SWS (RMNE) - Claggetts on the M&NE Multi-Cache

Manistee County Historical Museum

Cache:

This cache was hidden as part of the tRails Meandering North-Easterly Geocache Rail Tour, presented by Silent Whistles, the Manistee County Historical Museum and the Crawford County Historical Society and Museum. Record the milepost value contained on and/or in each cache container on the Ticket to Manistee form. See the To Claim a Prize section below for specific tour requirements. See the Resources section below for links to the Ticket to Manistee, Tour Cache List, and a Recommended Driving Route Map.

This is a multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. This is a hiking, biking or snowmobiling cache. Driving on the Betsey River Trail is prohibited. Park at stage 1. To get to stage two, go to the posted coordinates and answer the following questions with information there.

Stage 1: Several signs will reveal the answers.

• N 44° 24.ABC W 085° 44.DEF
  
  
• A = Number of black letters in the last word on the rectangular yellow sign.
• B = Number of white letters on the red sign.
• C = last black digit on the rectangular yellow sign.
• D = Number of black letters in the fourth word on the rectangular yellow sign.
• E = Number of 4s on the white sign above the red sign. (0)
• F = Sum the black digits on the orange sign, then subtract two.
  
  
• North Checksum: A+B+C = 10
• West Checksum:. D+E+F = 13

Stage 2: One sign will reveal the cache location.

• N 44° 24.ABC W 085° 44.DEF
  
  
• A = Fifth digit of the first number.
• B = Eighth digit of the first number.
• C = Third digit of the first number.
• D = Tenth digit of the second number.
• E = Fifth digit of the second number plus two.
• F = Seventh digit of the second number plus one.
  
  
• North Checksum: A+B+C = 11
• West Checksum:. D+E+F = 14

You are looking for a soda preform just off the grade

^{Photo courtesy of the Manistee County Historical Museum.}
M&NE Section Crew at the Ann Arbor underpass at Claggetts west of Mesick.

Claggetts:

There was never a station at Claggetts. The first railroad through what would become known as Claggetts was the Toledo, Ann Arbor and Lake Michigan Railroad when it constructed its line northwest from Cadillac to Beecher (Thompsonville). The line opened on November 11^th, 1889. In 1897, the (then) Ann Arbor acquired a short spur built by locals to service a sawmill and furniture manufacturer at Claggettville, later known as Glengarry, north and west of Mesick on the Manistee River.

^{Map by A.G. Hudley © 2018 using Google Earth and Google Maps.}
M&NE River Branch, Claggetts to Sherman, showing the underpass and interchange with the Ann Arbor.

In 1903, the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad started construction of its River Branch from just north of Kaleva, completing the line through Marilla, passing under the Ann Arbor, them connecting with it at the spur to Glengarry. The M&NE leased the mile plus long spur from the AA in June of 1904. Both railroads recognized the overpass and interchange as Claggetts. The following year, the M&NE continued construction of the River Branch as far as Buckley, and eventually reached Grayling. After the River Branch was abandoned in 1925, the Ann Arbor filled in the overpass shown above and took back the spur. The Ann Arbor grade is now the Betsie Valley Trailway.

^{Map by A.G.Hudley © 2018 using Google Earth and Google Maps Engine.}
M&NE River Branch, built 1903-1910, abandoned 1925.

M&NE River Branch:

^{1912 M&NE timetable, Mike Hankwitz collection.}

The River Branch, which ran up the Manistee River valley to Grayling, was actually 7 miles longer than the main line between Manistee and Traverse City. The branch started 1.7 miles northeast of Manistee Junction, later the town of Kaleva. Mileage charts show it 1.4 miles from the Kaleva depot suggesting that the depot site may have changed.

Some sources date the beginning of the River Branch to 1895 when a mile and a half long spur was laid from a point 1.3 to 1.7 miles northeast Manistee Junction, in an easterly or southeasterly direction. At least one source believes this line was extended south east to the north end of the former Buckley & Douglas narrow gauge line. After considerable study, it is my belief that such a connection was made from Maple Grove, another 1.2 miles northeast of Kaleva, and was a branch known as the Manistee River Branch, reaching to the northern end of the territory once served by the narrow gauge Buckley & Douglas Railroad, and that branch lasted from 1895 to 1902.

