The Milwaukee Road

The Milwaukee Road had very early beginnings. Byron Kilbourn obtained a charter for the Milwaukee & Waukesha Railroad in 1847. With capitalization of $100,000 and the new charter, Kilbourn set out to build his railroad west from Milwaukee to Madison. Grading started in the fall of 1849 and by February 1, 1850, Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin became the western goal. Before even opening its first route, the railroad transformed, by virtue of a name change, to the Milwaukee & Mississippi. Then on November 20, 1850, with five miles of 6 foot wide track in place, the Milwaukee & Mississippi held its first "Director's Special".

Three months after its inaugural run, the Milwaukee & Mississippi with glorious fanfare, christened its first passenger run on February 25, 1851. The event was a great success, featuring fireworks, dinner, and a gala. By April, the M&M operated two daily passenger runs each way.

It took another six years before the M&M reached Prairie du Chein. By 1859, the railroad put into service a ferry known as the "Lady Franklin," designed to operate on water in the summer and on ice in the winter. The car shops were busy, boasting a fleet of 43 locomotives (mostly wood fired), 46 passenger coaches, and 411 boxcars. By the end of the decade, the line stretched along 238 miles of single track.

Under the leadership of Alexander Mitchell, the railroad entered an era of torrid expansion. By 1872, the line stretched to Chicago and by the end of 1874, it became the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (CM&St.P). Among many innovations was a new type of freight car designed by employee Gustavus Swift: the first refrigerator car, built to transport butter and eggs for the farming community.

Another first occurred that same year when Michael Spettel designed the first pontoon bridge, giving the CM&St.P numerous competitive advantages. By the end of 1876, the railroad was completely free of debt and had grown so large it stopped naming its locomotives due to their vast numbers.

The 1880s brought the legend of "Switch Annie," the 12-year-old daughter of a switch tender who saved a train from a catastrophic wreck when her father fell ill. Annie eventually spent 25 years working for the railroad. By the 1890s, Standard Oil directors including William Rockefeller and Henry Flagler took control. Competition was intense against giants like J.P. Morgan and James J. Hill.

With the dawn of the new century, the Milwaukee Road was looking westward. In our next installment, we will chronicle the aggressive expansion westward and many more innovations of America's Resourceful Railroad.