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I think we're talking about two different lines. The line you're talking about ran from Chicago through Janesville, Madison, Baraboo, and North Freedom through to Elroy, where the Omaha Road (CNW subsidiary) took over. This was the North Western's former main line through from Chicago to the Twin Cities. If you're interested, the CNW Historical Society's Northwestern Lines magazine had some articles about 5 or 6 years ago about this line. The Ridgerunner (called that because it ran along the Military Ridge through southwestern Wisconsin in the driftless area) is the remnant of a former narrow gauge line started in the 1870's. The owners built a narrow gauge line out of Galena to tap the lead mining and agriculure around Grant and Iowa counties. CNW bought it in 1880, standard gauged it, and used it to serve the farm towns in the area. BTW, if anyone's interested, there's an old coaling tower sitting in the middle of a cornfield near Montfort that used to serve this line.
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