History
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, financial difficulties forced the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) to abandon much of its trackage in Southern Wisconsin, including lines from Prairie du Chien to Madison, Madison to Janesville, and Janesville to Fox Lake, Illinois. At the same time, the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad abandoned its line from Madison to Freeport, Illinois. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation formed the Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission (WRRTC) in March 1980 in the interest of preserving rail service on these lines. Two shortline operators, the Wisconsin Western Railroad (WIWR) and the affiliated Central Wisconsin Railroad (CWRC), were contracted to operate on the Prairie du Chien–Madison and Madison–Freeport lines.
These two operators filed for bankruptcy in December 1984, leaving WRRTC to find another operator. The Wisconsin and Calumet Railroad (WICT) was formed on January 1, 1985. WICT would eventually operate all of the above mentioned rail lines, as well as lines from Janesville to Waukesha and Janesville to Monroe. In 1989, the first Wisconsin and Calumet trains ran from Janesville to Fox Lake on the route known during the Milwaukee Road era as the "J-Line". Shortly thereafter, WICT reopened the line between Janesville and Madison, bringing rail service back to Milton, Edgerton, Stoughton, and McFarland.
The Wisconsin and Calumet Railroad was purchased by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad in 1992, but it continued to operate as a subsidiary until it was officially merged into WSOR in 1997.
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road", was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, one of seven U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM), which was commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of that company with two other CP subsidiaries: The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, and the Wisconsin Central Railway. It is also the successor to other Class I railroads, including the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. On the other hand, a large amount of mileage was spun off in 1987 to Wisconsin Central Ltd., now part of the Canadian National Railway. The Soo Line Railroad and the Delaware and Hudson Railway, CP's other major subsidiary, presently do business as the Canadian Pacific Railway. Most equipment has been repainted into the CP scheme, but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board groups all of CP's U.S. subsidiaries under the Soo Line name for reporting purposes. The Minneapolis headquarters are located in the Canadian Pacific Plaza building, having moved from the nearby Soo Line Building.
The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) trackage, mostly acquired by the state of Wisconsin in the 1980s.
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s. Until 1972, when the employees purchased the company, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway.
The EMD SW1 is a 600-horsepower (450 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at LaGrange (McCook) Illinois. The SW1 was the second generation of 3,402 cu in (55.75 L) switcher from EMD, succeeding the SC and SW. The most significant change from those earlier models was the use of an engine of EMD's own design, the then-new 567 engine, here in 600 hp (450 kW) V6 form. 661 locomotives of this design were built, with a gap in production between March 1943 and September 1945 due to World War II.
The EMD SD24 was a 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) six-axle (C-C) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1958 and March 1963. A total of 224 units were built for customers in the United States, comprising 179 regular, cab-equipped locomotives and 45 cabless B units. The latter were built solely for the Union Pacific Railroad.
An SD9 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW). Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with the improved and much more maintainable 567C engine.
Progressive Rail Inc. is a shortline railroad and owner of several other shortlines. PGR is directly operating several separate branches in Minnesota including the Airlake Terminal Railway. Progressive Rail also acquired the Wisconsin Northern Division in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and operates as a separately-named division. They also own the Chicago Junction Railroad, Clackamas Valley Railway, the Iowa Traction Railway and Iowa Southern Railway in Iowa, the Piedmont & Northern Railroad, the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad in Illinois, the St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, and the Wisconsin Northern Railroad.
The EMD F40C is a 6-axle 3,200 horsepower (2.4 MW) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in 1974 for commuter service in Chicago. EMD only built 15 locomotives; the decline of the 6-axle design for passenger service led to the adoption of the 4-axle EMD F40PH as the standard passenger locomotive in the United States. Along with a small fleet of HEP-equipped EMD SD70MAC locomotives operating on the Alaska Railroad, the F40Cs were the last six-axle passenger locomotives in daily service in North America until the delivery of Metra's first SD70MACH in 2022.
The Willamette Valley Railway is a short-line railroad that operates in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It leased a line from Woodburn to Stayton from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in February 1993, as well as a branch from Geer west to Salem, and purchased the property in 1996. The company also leased a line between Albany and Mill City in 1993, but transferred the lease to the Albany and Eastern Railroad in October 2000.
Fox Lake is a station on Metra's Milwaukee District North Line in Fox Lake, Illinois. The station is located on Nippersink Boulevard at Grand Avenue, is 49.4 miles (79.5 km) away from Chicago Union Station, the southern terminus of the line, and serves commuters from Fox Lake to Downtown Chicago. The station is the northern terminus of the Milwaukee District North Line. As of 2018, Fox Lake is the 141st busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 322 weekday boardings.
The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates 347 miles (558 km) of track in Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its main line runs 208 miles (335 km) from Rockland, Michigan, to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it also owns various branch lines and out-of-service track. In 1897, the Escanaba River Company built a seven-mile (11 km) railroad from Wells, Michigan, to tap a large hardwood timber stand at LaFave’s Hill. In 1898, the company name was changed to the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railway (E&LS).
The Minnesota 400 was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway on its southern Minnesota line between Mankato, Minnesota and Wyeville, Wisconsin. It began running in 1936. In 1950 it was extended to run between Chicago, Illinois and Huron, South Dakota and renamed the Dakota 400. It would be further extended to Rapid City, South Dakota, before being cut back to Mankato, in 1960. This final iteration was named the Rochester 400 and it ceased operation in 1963.
The Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision is a 85.5-mile (137.6 km) railway line running between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is mostly dispatched by the Canadian Pacific Railway from a CP Rail facility in Minneapolis. From Pacific Junction to Chicago Union Station, it is dispatched by Metra's Consolidated Control Facility. The C&M Subdivision is the primary of CP's two northern routes from Chicago. The Union Pacific Railroad operates its Milwaukee Subdivision, a former Chicago & Northwestern Railway line, parallel to the C&M.
The Varsity was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad over a 140-mile route between Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Road Depot in Madison, Wisconsin is a railroad depot built in 1903 and operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. It served numerous passenger trains, including the Sioux and Varsity, and was located next to a major yard, turntable, and roundhouse. The station was one of two Milwaukee Road stations in Madison, and was also known as West Madison station or West Madison Depot to avoid confusion with Franklin Street station on the east side of Madison. All Milwaukee Road passenger service in Madison was consolidated to this station with the closing of Franklin Street in 1952. The Milwaukee Road's service from Chicago to Minneapolis-St. Paul traveled through Milwaukee and central Wisconsin, bypassing Madison to the north. The railroad's competitor, the Chicago and North Western Railroad, offered direct service northwest to Minneapolis.
The Fox Lake Subdivision is a railway line in the state of Illinois in the United States. It runs 17.5 miles (28.2 km) from a junction with the C&M Subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Rondout, Illinois, to a junction with the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad at Fox Lake, Illinois. Metra, the commuter rail authority for the Chicago area, owns and operates the line. The line hosts Milwaukee District / North Line commuter trains. The line is part of the former Milwaukee Road route between Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin & Southern owns the portion between Fox Lake and Janesville, Wisconsin, and has trackage rights over the Metra portion. The tracks north of Metra's Fox Lake station host exclusively freight traffic.
Lake Geneva station was an Amtrak intercity rail station in Zenda, Wisconsin. Commuter service to Zenda was operated by the Milwaukee Road from 1900 to 1982. Lake Geneva station was added as an infill station on the Lake Country Limited on June 15, 2000, to serve the Lake Geneva resort area. The Lake Country Limited was never successful, and service ended on September 23, 2001. Commuter service with a stop near Zenda was studied in 2001, but found to only be marginally feasible.
