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Wisconsin Central Railway 1871-1909 Photo Archive by PA Letourneau
Wisconsin Central Railway 1871-1909 Photo Archive by PA Letourneau
Soft Cover
126 pages
Copyright 1998
CONTENTS
No 47
Wisconsin Central #3
No 37
WC #3
WC #16
WC #6
Wisconsin Central Route Map
WC #43
WC #36
George A Whiting paper Mill at Menasha
Engine #31
Wisconsin Central Railroad Camp
WC #75
First WC Train to enter Chicago
WC #90
No 68
No 94
No 24
Chicago, Harlem & Batavia Railroad Dummy Line in 1887
West Chicago Dummy Railway Company Engine & Car
WC #128
WC Depot and Hotel at Waupaca in 1887
WC Depot at Marshfield Wisconsin
Former WC #47
A Griggs built 4-4-0 originally the Oregon
WC Passenger Train #2
The Superior Wisconsin Central #12
Three WC Locomotives at the Stevens Point WC Passenger station
Engine #112
Freight Engine #127
WC #201
View of the Waukesha Back Shop
A WC Train crossing the Wisconsin River at Stevens Point
One of 12 Baldwin 4-4-0 locomotives
No 132
The Depot at Sherry Wisconsin
WC #211
No 80
WC #134
An Excursion Train led by #18
WC #57
Building the WC at Manitowoc Dec 23 1895
A Two Car run between Stevens Point and Portage at Packwakee Junction
The Weyauwega Depot Local Train #32
No 96
WC #204
The Terminal Yard at Manitowoc
The Wisconsin Central storage yard at Manitowoc
No 221
WC #223
WC #227
WC #210
WC CafChair Car #852
Aftermath of Collision between a WC Mogul #109 & #210
Crew and Equipment at work grade reduction near Amherst Junction
No 90
No 80
WC #235
Nos 53 & 48
WC #50 and passenger train #502
No 220 and a WC Lidgerwood unloader
WC #240
Passengers waiting for train at Colfax
Wisconsin Central presidential car #1
WC #68
WC #246
Wisconsin Central passenger depot at Rockefeller
WC #247
No 232
WC #140
No 212
WC #141
No 233
No 244
Wisconsin Central #257 and Abbotsford & Northeastern #1
No 228
Farmers with wagon-loads of potatoes waiting for arrival of WC at Colfax
WC #259
Work Crew near Fond du Lac
WC #207
No 1 the Menasha
No 234
WC #72
No 22
No 98
WC #168
Work Crew travels the main line of the Abbotsford & Northeastern RR
No 271
No 234 and Caboose #104
WC #128
No 225
WC #42
No 238
No 138
WC #50 and pile driver #2
WC #270 & Train #2
No 218
WC #95
WC #167
WC #146
WC #222
WC #183
The WC Baseball Club
Train #101
Former-WC #76
WC Pile Driver and Soo #420
Wisconsin Central Depot and Yards
No 222
Soo #2035
Stevens Point Shops
Construction of the St Croix River High Bridge
Soo #2607
WC 2701
Ex WC #161 Soo #2401
Soo #2914 originally WC #271
The Depot at Prentice, Wisconsin
WC Caboose #171
INTRODUCTION
The Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was founded in 1870 and began operations in 1871, temporarily headquartered at Menasha. In 1872, permanent general offices were established in Milwaukee, with operating headquarters at Stevens Point. (By 1890, all operating offices and shops had been moved to Waukesha). At various times in its history, among other names, the railroad operated as the Wisconsin Central Railway, Wisconsin Central Lines, and Wisconsin Central System-the changes in name usually following some form of company reorganization. For our purposes, however, we will simply refer to the operation as the Wisconsin Central.
In June 1871, the Wisconsin Central or "W.C." awarded its first contract for construction: 250 miles of track running from Menasha to Ashland, on Lake Superior. The first 63 miles of track, between Menasha and Stevens Point, was completed by November, although service had commenced in October on a 35-mile section of track between Menasha and Waupaca. The final spike completing the original contract was not driven before May 1877, however. When completed, passengers and freight assigned to the W.C. could move between Ashland and Chicago (W.C., Ashland to Menasha; Milwaukee & Northern, Menasha to Milwaukee; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, Milwaukee to Chicago) without change of cars or transfer, a boon to the budding port of Ashland.
