Any map charting this kind of expansion requires interpreting and simplifying a lot of complex topics. Fortunately, we had a great source in a 1944 commemorative booklet issued by the Milwaukee Road’s public relations department.
It’s filled with details on the railroad’s expansion, electrification, and operations.
We thought we’d use this opportunity to share some more information with you about the growth and development of the Milwaukee Road.
All of this information came from that 1944 railroad-issued publication.
1851-1860 (year end) 736.49
1861-1870 (year end) 949.31
1871-1880 (year end) 2,208.68
1881-1890 (year end) 2,350.38
1891-1900 (year end) 794.53
1901-1910 (year end) 2,249.33
1911-1920 (year end) 510.79
1921-1930 (year end) 846.41
1931-1943 (year end) -573.18
WISCONSIN
Hilbert-Neenah: Joint track with Soo Line (built 1871), 15.8 miles
ILLINOIS
Chicago Union Station-Western Avenue: Joint track with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway; built by PCCStL in 1869
MISSOURI
Polo-Birmingham, 38 miles: Milwaukee originally built line 1887. Then a line realignment, 1930-1931, created joint double-track route with Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (each road owns 1 track); joint operation began 1931.
MINNESOTA
Red Wing-Cannon Falls: Half-interest acquired from Chicago Great Western in 1937 (when MILW’s own line was abandoned, Cannon Falls-Cannon Jct.)
Mendota-St. Paul (northerly 5 miles of route, including Mississippi River bridge): Jointly built in 1866 by MILW and C&NW predecessors; now jointly owned with Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway
Mankato-Benning: Trackage rights granted over Chicago Great Western (1902), 3.13 miles, plus 1.1 miles of joint track with CGW in Mankato
SOUTH DAKOTA
Sioux Falls Jct.-Renner: Built by Great Northern; joint ownership granted 1935/1941
MONTANA
Lewistown-Agawam: Portions owned jointly with Great Northern, per a 1937 agreement that enabled MILW to abandon part of its own line and acquire a half-interest in GN track, while conveying a half-interest to GN in some Milwaukee Road segments; total joint trackage comes to 29.99 miles. Joint sections include Lewistown-Spring Creek Jct. (8.1 miles MILW, 1.03 miles GN, and 0.02 miles new), Emerson Jct.-Dracut Jct. (14.01 miles GN and 0.03 miles new), and Eastham-Choteau (6.8 miles MILW).
WASHINGTON
Tacoma-Black River Jct., 26.32 miles: Built 1908-1909 by Milwaukee Road. Milwaukee conveyed half-interest to Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation, 1909
Hoquiam-Helsing Jct., 44.49 miles: Joint track with Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation, 1909. (Aberdeen-Hoquiam: Trackage rights over Northern Pacific granted 1911, 4.7 miles)
WISCONSIN
Westby-Chaseburg: Built 1905 by La Crosse & Southeastern; acquired by Milwaukee Road 1933, 15.82 miles
Grundy-McInnes: Built 1901 by Marinette, Tomahawk & Western Railway; acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1903, 19.25 miles
LaCrosse & Milwaukee Rail Road: Had a system formed from smaller lines, with key routes being Milwaukee-Fond du Lac-Green Bay; Milwaukee-Horicon-Portage (95 miles)-La Crosse; Brookfield-Watertown-Portage; Madison-Portage. The bankrupt company was sold in 1863 to the new Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, which in 1867 merged with the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien Railway.
