Summer 2017: Kniss Road is now dead ended at the North Branch of the Manistee River. To get to GZ, approach must be made from the west.
The location of this cache is on the former right of way of the Manistee & Northeastern Railroad lumber settlement of Angling. The site is owned by the State of Michigan.
Angling was a settlement supporting several area lumber camps. The town site is on Kniss Road, a seasonal county two track road, just west of the North Branch of the Manistee River. The town was constructed to serve the lumber camps in the area and was essentially a company town. The town proper is in the clearing across the road to the north. There are several depressions where buildings once stood. Even though it came along relatively late in the timber age, not many details are known about the town. Some additional information can be found on the cache site for MLT – Angling, GC29K5R.
The cache is between the mainline and a siding that veers off to the north-east. Access to the site is from Sunset Trail to the east or Sigma Road to the west. Four wheel drive is not required. Winter access by snowmobile is possible, but most winters, the snow can easily be a couple of feet deep making tough walking from the trail to the cache. There are lots of briars in the area, so long pants are recommended. When placed, the cache contained two links of a lumber chain that were found at the town site on the day we researched it.
The map below shows the M&NE grade (purple) approaching from the west, and exiting east, toward Riverview and Grayling.
The Manistee River branch of the M&NE was built from Buckley to Sigma in 1909 and extended to Grayling a year later. It served the town until it was abandoned in 1925. The railroad grade roughly runs south to north through town, then turns east toward Angling and Grayling. A private lumber branch crossed Kniss road north of town and served lumber camps north east of Sigma. M&NE served lumber camps and towns along the Manistee River, harvesting large stands of timber. Once the timber was gone, there was no reason to continue railroad operation. The M&NE Manistee River Branch was abandoned in in 1925.
This map shows the entire M&NE system, with lessor branches in lighter color
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Historical information about the M&NE can be found on the Pere Marquette Historical Society website (see Sources) but little is mentioned about the Manistee River branch. The Pere Marquette did not take control of the M&NE until after the Manistee River Branch was gone.
Sources:
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