Timetable: W&M - Main Line - Peshtigo Harbor to Iron Mountain

The Wisconsin & Michigan was a single track line north from Wisconsin into the Upper Peninsula iron range near Iron Mountain. The line hauled forest products and ore.

Key: BB=Bascule Bridge | C=Coal | CS=Car Shop | D=Open > Day | DN=Open Day and night | DS=Dispatcher | DT=Double Main Track | EH=Enginehouse | F=Diesel Fuel | HI=Half Interlocked Crossing | I=Interlocked Crossing | J=Junction | LB=Liftbridge | N=Open at night | P=Passing Track w/40' car capacity | Q=Quarry | RH=Roundhouse # stalls | RT=Railroad Resort | S=Scales | SB=Swingbridge | T=Turntable | TC=Telegraph call | W=Water | X=Crossing | Y=Wye | Yard=Yard

Notes

The W&M ran tug-barge service to Chicago from Peshtigo Harbor from 1895 to 1910. At Peshtigo, they interchanged with the C&NW. At Bagley Junction, W&M has trackage rights 8.5 miles to Menominee over the MILW. They moved their shops to Menominee from Peshtigo, date unknown. They also had connections with the AA car ferry at Menominee.

The W&M crossed under the C&NW at O'Callaghan. They interchanged with the C&NW Ore Line at Loretto. The water tank at Quinnesec was at Fumee Creek, 1/4 mile east of town. The W&M freight house in Iron Mountain was at H Street. They used the MILW passenger station at Iron Mountain.

[REF] = Greg Bunce and other sources.

Photo info: A 1900 timetable.

Time Line

1900. May. A special train was run from Fisher (Koss) today to rescue forest fire victims. The cars were blistered by the intense heat. Traffic north and west of Fisher is suspended and telegraph wires are down. [DFP-1900-0502]

1902. Construction of this road from Faithorn Jct. to Quinnesec was completed this fall and open for business. [MCR-1903]

1903. Schedule Calls for Operation of Trains Commencing Aug. 16th. Trains on the new branch of the Wisconsin & Michigan road will commence running from Norway to Peshtigo harbor August 16th, the schedule having been arranged so that there will be two passenger trains each way daily. There will be a train leave Peshtigo each morning and evening for Menominee range points and two trains will come from there morning and evening. The passenger trains will be elegantly fitted up. The cars have been rebuilt at the shops in Peshtigo and new engines have been sent up from the Chicago Terminal road to be used in this service.

Besides the two passenger trains each day there will be one or more freights. The company has arranged for train crews and the new stations at several points north of Faithorn Junction will be opened August 15th. Ore service will begin as soon as the train service is installed. The company has contracted for the delivery of thousands of tons of ore from Menominee. The W&M road has rebuilt and fitted up several of the passenger coaches to be used in the new train service on the Norway branch after August 16th, when the new schedule will go into effect. Work on the new road bed is nearly completed so that the trains can be running by that time. [CUR-1903-0808]

1903. October. The first ore train over the new branch of the Wisconsin & Michigan road has hauled Thursday night from Norway and Quinnesec to Peshtigo. The train consisted of 30 carloads of iron ore and was hauled too Peshtigo and loaded onto one of the big car ferries and towed to South Chicago. The ore traffic over this road promises to be very heavy. The company is making a strong bid for this business and hereafter it is expected the ore trains will be run daily. [DD-1903-1003]

1909. Michigan Railroad Commission Inspection report. WISCONSIN & MICHIGAN RAILWAY. Inspection was made of this road August 18. This road extends from Iron Mountain to Koss, in Menominee county, with a branch line from Everett to Miscauno. Four and one-half miles of new road was built during the past year from Quinnesec to Iron Mountain, with access to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul passenger station at Iron Mountain. Track alignment is good and ties are in first class condition. Station grounds are well kept and stations are adequate. However, the bulletin boards in many places were not given proper attention by the agents. Equipment and cars in first class condition. Highway crossing signs and crossings are in good condition. Frogs and switches are blocked as required by law and fences are built wherever land is cleared. This company owns a gasoline coach which has a capacity of about twenty persons and with this car gives frequent service on some portions of its line. It contemplates the purchase of other cars of similar character which may in time handle the greater portion of their passenger traffic. [MCR-1909]

1932. Michigan railroads since 1932 have quit using the following tracks. Some continue to exist but are not in use: W&M from Bagley Junction WI to Aragon Mine. [DFP-1949-1009]

1938. January. The interstate commerce commission authorized the W&M to abandon is entire line. The road extends from Bagley Junction, WI to Iron Mountain MI, approximately 62 miles, with a branch from Aragon Junction to Norway, MI and about 5.5 miles and terminal facilities at Menominee, MI. The railroad was also given permission to abandon operation under trackage rights over the line of the Milwaukee Road between Bagley Junction and Menominee. The salvage value of the line, including land, was estimated at about $500,000. Investment in the road and equipment as of December 31, 1936 was shown at $1.4 million. The ICC said the time was in poor physical condition and the record "does not warrant a conclusion there will be a sufficient increase in traffic and revenues to require the rehabilitation of the line." [IDG-1938-0120]

1938. The line from Bagley Jct. to E. Norway is abandoned (with the portion from E. Norway to milepost 75.8 sold to the Milwaukee Road. [MRL]

1838. August 5. W&M Railway Quits. Another of the railroads that were built to tap the iron and timber resources of northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is pulling up its tracks. The Wisconsin and Michigan railroad ran its last train yesterday, permission having been granted by the ICC to abandon its operations of its 62 miles of tracks. Insufficient traffic is the reason for the railroad's folding up.

The original railroad line was between Peshtigo Harbor and Peshtigo, built in 1862 by the Peshtigo Lumber company. The eight-mile line was taken over by the W&M railway company in 1895 and was extended from Peshtigo to Faithorn Junction in 1894. In 1903, the line was extended to Quinnesec and in 1908 from Quinnesec to Iron Mountain. John Marsch, Chicago capitalist, is the sole owner of the railroad, having acquired it 25 years ago. He at one time had extensive lumbering and mining interests in the upper peninsula.

Abandonment of the W&M is a blow to the city of Menominee, where the company had its headquarters. The railroad employed 52 persons, 26 of whom lived in Menominee and Marinette and the rest living along the line in various stations. Local business was negligible on the W&M lines due to the decline of lumbering and the diversion of iron ore shipments to other railroad. The railroad for many years was virtually only a connecting link between the Ann Arbor car ferry at Menominee and the Soo Line railroad at Faithorn for transcontinental freight shipments. [EDP-1938-0805]