MICHIGAN
Milwaukee & Northern Railroad, acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1893. Key routes: Ontonagon-Channing, Milwaukee-Green Bay-Menominee-Marinette-Champion
ILLINOIS
Kirland-DeKalb; Joliet-Delmar, 95 miles: Built 1904-1905 by Illinois, Iowa & Minnesota, later named Chicago, Milwaukee & Gary Railway in 1910 (with trackage rights secured in 1905 over Elgin, Joliet & Eastern DeKalb-Joliet); Milwaukee Road began running the CM&G in 1922 and acquired the line in 1930
Chicago Heights-Seymour-Westport, 361.238 miles: Built 1890-1906 by predecessors of the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern Railway (formed in 1910 from three bankrupt or financially distressed railroads); leased in 1921 by Milwaukee Road for 999 years
Racine & Mississippi Railroad network: Racine-Beloit-Freeport-Savanna. Illinois and Wisconsin sections combined under the name Western Union Railroad; acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1869
Chicago & Pacific Railroad: Built the Chicago-Elgin-Davis Jct.-Savanna line.; leased by Milwaukee Road in 1880 and purchased in 1900
Chicago-Buena Park-Wilmette: Built 1885-1888 by Milwaukee Road. Buena Park-Wilmette section leased to the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee, 1919-1944, then Chicago Rapid Transit from 1944 on
IOWA
Storm Lake-Rembrandt: Acquired from Minneapolis & St. Louis in 1936
Dubuque Southwestern system: Farley-Worthington-Cedar Rapids; conveyed to Milwaukee Road in 1881
Milwaukee Road bridges the Mississippi between Savanna, Ill., and Sabula, Iowa, 1880-1881.
Bellevue-Cascade: Sold in 1933 to the Bellevue & Cascade Railroad (narrow gauge), 35.72 miles
MINNESOTA
Main line from St. Paul-Minneapolis, including Mississippi River bridge, completed 1880 by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
SOUTH DAKOTA
Sioux City & Dakota system included Dakota Southern (Sioux City-Yankton) and Sioux City & Pembina (Elk Point-Sioux Falls); acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1881
MONTANA
Lombard-Lewistown: Built by Montana Railroad, 1894-1904; acquired by MILW 1910
Three Forks-Salesville and Menard: Built by Gallatin Valley Railway 1910-1913; acquired by MILW in 1918
Ringling-Dorsey: Milwaukee Road granted trackage rights on this 1896-built MILW route to White Sulphur Springs & Yellowstone Park Railway in 1910; MILW owns the line but does not operate it.
IDAHO
Bovill-Palouse: New line construction, completed 1961
WASHINGTON
Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railroad: Extended mine-tidewater coal line at Bellingham to Glacier (1891-1900) plus Lynden branch (1903). Bought by Bellingham & Northern Railway in 1912. Acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1918.
Tacoma Eastern Railroad built line south of Tacoma. Acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1918
Puget Sound & Willapa Harbor Railway built Maytown-Centralia-Chehalis Jct.-Raymond 1914-1915. Acquired by Milwaukee Road 1916.
Seattle, Port Angeles & Western Railway and predecessors built Discovery Jct.-Port Angeles-Twin Rivers, 1914-1917. (Reached Port Townsend on trackage rights over Port Townsend & Puget Sound Railway). Acquired by Milwaukee Road in 1918
Milwaukee Road incorporated the Milwaukee Terminal carfloat service to link its disconnected rail lines in Washington state, building piers at Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, and Port Townsend.
Chehalis Jct.-Dryad: Trackage rights over Northern Pacific (granted 1935), 16.83 miles (after Milwaukee Road abandoned 7.62 miles of its parallel route and sold another 10.93 miles to Chehalis Western Railroad)
Numbers below totaled 565.4 miles; add the rest (uncounted) and total is close to around 600 miles
MICHIGAN
Channing-Escanaba and Wells: Trackage rights over Escanaba & Lake Superior, 65.4 miles (in effect 1900 to 1937)
WISCONSIN
Stiles Jct.-Oconto: Trackage rights over Chicago & North Western (granted 1933), about 12 miles
ILLINOIS
Rockford-Davis Jct.: Trackage rights over Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (granted 1881), 12.9 miles
