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Other Rail Transit Commissions in WisconsinPINK LADY RAIL TRANSIT COMMISSION: EAST WISCONSIN COUNTIES RAIL CONSORTIUM (no website, but their meeting minutes are here) HISTORIC SUMMARY OF PRTC & SCWRTC EVENTS The Pecatonica Rail Transit Commission (PRTC) was formed Green, Iowa, Lafayette, and Rock Counties to address the abandonment of the Janesville to Mineral Point line. This line was filed for abandonment in 1977 by the Milwaukee Road. The Commission was formed in 1978. The South Central Wisconsin Rail Transit Commission (SCWRTC) was formed by Dane and Green Counties to address the abandonment of the Illinois Central Golf line between Freeport, IL and Madison. This line was also filed for abandonment sometime in 1977 and the Commission was formed in 1978. The respective commissions and WisDOT acquired these two rail lines in 1980 and the Chicago, Madison and Northern Railroad (CM&N) began operating the lines separately. In late 1981 and early 1982 a connection between the two lines was built in Monroe. Also, some minor rehabilitation work was done on the Janesville to Mineral Point line to keep the line open and operating. In 1983 the CN&N filed for bankruptcy. They were replaced with the Central Wisconsin Railroad, which was owned by John Zerbel. In 1984 Mr. Zerbel died unexpectedly, and in December 1984 the Wisconsin Central filed for bankruptcy. The entire rail system was shut down until a new operator was found. In January 1985 the Chicago West Pullman Railroad assumed operations on the Janesville to Mineral Point and Madison to Freeport, IL rail lines. The Wisconsin & Calumet (WICT) was formed by the Chicago West Pullman to operate the Wisconsin system. The Middleton to Prairie du Chien line was not operated again until the summer of 1985, when the Wisconsin & Calumet resumed service. Between 1985 and 1987 the Janesville to Monroe line was rehabilitated. The Monroe to Mineral Point line was never really operated by the WICT, and was eventually removed. WisDOT turned its interest in the Monroe to Mineral Point rail corridor over to the PRTC, which entered into an agreement with the Tri-County Trail Commission to manage the corridor as a recreation trail. This corridor is under the Federal Rails to Trails Program and can be converted back to rail use when needed. The Madison to Freeport line initially carried coal to the University Power Plant in Madison. That traffic was eventually rerouted to other lines, which left the Madison to Freeport line with very little traffic. The SCWRTC and WisDOT entered into an agreement with WDNR to manage the corridor as the Badger Trail. Although this corridor is not under the Federal Rails to Trail Program, the agreement between the parties makes the corridor available for railroad purposes when needed. The portion of the corridor between the Wisconsin/Illinois states line and Freeport is totally owned by the SCWRTC. The SCWRTC has an agreement with the Illinois DNR, which manages the corridor as the Jane Addams Trail. This corridor is also available for future rail use. The PRTC, SCWRTC, and WRRTC are staffed by Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. www.swwrpc.org or www.swwrpc.org/transportation/freight Download a map of Southern Wisconsin Railroads here or the full size version (6MB) here. 2007 adopted SCWRTC Minutes: January 31, April 25, and August 9. This chronology was drawn from SWWRPC files. |
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