Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Railway

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Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Railway
Overview
Headquarters Rice Lake, Wisconsin
Locale Wisconsin, United States
Dates of operation1893 (1893)1900 (1900)
Successor Soo Line
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)

The Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Railway (RLD&M) was a railroad company based in Wisconsin, United States. It was known locally as "the Blueberry Line" due to the abundance of blueberry vines along its route. [1]

The RLD&M was chartered on February 9, 1893, and built a 7.52-mile long (12.10 km) [2] connection from Rice Lake to Cameron; construction began on October 16, [3] and the line began operations on February 22, 1894. [4] In the Summer of 1899, surveyors began work to extend the line from Cameron to Menomonie, with the first surveys taking place on August 23. [5] Construction continued through Barron in 1900 [6] such that by the end of the year, a second line connecting Barron and Ridgeland was completed. [7] Ridgeland was as far south as the RLD&M was to reach before its absorption. [8] The RLD&M was purchased by the Soo Line in 1900, [9] then was fully absorbed by 1901. [10]

The railroad's president was George Fuller, vice president was George Morehouse Huss [11] and secretary and treasurer was J.E. Horsman. [12]

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References

  1. "Rice Lake Tower – Historical Railroad Geography Series". Travis Dewitz. December 22, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  2. Wisconsin. Railroad Commissioners' Department (1897). Biennial Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Wisconsin. p. 45. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Google Books.
  3. "New Railroad in Wisconsin". The Weekly Wisconsin. October 21, 1893. p. 2. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. Poor's Manual of Railroads. Vol. 33. H.V. & H. W. Poor. 1901. p. 338. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Google Books.
  5. "Work on New Road: Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Line Construction to Begin at Once". The Weekly Wisconsin. August 26, 1899. p. 7. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  6. "Railroad Rumblings". The Saint Paul Globe. July 22, 1900. p. 13. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. Gordon, Newton S., ed. (1922). History of Barron County, Wisconsin. Vol. 1. H.C. Cooper, Jr., & Company. p. 5. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Google Books.
  8. "Wisconsin". The Minneapolis Journal. Minneapolis, MN. October 23, 1901. p. 9. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  9. "A 100-year Timeline History of The Soo Line Railroad and it's[sic] Predecessors". August 28, 1999. Retrieved March 30, 2016. (sourced to "A Brief History of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad . . . The 'Soo Line'", by Jim Lydon, as it appeared in Suprey, Leslie V. (1962). Steam Trains of the Soo.)
  10. "More Taxes from Railroads". The Inter Ocean. Chicago, Illinois. March 2, 1902. p. 12. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  11. Biographic Directory: The Railway Officials of America. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. 1901. p. 272. Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Google Books.
  12. Wisconsin. Railroad Commissioners' Dept (1900). Biennial Report of the Railroad Commissioner of the State of Wisconsin. publisher not identified. p.  233 . Retrieved March 30, 2016 via Internet Archive. Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Railroad.

Further reading