C&NW in southwest wisconsin

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know when the cnw abandoned their 'ridgerunner' line in southwest wisconsin? Also, is their any books or magazine articles on it? Thanks.

Tom

[Anonymous]

I am not familiar with the Ridgerunner line. Where did it run? I might be able to answer your question if you can provide this info.
Todd

[Soo2610]

AM not familiar with this line. My guess is that if it was in existence when the UP took over the Up either abandoned it or The WC did when they Purchased a good Chunk of the former C&NW lines in Wisconsin from the UP.

[Anonymous]

Cnw was abandoning lines in WI long before the takeover also. Many of their trains running west through WI were running on competitors tracks by the time Reagan became President.

[Soo2610]

Ditto for Illinois too. Don't know why, but I was thinking of Southeast Wisconsin instead of Southwest Wisconsin. Guess my glasses were a little dirty.

[Anonymous]

The line in question ran from Madison west through Dodgeville ending in Fennimore, Wisconsin, with another branch running south towards the Wisc. Illinois border. I think it was abandoned in the early 80's but that's the only thing I know about the line. Thanks,

Tom

[Anonymous]

I think I have a partial answer to your question:
A local group here in La Crosse WI published a book a while back covering the local railroad scene since the beginning thru the present day. I have a copy. Here is a brief synapsis: The last C&NW passenger trains to run this line were the Rochester 400 and the Twin Cities 400 on July 23, 1963. Also, after 1975, most C&NW freights used Milwaukee Road (now CP/Soo line) tracks thru western WI and MN. Parts of the route were abandoned in 1964, 1977, and 1980. Much of this route has now become part of the 400 trail. Here is the address if you are interested in purchasing this book. The book is called:
Grand Crossings: Railroading and People in La Crosse, Wisconsin. You can write to: The 4000 Foundation, P.O. Box 3411, La Crosse, WI 54602.
I hope this helps.
Todd

[Anonymous]

I think I have an answer to your question. The "Ridgerunner line" ran from Madison, WI to Fennimore, WI with branches to Lancaster, WI and Galena, IL. Many shorter branches were taken up in the thirties and forties, but the main part of the line from Fennimore to Mount Horeb was torn up in 1980. The rest of the branch was torn up from just outside of Madison to Mount Horeb a few
years later. The line from the end of the tracks in Madison to Dodgeville is now a State Bike trail. Trains Magazine had an article about this line in their June 1971 issue (hard to find, but not impossible.) There is also a great book called "The Dinky," which talks about CNW's narrow gauge line that ran from Fennimore, WI up to Woodman from the 1870's to 1926. Great book, with lots of pictures. I grew up in Dodgeville, and this is probably my favorite branch line, bar none. Sorry this message is a little wordy, and I hope it helps.

[Anonymous]

Scott: Is this the same line I referred to or are we talking about two different lines?
Todd

[Anonymous]

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.

[Soo2610]

Scott, Thanks for the history lesson. I didn't know a thing about this line. Especially about the narrow gauge part of it. Have been to Galena a number of times and never saw a trace of it. Have explored the Central Pacific tracks for several miles around Galena but never knew the Northwestern went out there.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Scott and everyone else for the information! It basically answered my question. I've been to Dodgeville several times and always wondered when therail line was ton out. Thanks.

Tom

[Anonymous]

I am not real familiar with the C&NW narrow gauge, but the "Mid Continent Rail Museum" at North freedom, WI has (or had) at least one old C&NW narrow gauge car in it's collection, and I believe some photos on display inside the station. Ron H.