Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
I never knew about the North Shore's coal traffic, and forgot about the Lakeside power plant. The Lakeside operation would make a really interesting model railroad. The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co. operated the Lakeside line as part of its extensive interurban system. It interchanged at various points with Milwaukee Road, C&NW and Soo Line, and the St. Francis interchange with the North Western was the closest to the Lakeside plant. One of the freight motors used on this line, the L-9, is still in operation at the East Troy Trolley Museum. The Lakeside plant was the first electrical generating plant in the world to be fueled entirely by pulverized coal. Coal was unloaded from rail cars near the pulverizer building, and was transfered to the boiler house by enclosed overhead conveyors. The conveyors fed large storage bins over the boilers. The Railway & Light Co. built the power plant around 1921, and owned it until the electrical utility portion of the company was sold to Wisconsin Electric Co. in 1938. The old Oneida Street power plant (now part of the theatre complex) was the location of the first experiments, by TMER&L engineers, with pulverised coal. Coal deliveries apparently were made by truck, and before that, by horse-drawn wagon. The Commerce Street power plant on the west side of the Milwaukee River (now an office building) was served by boat or scow and not by rail (as far as I can tell) even though the plant was located immediately next to Milwaukee Road's Chestnut Street line (the "Beer Line").
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag

Update Reply

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Model Railroader Newsletter See all

Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!

Subscriber & Member Login

Edit post

Post Body

Tags (Optional)

Subscriber & Member Login

Users Online

Search the Community