The Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad is a railroad in western Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 that runs east-west through Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Its 47 miles (75.6 km) of trackage ends at the Saint Mary's Siding, where it meets the Coopersville and Marne Railway

Coopersville and Marne Railway

The Coopersville and Marne Railway is a tourist railroad in west Michigan. It connects with the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad. The volunteer organization owns the track, which runs from Walker, Michigan to Marne, Michiganin Kent and Ottawa counties....

. It interchanges with CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 at Grand Rapids and with the Mid-Michigan Railroad

Mid-Michigan Railroad

The Mid-Michigan Railroad is a railroad owned by RailAmerica, having been acquired in 2000. It operates of track in Michigan.-History:The company incorporated in 1987, for the purpose of acquiring railway lines from the CSX Corporation. The company was owned at inception by RailTex, a Texas-based...

 at Lowell. It was established in 1993 and purchased by RailAmerica

RailAmerica

RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, is a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada....

 in 2000.

Most of the railroad's traffic comes from grain, lumber, and sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...

. The GR hauled around 1,250 carloads in 2008.