What was once a dream of brothers Steve and Dave Booth’s in 1935 (top photo) at age 10 and 8, became a reality in 1947 with the purchase of the 7-1/4” gauge Whysall Light Railway from Horace P. Shaw.  Started in the early 1930’s, Shaw’s railroad had stood idle for many years on his Bloomfield Hills property near what is now the Woodward Avenue entrance to the Cranbrook Educational Community. Absorbed by the railroad bug, Stephen and David, and many enthusiastic volunteers, would labor for the next 15 years to complete a 1/2 mile point to point run.

Now, 60 years after the first rails were laid, the TLS has over 3600 feet of main line. It’s engines include two pacific steam locomotives (one that used to be owned by famous composer David Rose), a diesel locomotive, and a switch engine. The railroad for the first fifty years was a freight only line.  In 1997 the first of a set of three Pullman passenger cars was added to the line of 18 freight cars.  Many of the cars were built in the TLS workshops.

Today, the Tipsico Lakeshore Railroad remains the longest continually running 1-1/2” scale railroad in North America and has been operated by four generations of the Booth family.

The TLS has been featured many times in railroading magazines over the years, such as Modeltec and Live Steam. Many of the articles were written by TLS co-founder Stephen F. Booth (b.1925 - d. 2011). Steve was also the producer of the motion picture, Brighty of the Grand Canyon and various other model railroading videos. Steve featured a whole chapter on the Tipsico Lakeshore in his sold out 1992 book, Master Railroad Builder.

                            For more information contact Jeff Booth at  jdbooth1954@gmail.com