09/30/2026
Did You Know? The Pere Marquette Had a Song!
Sometimes the best pieces of railroad history arrive when you least expect them.
During Saturday’s Volunteer Round Up at the Steam Railroading Institute, a visitor brought along a wonderful piece of Pere Marquette history to donate to SRI’s collection: original sheet music for a song simply titled “Pere Marquette.” A deep internet dive provided a bit more context to the piece.
The song was written, words and music by Fred W. Quirk and published in 1927. The surviving copyright application shows that the Pere Marquette Railway Company itself claimed the copyright, with its address listed as Detroit, Michigan. The application was dated August 16, 1927, and Copyright Office markings show it being received the following day.
Even more interesting, the paperwork records that Pere Marquette was first published on August 15, 1927. The certificate of registration was to be sent to The Otto Zimmerman & Son Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, a company involved in music engraving and lithography; advertisements from later decades still identify the firm as providing music engraving and lithographic services. (World Radio History)
Nearly 100 years after its publication, this piece has found a fitting home at the Steam Railroading Institute, where the Pere Marquette story continues through the preservation and operation of Pere Marquette No. 1225.
A huge thank you to the visitor who attended our Volunteer Round Up and generously donated this wonderful piece of railroad history. Donations like this help SRI preserve not only locomotives and rolling stock, but also the photographs, documents, stories and apparently even the music, that tell the larger story of railroading.
Who knew railroad history could have its own soundtrack?
Come for the trains. Stay for the stories.
