

The Ann Arbor Railroad pioneered the use of railroad car-ferries to move freight cars across Lake Michigan between Elberta, Mich., and ports in Wisconsin and in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a way to bypass the congested Chicago rail yards. The railroad built a fleet of eight ferries, which also transported automobiles and passengers across the lake.

The Ann Arbor’s cross-lake car-ferry service ended in 1982.

Burkhardt was born in Jackson, Mich., and often traveled on the car-ferries he writes about in his latest work.

This is the fifth book from Burkhardt. It follows last year’s successful “Railroads of the Columbia River Gorge,” also from Arcadia, which is now in it second printing.

He is a resident of White Salmon, and is the editor of The Enterprise, the weekly newspaper serving the White Salmon community.