Davis Jct.-Steward Jct: Trackage rights over Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (granted 1903)
Franklin Park-Chicago Heights: Trackage rights on Indiana Harbor Belt (Franklin Park-North Harvey, granted 1921, 26 miles) and Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal (North Harvey-Chicago Heights, granted 1913, about 10-15 miles)
Seatonville-McNabb: Trackage rights on New York Central (granted 1904)
Bensenville-Techny: Trackage rights on Chicago & North Western (granted 1918, year line was built), 10.1 miles
East Moline-Rock Island: Trackage rights on Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (granted 1901), about 7 miles
Ayers-Ebner: Trackage rights on Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (granted 1934), about 8.5 miles
IOWA
Clinton-Davenport-Rock Island IL: Trackage rights over Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (and partly also Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and Davenport Rock Island & North Western) granted 1901; 46.32 miles
Davenport-Muscatine: Trackage rights over Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (granted 1903); 26.61 miles
Council Bluffs-Omaha-South Omaha: Trackage rights over Union Pacific (granted 1898); 8.60 miles
MISSOURI
Coburg-Kansas City, 4.79 miles: Trackage rights via Kansas City Terminal Railway, granted 1887, revised with new Union Station in 1909 (too small a distance to show on map)
MINNESOTA
St. Paul-Duluth and Superior: Trackage rights over Northern Pacific (granted 1900), 180.6 miles
Stillwater-South Stillwater: Trackage rights over Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (granted 1904, when MILW’s 1882 track was abandoned), 2.16 miles (too small a distance to show on map)
Mankato-Benning: Trackage rights granted over Chicago Great Western (1902), 3.13 miles, plus 1.1 miles of joint track with CGW in Mankato
Maple Island-Hollandale: Trackage rights granted over Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (1926), 2.37 miles (too small a distance to show on map)
(Milwaukee Road later leased a portion of track in Hollandale to Rock Island in 1928)
IDAHO
Purdue-Bovill: Trackage rights over Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway (granted 1913), 2.15 miles (too small a distance to show on map)
WASHINGTON
Manito-Spokane-Marengo: Trackage rights over Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. (granted 1914), 80.36 miles
Enumclaw-Selleck (Bentley Jct.): Trackage rights on Northern Pacific (granted 1933), 10.2 miles (allowing Milwaukee to abandon its 1910-built route)
Chehalis Jct.-Dryad: Trackage rights over Northern Pacific (granted 1935), 16.83 miles (after Milwaukee Road abandoned 7.62 miles of its parallel route and sold another 10.93 miles to Chehalis Western Railroad)
Chehalis Jct.-Longview: Trackage rights over Northern Pacific (granted 1931/1935), 42.41 miles
(Milwaukee Road first secured rights on NP in 1931 for the Chehalis-Olequa leg, 22.05 miles; for the Olequa-Longview leg Milwaukee bought a 25% ownership interest in the Longview, Portland & Northern Railway. Flooding damaged the LP&N tracks in 1933, and in 1935 Milwaukee got additional trackage rights on Northern Pacific for the Olequa-Longview leg, 20.36 miles.)
Aberdeen-Hoquiam: Trackage rights over Northern Pacific (granted 1911), 4.7 miles
Seattle-Black River Jct.-Maple Valley: Trackage rights over Pacific Coast Railway (granted 1906), 20.37 miles
Port Townsend-Discovery Jct.: Trackage rights over Port Townsend Southern Railway (granted 1915), 12.12 miles
Monroe-Everett: Trackage rights on Great Northern (granted 1940), 13.18 miles (after Milwaukee Road abandoned parallel 1911-built route)
MICHIGAN
Crystal Falls Junction-Crystal Falls, 1.5 miles: Abandoned December 1929
Ontonagon-White Pine, 17.4 miles: Sold to Bergland Lumber, December 1933
WISCONSIN
Mather-Goodyear-Zeda, 29.2 miles: abandoned August 1895
Pittsville Jct.-Arpin, 13.7 miles: abandoned January 1918
North La Crosse-Onalaska, 3.62 miles: abandoned December 1918
Boulder Junction-Papoose, 10.8 miles: taken up September 1919
