An Unexpected Find in Standish Michigan

When driving on an Interstate everything looks the same.  Most everything that can be seen is 50 yards on either side of the highway.  If you want to get somewhere fast, eat in fast food restaurants, and see the same thing mile after mile then stick to the Interstates.  However, there is so much more to see when avoiding the Interstates.  You just have to trade speed for more interesting sights.

While traveling north through the Eastern side of Michigan we chose to travel US Route 23 instead of I-75.  Route 23 is the same 1,435-mile long road that passes through our hometown in East Tennessee and connects Jacksonville Florida with "the tip of the mitt's" Mackinaw City Michigan.  We often take 23 from Kingsport to see our son and daughter-in-law in Ypsilanti, MI.  It's a much more pleasant drive than I-75.

British Railway

Typical European Railcar

On October 2nd, Route 23 took us through the small town of Standish Michigan (pop. 1,500).  We didn't have any plans to stop there but we spotted the Standish Historical Depot on the side of the road and made a quick left.  This former Michigan Central Railroad Depot is the first stop on the US-23 Heritage Route, a 200-mile stretch of Lake Huron's coastline that runs from Standish to Mackinaw City.  After the original 1871 depot fell into disrepair a new depot was constructed of large fields stones donated by local farmers. The stone depot was completed in 1889. Today it is a museum of railcars and railroad artifacts.

The railcars were built in York, England in 1954. After serving in the British Railway service they were operated in Canada for a number of years. They were used in passenger excursion service as late as the 1970's before being donated to the museum.

The Typical European Railcar photo on the left was a challenge to make.  It was bright and sunny outside and much darker inside the cars.  I took 5 different shots at different exposures while hand holding the camera.  Fortunately, the Lightroom software was able to align the photos and blend them to create this HDR image.  My goal when creating HDR images is to make them as realistic as possible and close to what I saw when I took the pictures.

Inside A 1929 Caboose

Ice Cream Parlor In One Car

Inside the depot, we were greeted by a volunteer who spent time with us explaining the history of the town and railroad.  They had done a great job on the museum with several artifacts and displays.

1958 Was A Great Year

If we hadn't taken the back roads we wouldn't have found this very interesting stop.  We spent about 45 minutes there before heading north on US-23 along the Lake Huron Coast in search of lighthouses.