WC Chicago Sub in Fall 2001: Mukwonago, WI

These pictures were originally posted on the website of the Society of Model Engineers model railroad club at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The website is no longer online, so I am posting them here.

…Continued from Waukesha, WI.

The new layout for the Society of Model Engineers at the Milwaukee School of Engineering was to be based on the Wisconsin Central’s Chicago Subdivision between Burlington and Cedar Lake, Wisconsin, with staging yards representing Chicago, Illinois and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In November 2001, fellow SOME member Stuart Baker and I explored the route, taking pictures with a digital camera of interesting things along the line to model.

Here are the pictures from Mukwonago, Wisconsin, taken on November 20, 2001.

The village of Mukwonago was incorporated in 1905. It was originally the tribal seat of the Bear Clan of the Potawatomi, who ceded their lands in 1832. The name Mukwonago comes from the Potawatomi word for “bear’s den.”

Mukwonago - Bridge over State Highway 83/South Rochester Street

The Wisconsin Central Railroad completed the line through Mukwonago between Chicago and Waukesha in 1885, and this trestle over Wisconsin State Highway 83/South Rochester Street was built in 1920. The Wisconsin Central Railroad was reorganized as the Wisconsin Central Railway in 1897 and was leased in 1909 by the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway, which itself was controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway. On September 1, 1944, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway was reorganized as the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. The Wisconsin Central Railroad entered receivership in 1932, declared bankruptcy in 1944, and was reorganized as the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company in 1954. On January 1, 1961, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad and the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company were merged with the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad to form the Soo Line Railroad. On October 11, 1987, the Soo Line spun off the former Wisconsin Central line to the new independent Wisconsin Central, Ltd. The Wisconsin Central was purchased by the Canadian National Railway on October 9, 2001. This bridge was the last known rail-related historical resource in Mukwonago. It was replaced by a through plate girder bridge by 2007.

Mukwonago - Bridge over the Mukwonago River

Just south of the bridge over Wisconsin State Highway 83/South Rochester Street is a deck plate girder bridge over the Mukwonago River.

Mukwonago - Bridges

Mukwonago - Mukwonago River Bridge Footings

Mukwonago - County Highway ES/Fox Street Overpass from the North

This modern concrete overpass that carries County Highway ES/Fox Street over the Wisconsin Central was built in 1995.

Mukwonago - County Highway ES/Fox Street Overpass from the South

Mukwonago - Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company Small Building - Oakland Avenue Side

The W.S. Heddles Lumber Company was established on this site at 616 Grand Avenue in 1897. It was the third lumberyard to open in Mukwonago within 10 years. It was purchased by the Alexander Lumber Company of Chicago, Illinois in December 1924. Their first manager at this location was Peter Christisen. John Alexander was the youngest of the Alexander family who came to Wisconsin from Scotland in the 1870s. In the 1880s he was hired by the Stewart family of Wausau, Wisconsin, to open a lumberyard in Aurora, Illinois. In 1891, John Alexander opened his own lumberyard in Aurora, the Alexander Lumber Co., with the help of partners Tom Brittingham and Joe Hixon and a $5,000 loan from the Continental Illinois Bank of Chicago. The company continued to expand and by the 1920s Alexander operated more than 100 lumberyards. In 1929, he bought out his partners and acquired the Brittingham & Hixon lumberyards in Wisconsin, which he continued to operate using the Brittingham & Hixon name as a subsidiary. During the Great Depression, Alexander continued to expand by purchasing additional lumberyards. His son, John Alexander, Jr., was named president of the company in 1932, and starting in 1940 the day-to-day operations were managed by vice-president Otto Unteed. John Alexander, Sr. died in 1944 and his son assumed full control of the company. Following the retirement of Otto Unteed in 1966, control was passed on to the third generation as Walter Alexander became company president, a position he would hold for 45 years until his retirement in 2014. This lumberyard closed between May and September of 2008.

Mukwonago - Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company Large Building - Oakland Avenue Side

Mukwonago - Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company Sign

Mukwonago - Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company Small Building - Track Side

Mukwonago - Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company Large Building - Track Side

Mukwonago - Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company Large Building - Track Side

The Soo Line passenger train depot was located next to the lumberyard at 610 Grand Avenue. It was demolished after the Soo Line discontinued passenger service on the line in 1961, and the lumberyard appears to have expanded onto the former depot property.

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary from the North East

This grain handling facility at 728 Clarendon Avenue was built around the turn-of-the-century adjacent to the Wisconsin Central Railroad tracks, providing farmers with a method to ship their products to distant markets. It was originally operated by Buell & Goodman. It has been Horn Feeds, Inc. since 1978.

