The Detroit and Mackinac Railway, informally known as the "Turtle Line", was a railroad operating in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Michigan. The main line stretched from the southern hub at Bay City, to its northern hub at Cheboygan. It operated from 1894 to 1995. A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... State nickname: The Wolverine State, The Great Lakes State Official languages English de-facto Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) Senators Carl Levin (D) Debbie Stabenow (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 11th 96,889 mi² / 250,941 km² 41. ... Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, at the base of the Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron. ... Cheboygan is a city located in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

The Detroit, Bay City & Alpena, a short line operating from Bay City northward to the Lake Huron port of Alpena, was reorganized into the Detroit and Mackinac (D & M) on December 17, 1894. During the late 1890s and the first decade of the Twentieth Century, the timber resources of northeastern Michigan were fully utilized and the D & M expanded its trackage northward from Alpena to Cheboygan. The D & M also built many spur lines into tracks of adjacent timberland. One spur, in service for many years, served the limestone quarries of Rogers City. The Great Lakes from space; Lake Huron is the third from the left. ... Alpena is a city located in Alpena County, Michigan. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Rogers City is the county seat of Presque Isle County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

In March, 1976, the Detroit & Mackinac reached its maximum extent, purchasing a combination of trackage and operating trackage rights from the remains of the bankrupt Penn Central that created an alternate main line from Bay City northward, through Gaylord, and Cheboygan, to Mackinaw City. The Penn Central Transportation Company, normally called Penn Central, was an American railroad company, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and formed by the merger on February 1, 1968 of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad; the New Haven was added to the merger at the insistence of the... Gaylord is a city located in Otsego County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Mackinaw City is a village in Emmet County, with a small portion lying within Cheboygan County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

However, adverse economic conditions continued to affect railroad operations in the northeastern United States. The Detroit & Mackinac sold itself to the Lake State Railway Company in 1995, and ended its existence as an independent railroad.

The Detroit & Mackinac's logo symbol was "Mackinac Mac".