Once the Wisconsin Central had reached Ashland, further expansion was directed toward reaching St. Paul, to the west, and Chicago, to the east. The first move westward was construction of 54 miles of track between Colby Junction (now Abbotsford) and Chippewa Falls, completed by December 1880. Once at Chippewa Falls, W.C. freight and passenger loads could be turned over to the Chicago, St. Paul & Minneapolis R.R. (forerunner of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, the "Omaha Road") for delivery to St. Paul and points west. By 1884, the W.C. itself reached St. Paul.
Construction on a line that would eventually carry the W.C. into Chicago, via Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee began in 1881. By 1883, the W.C. had reached Milwaukee (using 32 miles of C.M.&St.P. track between Slinger and Milwaukee). However, once the W.C. reached St. Paul in 1884 and could, therefore, compete directly with the C.M.&St.P., relationships between the two lines were strained. The subsequent refusal of the C.M.&St.P to handle W.C. sleepers between Milwaukee and Chicago accelerated the W.C.'s construction of their own line into Chicago, finally completed in July 1886.
Once Chicago was reached, work was begun on a line that ran from the iron ore mines situated at Penuche, some 25 miles south of Ashland, to Bessemer, Michigan. When completed in June 1887, the W.C. had linked two significant iron ore deposits to the company's port facilities at Ashland. The mines generated revenues beyond expectations, as freight on the new road was heavy. More than 200,000 tons of iron ore were moved to port in the first three months of operation alone. Iron ore would remain a primary source of revenue to the W.C. and its successor, the Soo Line, long after revenue from hauling logs and lumber had collapsed.
In 1889, the Wisconsin Central entered into an agreement with the Northern Pacific, which granted the NP trackage rights over W.C. rails between St. Paul, Ashland, and Chicago. This vital link with Chicago made the Northern Pacific more competitive with its arch rival, the Great Northern. This lease of the W.C. offered great promise. However, it ended in failure. In April 1893, the Northern Pacific filed bankruptcy, and the Wisconsin Central, devoid of revenue, was likewise forced into receivership. Reorganized in 1894, the Wisconsin Central wasted no time in expanding its presence on the Great Lakes, through development of port facilities at Manitowoc, and a complimentary line of track connecting to Hilbert Junction, east of Menasha. By July 1896, the W.C. ran twice-daily service between Menasha-Neenah and Manitowoc. This new line was a significant revenue source for the W.C., carrying trainloads of flour and wheat from Minneapolis to Manitowoc.
The final expansion of the Wisconsin Central was begun in 1905, at Owen, Wisconsin, and concluded in 1909, with a new terminus at Duluth, Minnesota. The line, when finally opened to freight (in January 1909) and passenger service (1910), provided the shortest possible route between Duluth and Chicago.
By 1907, and for a variety of reasons, the consolidation of the Wisconsin Central with other railroads had become the subject of rumor. Most frequently cited as partner was the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, an officer of which had joined the W.C. directorate in 1906. In 1908, when a former C.H.&D. director was appointed president of the W.C., the union of the two roads seemed certain. However, later the same year, a majority of W.C. stock was acquired by the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway, commonly known as the Soo Line. In April 1909, the Soo gained control of all W.C. property, thus bringing an end to an "independent" Wisconsin Central.
The Wisconsin Central continued in operation until December 31, 1960, when the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, and the Wisconsin Central were merged to create the Soo Line Railroad Company. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin's collection of Wisconsin Central photographs, the source for photographs in this book, is, for the most part, focused on the railroad's early years. Consequently, our review of the Wisconsin Central ends with the Soo Line's entrance.
We thank the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for permission to reproduce photographs from its collection. The photographs were, for the most part, a gift to the society from Roy L. Martin, whose book History of the Wisconsin Central (Bulletin No. 54, The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1941) is an excellent and indispensable reference.
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