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Trackside

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Trackside

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Trackside

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Trackside

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Small Building from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Small Bins from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Fuel Station from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary from the South

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Tall Bins from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Office from Clarendon Avenue

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. Granary Sign

Mukwonago - Horn Feeds, Inc. 1986-1991 Volvo FE6 Box Truck

Based on the Volvo FL first introduced in the summer of 1985, the Volvo FE6 was introduced for North America in 1986. Usually powered by a Volvo TD63 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, they were also available with a lower-priced 6.6-liter Caterpillar 3116. Also available was the FE7 model, with a larger 7-liter Volvo TD73 diesel engine for heavy-duty applications. The Volvo FE received a minor facelift for 1992, with the front turn signals moving to the corners of the bumper, and continued to be offered in North America through 1998.

Mukwonago - Great Lakes Western Rail Tours Sleeping-Lounge-Buffet Car #3225

Mukwonago-based Great Lakes Western Rail Tours, Inc. was founded in mid-1990 by a group of private railcar owners to operate their cars for excursions and business conferences. The cars themselves remained owned by the individuals in limited partnerships, but were all painted in this Chicago & North Western-inspired paint scheme. Great Lakes Western ran their first excursion on Memorial Day in 1992, operating on the Wisconsin Central. Great Lakes Western Rail Tours seems to have ceased operating after 1994. This lone car remaining on a Mukwonago siding seemed to have been sitting for some time. It was built by American Car & Foundry in 1949 as Atlantic Coast Line Ponte Vedra Beach. It had 6 Double Bedrooms, a Lounge, and a Buffet, and originally had fluted sides. The Atlantic Coast Line was merged into the Seaboard Coast Line on July 1, 1967, and this car became Seaboard Coast Line #6605, retaining its name. After Amtrak took over passenger service on May 1, 1971, it became Amtrak #3225. It was off the Amtrak roster by 1979.

Mukwonago - CSX Freight Train

This CSX through freight train passing through Mukwonago at County Highway NN/East Veterans Way is powered by a pair of 3,000-horsepower 6-axle diesel-electric locomotives built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. It appears the lead locomotive is an SD40 while the trailing unit is an SD40-2 trailing. On CSX, SD40s were numbered from 8300 to 8438, and SD40-2s were numbered from 8000 to 8261. CSX acquired all of these locomotives from its predecessors when it was formed in 1986. Of the 138 SD40s, which were built between June 1966 and September 1971, the largest number, 63, came from the Chesapeake & Ohio, with others from Louisville & Nashville, Clinchfield, Western Maryland, Baltimore & Ohio, and Gainesville Midland. Of the 263 SD40-2s, which were built between October 1974 and October 1981, the vast majority, 202, came from the Louisville & Nashville with the rest coming from Seaboard Coast Line, Baltimore & Ohio, and Clinchfield. The majority of the Louisville and Nashville SD40-s along with all of those from Seaboard Coast Line and Clinchfield were delivered in the Family Lines paint scheme, while the Baltimore & Ohio SD40-2s were painted for Chessie System. CSX rebuilt many of its SD40s to SD40-2 standards, making these locomotives essentially identical from an operational and maintenance perspective, but the earlier model still lacks the longer frame, front and rear “porches” and the water level sight glass of the later model.

Mukwonago - North Water Tower

This Water Tower at County Highway NN/East Veterans Way on the north side of town is one of Mukwonago’s two water towers and has a capacity of 500,000 gallons.

Mukwonago - East Troy Electric Railroad Connection

This line was built by The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company as part of a line from East Troy to Milwaukee. In 1939, the rest of the line to Hales Corners was abandoned, but the village of East Troy purchased the segment from the connection with the Soo Line at Mukwanago to East Troy. Under the terms of the purchase, The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company continued to operate the line for ten years, but declined to renew the agreement in 1949 and the village of East operated the line itself as the Municipality of East Troy Wisconsin Railroad. In 1967 The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society relocated from North Freedom to East Troy and began operating its collection of historic electric railway equipment on the line using a trackage rights agreement with the village of East Troy. In 1984 the trackage rights agreement ended as the village of East Troy made an agreement with the Wisconsin Trolley Museum to operate the line as the East Troy Electric Railroad. The Friends of East Troy Railroad Museum, Inc. has since purchased the line from the village of East Troy. The East Troy Electric Railroad is a common carrier that retains the ability to carry freight to and from East Troy.

Mukwonago - Near East Troy Electric Railroad

Mukwonago - South Water Tower

This Water Tower near Interstate 43 on the south side of town is one of Mukwonago’s two water towers and has a capacity of 500,000 gallons.

Continue to Honey Creek & Burlington, WI…