Mid-Continent Railway Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mid-Continent Railway Museum
The restored 1894 Chicago and North Western depot serves as the starting point for museum visitors
Locale	E8948 Museum Road, North Freedom, Sauk County, Wisconsin
Coordinates	Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 614: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Route map of the Mid-Continent Railway Museum
Connections	Wisconsin and Southern Railroad
Commercial operations
Built by	Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
Original gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Reporting mark	MCRY
Stations	1
Length	3.7 miles (6.0 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened	1959
Closed	2008–2009
Preservation history
1959	Railroad Historical Society of Milwaukee formed and first steam locomotive acquired
1962	Train rides first operated on the Hillsboro and Northeastern Railway and North Freedom branchline purchased
1963	Equipment moved to new location and trains first operated
1965	Depot moved from previous location
Headquarters	North Freedom, Wisconsin

The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a cool place in North Freedom, Wisconsin, United States, where you can learn all about trains! It's a railroad museum with old trains you can see up close. You can also take a fun, 7-mile (11 km) round trip ride on special old railroad cars.

Museum History

The train tracks used by the Mid-Continent Railway Museum have an interesting past. They were once part of the Chicago and North Western Railway. In 1903, this line was built to reach new iron mines nearby.

Mining Town History

A new town called La Rue was created to support the miners. It was named after William G. La Rue, who helped make iron mining possible there. At its busiest, La Rue had a hotel, a church, stores, and even two saloons. Hundreds of miners lived nearby.

The iron mines faced a big problem: water. Water kept flooding the mine shafts, making it very expensive to pump out. The Illinois Mine closed in 1908, and the Iroquois Mine closed in 1914. After the mines shut down, the town of La Rue quickly disappeared. By 1925, only one building was left.

Later, around 1917, a quarry for quartzite rock opened south of La Rue. The train tracks were extended to serve this quarry. The quarry operated until 1962, and then the train line was almost closed forever.

How the Museum Started

In 1959, a group of train fans from Milwaukee formed the Railway Historical Society. They bought their first steam locomotive, a Consumers Company No. 701. They needed a home for their growing collection.

In 1962, they started offering train rides on another line, calling themselves the Mid-Continent Railway Museum. When they found out the North Freedom tracks were available, they quickly bought them. By 1963, their trains and equipment were moved to North Freedom. That summer, they offered steam train rides for the first time! The museum has been giving rides every year since, building a small rail yard for their collection. In 2023, the museum celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Flooding and Reopening

In June 2008, the museum area was flooded by the Baraboo River. The museum had to close for repairs until February 2009. A bridge was damaged, which stopped trains from moving to and from the museum using the main national rail lines. Repairs to this bridge were finished in July 2018.

Train Rides and Operations

The museum runs a heritage railroad where you can take a passenger train ride. The round trip is about 7-mile (11 km) long. Trains leave from North Freedom, pass through the old mining area of La Rue, and turn around at a rock quarry.

The ride takes about one hour. Trains run daily from early June through Labor Day. They also run on most weekends in May, September, and October. The trains go at a top speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). During the ride, a uniformed conductor will punch your ticket and share cool railroad history facts.

Special Events

The museum also has special event trains throughout the year. These include:

• Autumn Color weekends in the fall.
• Pumpkin Special runs near Halloween.
• Santa Express Weekends in November.
• The Snow Train in February.

For these special events, you might find extra options like first class trains, dinner trains, or brunch trains. These offer food and drinks onboard and use more luxurious cars.

For most of the museum's history, steam locomotives pulled nearly all the trains. However, since February 2000, diesel-electric locomotives have been used while the steam engines are being fixed up.

Train Collection

The Mid-Continent Railway Museum focuses on saving railroad items from the upper Midwest. They especially look for items from 1880 to 1916, which they call the "Golden Age of Railroading." During this time, railroads grew super fast across the United States.

The museum has a huge collection! It includes nine steam locomotives, eight diesel locomotives, and over 100 other train cars. They have the biggest collection of wooden passenger cars in the United States. They also have five of only six wooden boxcars ever built by the Mather Stock Car Company. Plus, they have the nation's last surviving fish car, called "Badger Car No. 2."

The museum's main building is an original Chicago and North Western Railway depot from 1894. It was moved to the museum in 1965. Inside, you'll find seating areas, the ticket office, and a gift shop.

Other old railroad buildings moved to the museum include a crossing shanty, a crossing tower, and a water tower. New buildings have also been built to store and fix the trains, designed to look like they belong to the old railroad era.

Locomotives You Can See

Locomotive	Image	Manufacturer	Model	Built	Status	Acquired	Previous Owner
Chicago and North Western 1385	Chicago and North Western 1385	American Locomotive Company	R-1 4-6-0 steam locomotive	March 1907	Being restored to run	1961	Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
Consumers Company 701	Consumers Company 701	American Locomotive Company	0-4-0 steam locomotive	1914	Waiting for a new look	1959	Consumers Company
Copper Range 29	Copper Range 29	American Locomotive Company	C2 2-8-0 steam locomotive	February 1907	On display	2003	Trans-Northern
Dardanelle and Russellville 9	Dardanelle and Russellville 9	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-6-0 steam locomotive	1884	Being restored for display	1963	Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad
Goodman Lumber Company 9	Goodman Lumber Company 9	Lima Locomotive Works	Class B Shay steam locomotive	1909	On display	1988	Historyland Museum
Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western 49	Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western 49	American Locomotive Company	2-8-0 steam locomotive	March 1929	On display	1981	City of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Lake Superior and Ishpeming 22	Lake Superior and Ishpeming 22	American Locomotive Company	SC-4 2-8-0 steam locomotive	January 1910	On display	1985	Marquette and Huron Mountain Railroad
Soo Line 2645	Soo Line 2645	Brooks Locomotive Works	E-25 4-6-0 steam locomotive	November 1900	On display	1988	City of Waukesha, Wisconsin
Western Coal and Coke 1		Montreal Locomotive Works	4-6-0 steam locomotive	September 1913	Waiting to be restored to run	1965	Lethbridge Collieries Limited
Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri 10		Electro-Motive Diesel	NW2 diesel locomotive	1949	Running	2018	Domtar
John Morrell and Company 7	John Morrell and Company 7	American Locomotive Company	S-1 diesel locomotive	1944	Running	1996	Association of American Railroads
Milwaukee Road 988	Milwaukee Road 988	American Locomotive Company	RSC-2 diesel locomotive	1947	On display	1985	Trans-Northern Incorporated
Montana Western 31	Montana Western 31	Electro-Motive Corporation	Gas-electric car	October 1925	Waiting to be restored to run	1965	Montana Western Railway
United States Army 4	United States Army 4	General Electric	45-ton switcher diesel locomotive	1943	Running	1972	Pullman Company
United States Army 1256	United States Army 1256	Baldwin Locomotive Works	RS-4-TC diesel locomotive	1954	Running	2006	United States Army
Wisconsin Power and Light 3		Plymouth Locomotive Works	30-ton switcher diesel locomotive	1952	Running	1987	Wisconsin Power and Light Company
Wisconsin Sand and Gravel 2	Wisconsin Sand and Gravel 2	Plymouth Locomotive Works	HL-18 diesel locomotive	1928	Running	1963	Wisconsin Sand and Gravel Company

Images for kids

• 

  Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie 80944, an ore car built in 1916

• 

  Great Northern 3621, a passenger car built by Barney and Smith Car Company

• 

  Chicago and North Western 7409, a coach-baggage combine car

• 

  Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range C-74, a caboose built in 1924

More to Explore

• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• List of railway museums