That was a good one Mezz. Here is some more on the man.
"William P. Nicholls (1912-1986) began his career at the Copper Range Company as President William H.
Schacht's secretary in 1936. When Schacht died in 1944, Nicholls was appointed Assistant Secretary. In 1948,
Nicholls succeeded John M. Wagner as both the Manager of the Lands and Forestry Division and a director of the
Copper Range Railroad Company.
Nicholls was also involved with the Copper Range Motor Bus Company, being promoted from Assistant Secretary
to Secretary in 1946 and made a director in 1948. He continued in those roles until the company was dissolved in
1955.
In the 1950s, Nicholls rapidly advanced in both the Copper Range Railroad Company (Vice-President, 1955;
Executive Vice-President, 1958) and the White Pine Copper Company (Assistant Secretary, 1952; Vice-President,
1954; Director, 1956; General Manager, 1957), culminating in his appointment as President of both companies in
1959. Despite these new responsibilities, he continued to serve as the Manager of the Lands and Forestry Division
and was promoted to Vice-President of the Copper Range Company in 1957.
Under President James Boyd, a major reorganization of the Copper Range Company in 1961 saw Nicholls leave
White Pine and receive the new title of Vice-President—Upper Peninsula Operations. He continued to serve
in these capacities until he resigned from the Copper Range Company in 1976 and the Copper Range Railroad
Company in 1977."
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And a little about the rail system and trails.
Copper Range Company Records MS-080
"In 1960, the Atlas Powder Company plant at Senter closed. As a result, the Senter Branch was abandoned in 1964,
along with the rarely used Gay Branch. But this was a small setback compared with the closing of the Champion
Mine and Mill in 1967. The end of copper mining in the South Range indicated the beginning of the end for the
Copper Range Railroad.
The ending was drawn out by the need to obtain permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission for
abandonment. In 1969, the Lakeshore Branch was abandoned. The final regular trains on the main line ran in 1972
and the entire line was abandoned the following year.
In 1974, the railroad right-of-way from Houghton to McKeever was sold to the State of Michigan and became
the Bill Nicholls Snowmobile Trail. The Houghton to Calumet and Lakeshore Branch rights-of-way were also
included in the deal.
The Copper Range Railroad Company officially dissolved in 1980."
-Mezz http://www.copperrange.org/crnews.htm
-Mezz
My pleasure. -Mezz
-Mezz