[1] Organized in 1887 and in operation from 1887 until 1909, it served the counties of Mason and Oceana in the northwestern quarter of Michigan's Lower Peninsula in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Mason and Oceana was originally built by the Butters family, at a cost of $178,000, to help exploit the old-growth timber resources of this part of Michigan.
[9] At its peak, the railroad operated on a 32-mile-long (51 km) main line that ran southeastward from its sawmill hub, which was located at a point on the other side of the river estuary from Ludington.
[10] After the first-growth timber resources of the Mason and Oceana's service area had been exhausted, there was no longer any reason for the tiny railroad to continue in operation for its entire length.
Car ferries would have sailed directly to Milwaukee, and the new road would have connected with the New York Central Railroad system at Grand Rapids.