06-22-2013, 12:26 AM
To start off first, the Whiskey River Railway is a semi fictitious railroad. It is influenced by the miniature railroad my "uncle" has at his amusement park but I decided to model it as a full size railroad set in the 1940's. I have a short "history" of the line that I wrote up many years ago as a assignment for a business class.
In the year of 1880, southern Wisconsin was a rapidly growing area. The area was rich of farmland, lead and gravel mining, logging and other commodities. But despite booming population, rapidly growing volume of crops, vast amounts of lead mined and increasing size of cities, territorial transportation was almost literally still in the Dark Ages. Shipping or traveling was by lake or river routes, over mud roads not much better than forest trails, on a few plank roads or military roads—and all of these were generally unusable during parts of the year. So this is why one man developed a rail line to respond to the needs of these communities, and his name was Lee W. Merrick. Though not a true rail tycoon, Merrick cared about his community in that he built a wildlife reserve, two schools, a library and donated rail passes to school children who needed them to get to school. That's why in late 1880, Merrick started the Whiskey River Railway Company.
Probably the most interesting start of a railroad would be this one, in the fact that the railway became official on August 19, 1880 but didn't receive its first locomotive until that next March. Baldwin Locomotive Works made their first locomotive, a Consolidation-type locomotive #1. Some may ask why such a large locomotive as a railroad's first piece of motive power, but to move the heavy loads of dolomite and lead required such muscle. As more funds accumulated, more motive power came to the railroad. A trio of American-type locomotives were purchased in 1882, respectively numbered #2, #3, and #4. The acquisition of these new locomotives brought much needed supplies, passengers and revenue to the heart of Wisconsin as well as adding to the states' growth. Between 1870 and 1900 the population of Wisconsin doubled 1,054,670 to 2,069,042 inhabitants. It was also the greatest period of railroad building.
The line started in Merrick's namesake town of Merrick. From there in early 1881, track was laid north to a once thriving fishing town of Whiskey River. Track parallels this part of the river for some time until it arrives at Redruth. Redruth was the once all important stop on the railroad as it interchanged with the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul to points all over Wisconsin and Illinois. This first stretch was the entire line in 1884 until Merrick and his investors realized the potential of reaching the north woods. Many more communities were established along his line as it grew into the north but few other rail connections were made. In 1896, Merrick's line was near completion when the only other rail connection on the line was built with the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad in Three Corners, WI. This substantially boosted revenue on the line and helped Merrick achieve his goal of owning a successful railroad. By this time the bigger railroads have acquired all the bigger towns and cities, and Merrick took notice of this. So on August 27, 1897 the railroad laid track through and helped established its last town, Tubbs.
Basically every town that the line goes through will be a small switching layout within itself, as my layout is modular/sectional since my job requires me to move a lot. All in all I should have seven modules for the seven towns. I get a lot of my ideas from Carl Arendt's fabulous website: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.carendt.com/">http://www.carendt.com/</a><!-- m --> and plans from MR and RMC. I do have a WRRy Facebook fan page with some pics up and also a long story of progress on the Zealot website (you will need to be registered to view images): <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169005">http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169005</a><!-- m -->
History of the Whiskey River Railway Company
1880-1940
1880-1940
In the year of 1880, southern Wisconsin was a rapidly growing area. The area was rich of farmland, lead and gravel mining, logging and other commodities. But despite booming population, rapidly growing volume of crops, vast amounts of lead mined and increasing size of cities, territorial transportation was almost literally still in the Dark Ages. Shipping or traveling was by lake or river routes, over mud roads not much better than forest trails, on a few plank roads or military roads—and all of these were generally unusable during parts of the year. So this is why one man developed a rail line to respond to the needs of these communities, and his name was Lee W. Merrick. Though not a true rail tycoon, Merrick cared about his community in that he built a wildlife reserve, two schools, a library and donated rail passes to school children who needed them to get to school. That's why in late 1880, Merrick started the Whiskey River Railway Company.
Probably the most interesting start of a railroad would be this one, in the fact that the railway became official on August 19, 1880 but didn't receive its first locomotive until that next March. Baldwin Locomotive Works made their first locomotive, a Consolidation-type locomotive #1. Some may ask why such a large locomotive as a railroad's first piece of motive power, but to move the heavy loads of dolomite and lead required such muscle. As more funds accumulated, more motive power came to the railroad. A trio of American-type locomotives were purchased in 1882, respectively numbered #2, #3, and #4. The acquisition of these new locomotives brought much needed supplies, passengers and revenue to the heart of Wisconsin as well as adding to the states' growth. Between 1870 and 1900 the population of Wisconsin doubled 1,054,670 to 2,069,042 inhabitants. It was also the greatest period of railroad building.
The line started in Merrick's namesake town of Merrick. From there in early 1881, track was laid north to a once thriving fishing town of Whiskey River. Track parallels this part of the river for some time until it arrives at Redruth. Redruth was the once all important stop on the railroad as it interchanged with the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul to points all over Wisconsin and Illinois. This first stretch was the entire line in 1884 until Merrick and his investors realized the potential of reaching the north woods. Many more communities were established along his line as it grew into the north but few other rail connections were made. In 1896, Merrick's line was near completion when the only other rail connection on the line was built with the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad in Three Corners, WI. This substantially boosted revenue on the line and helped Merrick achieve his goal of owning a successful railroad. By this time the bigger railroads have acquired all the bigger towns and cities, and Merrick took notice of this. So on August 27, 1897 the railroad laid track through and helped established its last town, Tubbs.
Basically every town that the line goes through will be a small switching layout within itself, as my layout is modular/sectional since my job requires me to move a lot. All in all I should have seven modules for the seven towns. I get a lot of my ideas from Carl Arendt's fabulous website: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.carendt.com/">http://www.carendt.com/</a><!-- m --> and plans from MR and RMC. I do have a WRRy Facebook fan page with some pics up and also a long story of progress on the Zealot website (you will need to be registered to view images): <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169005">http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169005</a><!-- m -->
Tyler D.
General Manager
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