I was wondering if someone could tell me the details of how the ex-MC, now LIRR was salvaged back in the day. To my knowledge, in the late 70's / early 80's, the then Penn Central ex MC Bay City branch was largely doomed. When the section of Interstate 69 came through at that time, an expressway bridge(s) was not constructed over the tracks.

Specifically, was there a push by the Lapeer area politicians, chamber of commerce, etc. to salvage the line for the remaining customers, or was this something that GTW just wanted to do?

I do know (AFAIK) that A&B has been operating this over a little over 20 years, and because of a problem w/ the bridge over the river, there is no current activity S of the plastics customer. A&B is keeping the dormant portion of the tracks in place for a future customer (smart move ). With federal / state economic funds, this bridge can get rehabilitated.