In 1903 construction began on the River Branch itself, possibly utilizing part of the an original spur here. Thirteen miles of new track was laid to a point on the Ann Arbor Railroad called Claggetts. The M&NE then leased the mile long AA spur to Glengarry. In 1905 the branch was extended another seven miles to Buckley. Two more miles were added in 1907. Up to this time, the M&NE had been financed completely with private funds. In 1909 the stockholders agreed to issue $1.5 million to extend the River Branch. The line was extended thirty-six miles to just north of Sigma. The branch was completed to Grayling on July 3^rd, 1910, where it connected with the Michigan Central Railroad. The first train rain on the Fourth of July as an excursion from Grayling to Manistee. This train utilized every available passenger car and even used some freight cars with benches added temporarily. From then on, two trains each way between Manistee and Grayling, every day but Sunday.

The lifespan of the River Branch was not near as long as the owners anticipated. Dwindling forest resources, poor agriculture and a 1920 fire that destroyed the sawmill in Manistee all contributed to a decision to abandon the branch. An application to abandon the River Branch was filed on September 5^th, 1924 and granted on July 1^st, 1925.

Sources:

• Manistee and Northeastern Railroad, michiganrailroads.com (RRHX)
• M&NE History, Trainweb.org
• Manistee and Northeastern Railroad (Wikipedia)
• Pere Marquette Historical Society: M&NE
• Manistee County Historical Museum
• Crawford County Historical Society
• History of Manistee and Northeastern Railway Company, Erwin F. Olsen © 1956 E.F. Olsen, UofM Digital Library and HathiTrust.
• Standard Atlas of Wexford County, Michigan, G.A. Ogle & Co., 1908, UofM Digital Library
• Atlas of Wexford County, Michigan, Cadillac Evening News., 1914, UofM Digital Library
• Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads of the State of Michigan, for years 1889-1906, Google Books
• Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, Google Books
• Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, © 1986 Wayne State University Press
• Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies, Graydon M. Meints © 1992, Michigan State University Press
• Michigan Railroad Lines, Graydon M. Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press
• Michigan Railroad Atlas, Volumes 1-4, Graydon M. Meints © 2017, Michigan State University Libraries
• In the Pines, An Atlas of Michigan Logging Railroads, James S. Hannum, M.D., © 2017 Hannum House Publications

To claim a prize:

1. Download and print the Ticket to Manistee (see Resources) and take it with you caching.
2. As an aide, download and print the RMNE Recommended Route Map (see Resources).
3. Follow the instructions on that form to find the required number and combination of the hides.
4. All hides in the tour are identified on the Ticket to Manistee and in the bookmark list.
5. Look for Mile Post values on the cache labels and log books to record on the form.
6. Please do not record the Mile Post values in your on-line log or they will be deleted.
7. Please do not post photos showing the Mile Post values with your on-line log.
8. Please do not post photos showing answers to field puzzles with your on-line log.
9. Each individual GC account holder making the find must sign and date the paper log book in the cache with their GC account name. No group logs please.
10. Send the completed form via US Mail to the address on the form or scan and send a digital copy using GC email or the GC message center. Each GC account holder must send in a form. One prize per completed form. One prize per GC Account. Multiple forms per mailing is encouraged.
    
    Once your answers have been verified, the prize will be sent back to you via US Mail to the address you provide on the form, while supplies last. One hundred prizes have been minted..
    
    

Resources:

• Ticket to Manistee (PDF).
• RMNE Recommended Route Map (PDF).
• SWS (RMNE) Bookmark List on gc.com.
• Bookmark lists for other Geocache Rail Tours:
  • SWS (RAAS): tRails Along the Au Sable (6/2016)
  • SWS (ARNC): Abandoned Railroads of Newaygo County (9/2014)
• Bookmark list for Entire Silent Whistle Series:
  • Silent Whistle Series

Contributors:

I would like to express my special thanks to the following people and organizations who have helped either directly or indirectly with this project:

• Charles Conn for allowing me to use of his collection of photographs at the Clarke Historical Library. Mr. Conn thought this would be a good non-profit way to share some history.
• Mark Fedder and the Manistee County Historical Museum for being gracious cohosts.
• Mike Hankwitz and Charles Showalter, both of whom provided a portion of their digital collection, both private and that of the Manistee County Historical Museum, in support of this project.
• The Crawford County Historical Society for being gracious cohosts and providing materials.
• The Traverse City District Library, for help with and blessing to use their digital library.
• Dr. James Hannum, for sharing research, opinions and guidance along the right of way.
• James Harlow for sharing many items out of his collection and his memories.
• Dale Berry and michiganrailroads.com, always a source of great information.
• Graydon Meints, for his hard work and research which would have taken years to do on my own.