Mid-Continent Railway Museum
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The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a railroad museum in North Freedom,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
,
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. The museum consists of static displays as well as a round trip ride aboard preserved railroad cars.


History

The rail line used by the Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a spur off the original
Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...
mainline. With the development of the Illinois Iron mine in early 1903, the C&NW sent a team of engineers on July 8, 1903, to survey a route to the iron fields. By August 12, C&NW president Marvin Hughitt had arrived in North Freedom in person to announce that a branchline would be built. A second major mine, the Iroquois Mine (also called the Sauk Mine), was established in October not far from the new rail line. By December 1903, the branchline was completed at a cost of $40,533. To support the increasing number of miners in the area, a new town called La Rue was platted, named after William G. La Rue. William La Rue was an area mining pioneer who demonstrated that the latest technological advancements in diamond drill technology could make iron mining in the area economically feasible. The town was surveyed and registered in January 1903, but it was soon realized that its location in the southwest corner of the intersection of present-day Highway W and Diamond Hill Road would prove to be too far from where the mines were developing. By November 1903, the development of the town shifted nearer to the Illinois Mine, to the south at the present day location of La Rue. At the height of iron mining production, the population of La Rue likely did not exceed 50 people, but the town did include a hotel, lumberyard, church, general store, and two saloons to supply and entertain the several hundred miners living nearby. Another townsite named Oliver was platted just east of La Rue, slightly closer to the Oliver Mining Company-owned Iroquois Mine, but no construction ever occurred. At its peak, the Illinois Mine was shipping between five and 12 train car loads daily over the C&NW branchline, but La Rue's ironing mining days would be numbered. By June 1904, the mines were reaching depths of at which water infiltrating into the mine shafts began being problematic. Costs continued to grow as a result of the water infiltration until finally the Illinois Mine closed in 1908. By this time it was burdened by costs associated with pumping out of water per minute. A similar fate befell the Iroquois Mine in 1914, at which time it was pumping per minute from its mine shaft. With the end of iron mining operations, the town of La Rue quickly disappeared. By 1925, only one building remained: the La Rue tavern, which still stands today. As the La Rue area iron mining days were ending, the need for quartzite rock was increasing. In 1917, Harbison-Walker Refractories Company established a quarry south of La Rue. The railroad track was extended south to serve the quarry. Operations continued until 1962 when the quarry ceased operation. The rail line was slated for abandonment soon after. Meanwhile, in 1959, a group of rail enthusiasts from the
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
area had joined to form the Railway Historical Society of Milwaukee. With the group's first acquisition of the Consumers Company No. 701 steam locomotive, the search for a home for their collection began. An agreement was reached with the Hillsboro and Northeastern Railway to operate diesel-powered train rides over their line beginning in 1962 under the name Mid-Continent Railway Museum. When it was learned the North Freedom branchline was available in 1962, the line was quickly purchased and the small collection of cars and locomotives were moved to North Freedom in 1963. By the summer of 1963, the move was finished and repairs to steam locomotive No. 1385 were completed, allowing steam train rides to be offered for the first time that summer. Train rides have been offered out of North Freedom by the museum every year since and a small
rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of Track (rail transport), tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for k ...
was gradually built to hold the growing collection of preserved rail equipment. In 2023, the museum hosted a 60th anniversary celebration event on May 27, marking 60 years to the day that the first train pulled passengers along the 7-mile route.


Flooding and reopening

In June 2008, the museum grounds were inundated by floodwaters of the Baraboo River. The museum closed for repairs until February 2009. The bridge's out-of-service status did not affect the route used by the museum's train rides, but did prevent the movement of rail cars and locomotives to and from the museum via the national rail network. Repairs to the bridge were completed in July 2018.


Operations


Heritage railroad

The museum operates a
heritage railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
which offers passenger excursion trains on a round trip. Trains leave from North Freedom, pass through the former mining community of La Rue, and turn around at a rock quarry, returning on the same route. The excursions take approximately one hour and operate daily from early June through Labor Day and most weekends in May, September, and October. Trains operate at a top speed of , requiring approximately 12 minutes to travel the length of the rail line. Roughly 15 minutes are spent at the end of the line to move the locomotive to the opposite end of the train for the return trip to North Freedom. During the ride, a uniformed conductor punches passengers'
tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery, Lottery ticket * Parking violation, Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Ticket system, Toll ticket, a slip of paper use ...
, shares
railroad history ''Railroad History'' (initially, ''The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin'') is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Schola ...
, and answers questions. Special event trains are also offered several times throughout the year, including Autumn Color weekends in the fall, Pumpkin Special runs near Halloween, Santa Express Weekends at the end of November, and the Snow Train in February. During special events, additional ride options are frequently offered such as first class trains, dinner trains, and brunch trains which offer onboard food and beverage service and utilize cars which are more luxurious than the train cars typically used. For most of the museum's history, nearly all trains were pulled by
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
s although since February 2000, all trains have been pulled by diesel-electric locomotives pending the restoration or repair of the museum's steam locomotives.


Collection

The Mid-Continent Railway Museum's collection emphasizes the preservation of railroad items operated in the upper
Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
from the period of 1880–1916, what the organization refers to as the "Golden Age of Railroading". During that time, railroads saw an unprecedented rate of expansion, growing in size in the United States from of track. Two
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
s, Chicago and North Western 1385 and Western Coal and Coke 1, are being restored to federal guidelines. The museum's collection consists of nine steam locomotives, eight
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...
s, and over 100 other pieces of rolling stock. The museum has the largest collection of wooden passenger cars in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
as well as five of only six surviving wooden
boxcar A boxcar is the North American (Association of American Railroads, AAR) and South Australian Railways term for a Railroad car#Freight cars, railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simpl ...
s built by the Mather Stock Car Company and the nation's last surviving fish car, Wisconsin Fish Commission "Badger Car No. 2". In 2015, the Museum decided to rationalize their collection by deaccessioning some of their equipment, including most of their disassembled locomotives. The depot is an original
Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...
depot from the small town of Ableman, later Rock Springs, Wisconsin. It was built in 1894 and moved to the museum location in 1965. The depot consists of two seating areas separated by the ticket office, and a gift shop occupies the former freight room. The interior was extensively renovated following water damage during flooding in June 2008. In addition to the depot, other railroad structures moved to the museum's location include a crossing shanty, crossing tower, section shed, and water tower. Additional structures have been built new to house and maintain the collection but attempts were made to make the structures appear period appropriate.


Locomotive roster


Former locomotive roster


Gallery

File:Soo Line - 80944 ore car.jpg, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie 80944, an ore car built in 1916 File:Passenger car GN 3261 20041010.jpg, Great Northern 3621, a passenger car built by Barney and Smith Car Company File:Coach-baggage CNW 7409 20041010.jpg,
Chicago and North Western 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 of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
7409, a coach-baggage combine car File:Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway caboose - C-74.jpg, Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range C-74, a caboose built in 1924


See also

* List of heritage railroads in the United States * List of railway museums


References


External links

*
Official Facebook page
{{authority control Railroad museums in Wisconsin Heritage railroads in Wisconsin Museums in Sauk County, Wisconsin Rail transport articles in need of updating