Magenta (Eau Claire)-Central Junction (Chippewa Falls), 11.5 miles: abandoned October 1920
Lynn-Romadka, 5.3 miles: abandoned June 1923
Gratiot-Warren, Ill., 6.24 miles: abandoned July 1923
Tomah-Norway, 12.71 miles: abandoned July 1925
Wausaukee-Girard Junction, 17.7 miles: abandoned July 1925
Boulder Junction-Blue Bill, Mich., circa 13 miles: abandoned in stages between May 1926 and October 1929
Eagle-Troy Center, 4.97 miles: abandoned April 1930
Oconto Jct.-Oconto, 11.5 miles: abandoned September 1933
Velasco-Boulder Junction, 10.1 miles: taken up October 1931
Lyndsey-Lynn, 9.79 miles: abandoned December 1931
Troy Center-Elkhorn, 10.43 miles: abandoned October 1932
Dexterville-Lyndsey, 15.71 miles: abandoned October 1933
Norway-Babcock, 15.84 miles: abandoned December 1934
Doering-Kalinke, 14.9 miles: taken up May 1935
Grundy-Gleason-McInnes, 19.25 miles: acquired from Marinette, Tomahawk & Western, September 1903; taken up in stages, 1936-1942
Wauzeka-La Farge: discontinued August 1939
Otis-Gleason-Doering, 16.8 miles: taken up February 1943
Merrill-Newwood, 17.52 miles: 3.4 miles abandoned November 1926; remainder taken up April 1943
Woodruff-Star Lake, 16.8 miles: taken up April 1944
ILLINOIS
Chicago-Wilmette: Leased to Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee, 1919
Ayers-Ebner, 8.49 miles: abandoned April 1934
INDIANA
Glendora-Hart, 6.7 miles: taken up August 1942
Black Hawk-Hawton, 12.7 miles, taken up January 1944
IOWA
Emmetsburg-Estherville, 21 miles: abandoned 1889
Rock Valley-Hudson, 9.4 miles: abandoned December 1918
Long Grove-DeWitt, 9.0 miles: abandoned August 1931
Bellevue-Cascade, 35.7 miles: sold to Bellevue & Cascade, July 1933
Maquoketa-Hurtsville, 2 miles: taken up January 1934
Turkey River Jct.-West Union, 58.3 miles: abandoned January 1938
Eldridge Jct.-Long Grove, 3.2 miles: abandoned February 1938
Dixon-Oxford Jct., 22.7 miles: abandoned September 1940
Granger-Madrid, 5 miles: discontinued November 1943
MINNESOTA
Stillwater-South Stillwater: abandoned 1904, in favor of trackage rights over Omaha Road
Northfield-Cannon Falls, 13.9 miles: abandoned December 1918
Hopkins-Lake Minnetonka, 7.3 miles: taken up September 1932
Wabasha-Zumbro Falls, 35.4 miles: abandoned May-June 1934
Hastings-Farmington, 17.7 miles: all but 4 miles taken up June 1935
Cannon Falls-Cannon Jct., 17.8 miles: abandoned September 1937
SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTH DAKOTA
Glenham-Evarts, 11.7 miles: abandoned 1909
Harlem-Cogswell, N.Dak., 5.1 miles: abandoned November 1923
Cogswell-Brampton, N.Dak., 7.5 miles: abandoned July 1936
Springfield-Running Water, S.Dak., 6.6 miles: abandoned May 1930
Colton-Madison, S.Dak., 19.1 miles: all but 3 miles abandoned 1935, in favor of trackage rights over Great Northern to Wentworth
Tyndall-Scotland, S.Dak., 11.6 miles: abandoned November 1936
Scotland-Menno, S.Dak., 9.0 miles: abandoned May 1938
Renner-Colton, S.Dak., 14.1 miles: taken up October 1941
MONTANA
Emerson Jct.-Dracut Jct., 15.1 miles: abandoned 1937, in favor of joint ownership of Great Northern trackage
IDAHO
Coleman-Clagstone Jct., 6.2 miles: abandoned October 1920
WASHINGTON
Tanwax Jct.-Western Jct., 2.1 miles: abandoned March 1928
Deep Creek-Disque, 15.1 miles: abandoned in stages, 1929-1930
Selleck-Kanaskat and Bayne-Enumclaw, 10.2 miles: abandoned September 1933 in favor of trackage rights over Northern Pacific
Vader Jct.-Longview Jct.: jointly owned line by Milwaukee Road, Great Northern, and Oregon-Washington Railroad abandoned December 1933
East Creek Jct.-Ladd, 2.93 miles: Sold to Pacific Railway Supply Co., July 1934
Chehalis Junction-Dryad, 16.8 miles: sold 10.9 miles to Chehalis Western and abandoned 7.6 miles beyond to Dryad, 1935, in favor of trackage rights over Northern Pacific
Kapowsin-Electron, 2.0 miles: abandoned June 1937
Monroe-Lowell (near Everett), 13.2 miles: taken up September 1940, in favor of trackage rights over Great Northern
Goshen-Kulshan, 11.3 miles: taken up April 1943
Vernita-Hanford, 25.1 miles: abandoned July 1943
To check out “Map of the Month: Milwaukee Road Growth,” see our September 2010 issue of Trains!
