The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad, Serving Rural Wisconsin

The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad has been a vital transportation resource for the State of Wisconsin since it began operations in 1980 from former Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road branch lines. Today the W&S, now owned by the owned by the Watco Companies, operates over 700 miles of tracks which is jointly owned by Wisconsin and the counties in which the railroad serves. Over the last 20+ years of operations the Wisconsin & Southern has gained an excellent reputation and has worked hard at not only providing superb quality service to its customers but also upgrading its property in conjunction with the State of Wisconsin for better and more efficient operations. This reputation has not gone unnoticed and just within the past few years the railroad has won a number of awards for its services and business practices.

In any event, Wisconsin caught wind of the Milwaukee's attempt to abandon or sell many of their lines in the state and the legislature had the forward thinking of purchasing most of the routes to save them for future use. In 1980 the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad was chartered by the FSC Corporation to operate these lines, all of which are located in the southern areas of the state serving such towns as Oshkosh, Prairie Du Chien, Monroe, Kiel, and Reedsburg. Around the same time the state also gained the Illinois Central Gulf route to Madison.

It was not until the mid-1990s the then-shortline W&S saw further expansion when it began purchasing former Chicago & Northwestern lines from successor Union Pacific, notably lines that served Madison and Sheboygan. Additionally, between 1998 the railroad saw further expansion when the state purchased additional former Milwaukee Road lines serving Madison, Watertown, Saukville, and Kiel from then-owner Soo (now Canadian Pacific).

Today, the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad moves a wide range of freight including agricultural products (corn, grain, beans, etc.), lumber, ethanol, petroleum products, plastics, and various aggregates. However, perhaps most noteworthy (and important) to the company are its many interchange partners including Class Is Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National. Additionally, because they can reach Chicago they essentially have indirect connections to all seven Class I railroads.

The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad, in upholding its commitment to quality service and serving the communities it operates through recently announced intentions to grow even more by restoring yet more abandoned trackage in Wisconsin that has not seen trains for over fifty years! For more information about the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad please click here to visit their official website.

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