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Reedsburg Subdivision
The Reedsburg Subdivision in Lodi, Wisconsin, in 2012
Overview
Owner	Union Pacific Railroad City of Fitchburg Village of Oregon
Termini	Reedsburg Evansville
Service
Operator(s)	Wisconsin and Southern Railroad
History
Opened	15 August 1854 (1854-08-15)
Technical
Line length	75 mi (121 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend km Sparta Subdivision 246.5 Sparta 245.9 Sparta Subdivision Tunnel No. 3 233.7 Norwalk Tunnel No. 2 228.2 Wilton Tunnel No. 1 219.0 Kendalls Elroy Subdivision Elroy-Sparta State Trail 400 Trail 212.8 Elroy 208.9 Union Center 206.1 Wonewoc 199.0 Lavalle Start of 400 Trail 191.2 Reedsburg 184.8 Rock Springs 181.8 North Freedom 175.5 Baraboo 168.4 Badger 164.6 Merrimac Merrimac Bridge 158.0 Lodi 153.2 Dane 148.4 Waunakee 143.5 Mendota Cottage Grove Subdivision Yahara River 140.3 Madison Prairie Subdivision Madison Subdivision Lake Monona 137.2 Lancaster Subdivision 128.0 Oregon 122.4 Brooklyn 116.1 Evansville Evansville Industrial Lead Footville Subdivision This diagram: view talk edit

The Reedsburg Subdivision is a railway line in the state of Wisconsin. It runs 75 miles (121 km) from Reedsburg, Wisconsin, to Evansville, Wisconsin, via Madison, Wisconsin. The line was built by predecessors of the Chicago and North Western Railway between 1854 and 1873. As the Madison Subdivision, it ran between Harvard, Illinois, and Sparta, Wisconsin. Ownership of the line is split between the Union Pacific Railroad and the municipalities of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, and Oregon, Wisconsin; the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad provides freight service over the line.

History

The Beloit and Madison Railroad's original line opened between Beloit, Wisconsin, and Footville, Wisconsin, on December 18, 1854. This was further extended to Madison, Wisconsin, on September 7, 1864. Under lease since 1864, the Beloit and Madison was merged into the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1871.

In 1870, the Baraboo Air Line Railroad began building northwest from Madison toward Winona Junction, near La Crosse, a distance of 129 miles (208 km). The Chicago and North Western acquired the company on March 10, 1871, with the line still incomplete. Three tunnels were dug between Elroy and Sparta, at "great expense and with much difficulty." The full line opened in 1873. At Winona Junction, it connected with the line of the LaCrosse, Trempealeau and Prescott Railroad to reach Winona, Minnesota.

In 1911, the North Western opened the Adams Cutoff, a new line between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Sparta. The new line shortened the distance between Milwaukee and Minneapolis, and avoided the difficult grades of the original route between Elroy and Sparta. The North Western abandoned that part of the line altogether in 1964 and it was converted into the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. In 1986, the North Western abandoned the line between Elroy and Reedsburg. It is now the 400 State Trail.

The Union Pacific Railroad acquired the Chicago and North Western in 1995. The following year, the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad leased the line between Madison and Reedsburg. When Union Pacific sought to abandon 15 miles (24 km) between Madison and Evansville in 1998, the municipalities of Oregon and Fitchburg acquired the line. The Wisconsin and Southern leased that portion of the line as well in 2014.

Notes

1. Lorenzsonn (2009), p. 187.
2. Mollenhoff (2003), p. 102.
3. ICC (1928), p. 99.
4. ICC (1928), p. 261.
5. ^ Giles (1880), p. 178.
6. Kaysen (1937), p. 8.
7. Murray (2008), p. 39.
8. "Era Comes To Close As Track Is Torn Up". La Crosse Tribune. October 4, 1964. p. 13. Retrieved May 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Rail Abandonment Appears Likely Again". Reedsburg Times-Press. May 8, 1986. p. 3. Retrieved May 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Ambelang, Jerry (October 8, 1996). "More rail service seen from deal". The Capital Times. p. 19. Retrieved May 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Melby, Marjorie (January 28, 1999). "Rail line purchase allows for business park progress". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 15. Retrieved May 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Surface Transportation Board (November 18, 2014). "Wisconsin & Southern Railroad L.L.C.—Acquisition And Operation Exemption—City Of Fitchburg And Village Of Oregon, Wis" (PDF). Retrieved May 25, 2024.

References

• Giles, H. H. (1880). "Wisconsin Railroads". The History of Sauk County, Wisconsin. Western Historical Company.
• Interstate Commerce Commission (1928). "Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports". U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Kaysen, James P. (1937). The Railroads of Wisconsin, 1827-1937. Boston: Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. OCLC 5577008.
• Lorenzsonn, Axel (2009). Steam and Cinders: The Advent of Railroads in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-87020-385-5.
• Mollenhoff, David (2003). Madison: A History of the Formative Years. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-19980-7.
• Murray, Tom (2008). Chicago & North Western Railway. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2546-9.

External links

• Media related to Reedsburg Subdivision at Wikimedia Commons

• Rail infrastructure in Wisconsin
• Railway lines opened in 1854
• Chicago and North Western Railway