#96A approaches the West Washington Avenue
Grade Crossing in
Madison with an excursion train in September 1991.]]
The was a
Class III shortline
Railroad that operated in the southern portion of
Wisconsin and northern portion of
Illinois from 1985 until 1997.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, financial difficulties forced the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul And Pacific Railroad to abandon much of its trackage in southern Wisconsin, including lines from
Prairie Du Chien to
Madison , Madison to
Janesville , and Janesville to
Fox Lake, Illinois . At the same time, the
Illinois Central Gulf Railroad abandoned its line from Madison to
Freeport, Illinois . The Wisconsin Department of Transportation formed the Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission (WRRTC) in March of 1980 in the interest of preserving rail service on these lines. Two short line operators, Wisconsin Western Railroad (WIWR) and the affiliated Central Wisconsin Railroad (CWRC), were contracted to operate on the Prairie du Chien-Madison and Madison-Freeport lines.
These two operators filed for bankruptcy in December 1984, leaving WRRTC to find another operator. The Wisconsin and Calumet Railroad (WICT) was formed on
January 1 ,
1985 . WICT would eventually operate all of the above-mentioned rail lines, as well as lines from Janesville to
Waukesha , and Janesville to
Monroe . In
1989 , the first Wisconsin & Calumet trains ran from Janesville to Fox Lake on the route known during the MILW era as the "J-Line". Shortly thereafter, WICT reopened the line between Janesville and Madison; bringing rail service back to
Milton ,
Edgerton ,
Stoughton and
McFarland .
The Wisconsin & Calumet was purchased by the
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad in 1992, but it continued to operate as a subsidiary until it was officially merged into the WSOR in 1997.
in
Green County, Wisconsin , shortly before the rails were removed.]]
Most of the rail lines operated by the Wisconsin & Calumet remain in service today under the
Wisconsin And Southern Railroad , with the notable exception of the line from Madison to Freeport which was removed in 1999. The
Badger State Trail currently occupies the old road bed.
The Wisconsin & Calumet's motive power primarily consisted of early generation
GM-EMD Diesel-electric Locomotive s, including the
GP7 ,
GP9 , and
F7 . Many of these locomotives originally belonged to the
Milwaukee Road . WICT followed the (by then relatively unusual) practice of naming their locomotives. Several WICT locomotives were named after the counties the railroad served, such as ''Dane County'', ''Rock County'', ''Walworth County'', etc.
Several of Wisconsin & Calumet's F7 locomotives are on display at the
National Railroad Museum in
Green Bay, Wisconsin . Another F7, #96A, was later repainted and renumbered to
WSOR #71A and currently operates on the
Escanaba And Lake Superior Railroad in
Michigan as their #600. WICT
Caboose #529 (ex-
AT&SF ) can be found at the
Mid-Continent Railway Museum in
North Freedom .
