The Bluewater Michigan Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society, colloquially called Bluewater, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 which owns a large fleet of historic railway passenger coaches and operates railway excursions and other events/trips involving historical railroads.

Early years

Bluewater Michigan Chapter was originally intended to exist in the Port Huron, Michigan

Port Huron, Michigan

Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...

 area and thus named "Bluewater." Shortly after, however, it leased the former SEMTA Rail commuter rail maintenance facility in Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

, adjacent to the large Grand Trunk Western yards.

Bluewater focused on railway excursions around and beyond the state of Michigan, usually hauled by the host railroad's locomotives. They also loaned their coach fleet out to other excursion operators. An example of a Bluewater excursion would be from Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 to Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

 on July 28 and 29, 1984, where the Norfolk and Western 611

Norfolk and Western 611

Norfolk and Western Railway's J class steam locomotives were a class of 4-8-4 locomotives built by the Norfolk and Western Railway's East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, between 1941 and 1950 Norfolk and Western Railway. The first batch, numbered 600 to 604, were built in 1941–42 and were delivered...

 steam locomotive hauled 24 cars including Bluewater coaches.

Many Bluewater members stored and maintained their privately owned coaches at Bluewater's yard locations. This proved to be a symbiotic relationship, as Bluewater was able to use these coaches in their excursions, allowing passenger trains longer than 20 cars.

In Owosso, Michigan

Owosso, Michigan

Owosso is a city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,713 at the 2000 census. The city is located on the eastern side of Owosso Township, but is politically independent...

, Project 1225 had restored the steam locomotive Pere Marquette 1225

Pere Marquette 1225

Pere Marquette 1225 is a 2-8-4 steam locomotive built for Pere Marquette Railway by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. 1225 is one of two surviving Pere Marquette 2-8-4 locomotives and the only one operable...

 and allied with Bluewater to run excursion trains in 1989.

Saginaw relocation

Bluewater lost the lease to the SEMTA rail facility, and a search for a new location led them to the former Pere Marquette

Pere Marquette

Pere Marquette or Père Marquette may refer to:*Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary and namesake of Marquette University*Father Marquette National Memorial in Straits State Park...

 roundhouse/locomotive shops in Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...

 which they lease from the Lake State Railway

Lake State Railway

Lake State Railway is a railroad operating in the northeast quadrant of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The railroad moves large quantities of aggregate and limestone....

. However, the lease was cancelled in 2009 and the Bluewater shops have moved to another facility in the Saginaw area.

Modern day

Bluewater operates occasional excursions and trips around Michigan. They also hold a monthly membership meeting in Royal Oak, Michigan

Royal Oak, Michigan

Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 57,236. It should not be confused with Royal Oak Charter Township, a separate community located nearby....

.

Fleet

- Silver Lake - diner
- Haverstraw Bay - baggage-dormitory
- Several coach cars
- Round-end observation.