Sandy Ridge & Clear Lake Railway

Sandy Ridge & Clear Lake Railway is a private, 7 1⁄2 in (190.5 mm) gauge ridable miniature railway located on 29 acres (120,000 m2) of mostly wooded hills near Battle Creek in the state of Michigan.

Charles posted on Chaski.org:


 * Great Model Railroads 2005 by Kalmbach has a very nice writeup of the Sandy Ridge & Clear Lake -- 3.75" scale 7.5" gauge. Eight pages including color photos and a track diagram.

Owner Jack Ozanich passed away 29 May 2020. As of late 2020 the railroad is still in operation.

A Different Railroad
Billybob posted on Chaski.org, 31 October 2004:


 * Jack and his crew have gone a long way to make the SR&CL something different from the typical 7.5" gage railroad.


 * It is not just the scale or the size. It is not just the rail weight or the wheel profile. It is not just the point-to-point "trackplan". It is not just that there are more steamers on-site than diesel-outline locomotives. It is not that there are almost as many locos as pieces of rolling stock. It is so much more.


 * The SR&CL is different from the typical 7.5" gauge railroad in that it is there for a purpose other than hauling people around for fun. The SR&CL is a railroad that is all about moving goods. To a large extent, the goods being moved are firewood product. The majority of other moves are of track-building supplies - rail, ties, ballast, and tools, with rocks a distant third.


 * Hauling people is mainly done to support moving those products. Someone must cut the tree bits down to a rail-haulable size, and someone split the bigger pieces, and someone must cut the smaller pieces down to a size appropriate for the pot-belly stove in the roundhouse. Someone must lay the ties and the rail and bolt it together. Someone must spread and tamp the ballast, which is, by far, THE best job on the railroad, I can assure you!


 * But there is more to it than moving goods. The SR&CL is a railroad where thinking is required of all personnel (except the engineer, who had better follow the signals from the conductor and the brakemen!). Timetable and train order operations are in effect. Unscheduled trains leaving the yard require orders. Many work extra orders have been written on the SR&CL. How many 7.5" gauge railroads do you know of which run under TT&TO? I know of one other - the Deerfield & Roundabout, and would love to hear of any others!


 * And this equipment is big. Momentum rules the day. Crew members need to be able to predict the behavior of the train and of the cars, and need to trust their co-workers. Through the dilligence of the crew, injuries have been few and far-between. Even when handling thousand of pound plus trains on slippery rail up and down grades above 5.25%. Even when handling chainsaws and log splitters and buzz saws and anything steam.


 * How does all of this come together into a smooth operation? Through adherence to rules, good planning, and safe practices. Once you have those key aspects under your belt, the railroading comes rather easily! The business-oriented twelve-inch-to-the-foot railroads could learn a thing or two from Jack and the SR&CL, if they were willing to listen.


 * I think that the attached picture gives a pretty good feel of what it is like to work for the SR&CL. Shown (left to right) are Blaine, Jack, and Tom, with a scheduled train (no white flags!) at Phelps station. I took this picture in 2003, if I recall correctly. Note the heavily-wooded area and the all-weather operations.


 * I am proud to be a member of the SR&CL crew. They're a good bunch of guys. They've got a big crew this weekend, 6 people, I think, including guys from Canada, Northern Illinois, and various parts of Michigan. Lets see - the work list for this weekend included steamer maintenance, steamer construction, electrical investigations on #25, leaf control, branchline track extension, tie replacement, firewood cutting and collecting and splitting and delivery, and probably a couple dozen other things that Jack thinks up.