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Mid-Continent Railway Museum
NORTH FREEDOM, WI
4.7· 1,002 Google reviews
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About Mid-Continent Railway Museum
Mid‑Continent Railway Museum runs a heritage railroad from North Freedom, Wisconsin, offering a 7‑mile (11 km) round‑trip excursion through the former mining community of La Rue and out to a historic rock quarry. Trains travel at up to 15 mph, covering the line in roughly one hour, with a brief locomotive turn‑around at the far end.
📍 NORTH FREEDOM, WI 53593
History
The Chicago and North Western Railway built a 3‑mile branch line to serve the Illinois Mine after engineers surveyed the route on July 8 1903 and President Marvin Hughitt announced the line on August 12 1903; the spur was completed in December 1903 at a cost of $40,533. Mining activity declined, the Illinois Mine closed in 1908 and the neighboring Iroquois Mine ceased operations in 1914, after which the line served a Harbison‑Walker quarry from 1917 until the quarry shut down in 1962. In 1959 a group of Milwaukee rail enthusiasts formed the Railway Historical Society of Milwaukee, secured an agreement with the Hillsboro and Northeastern Railway to run diesel trains in 1962, purchased the North Freedom branch that same year, and moved their collection to the site in 1963, completing repairs to steam locomotive No. 1385 and offering the first passenger rides that summer. Floodwaters from the Baraboo River inundated the museum in June 2008, forcing a closure until February 2009; bridge repairs finished in July 2018 restored full rail‑network access. On May 27 2023 the museum celebrated the 60th anniversary of the inaugural passenger train on its 7‑mile route.
The Trains
The museum runs a 7‑mile (11 km) standard‑gauge round‑trip excursion that departs from North Freedom, traverses the former mining community of La Rue, reaches a former rock quarry, and returns along the same line. Its collection includes the Chicago and North Western steam locomotive No. 1385 and the Western Coal and Coke steam locomotive No. 1, both under restoration, eight diesel locomotives, nine steam locomotives in total, and more than 100 pieces of rolling stock such as the nation’s largest assortment of wooden passenger cars, five of the six surviving wooden Mather boxcars, and the Wisconsin Fish Commission “Badger Car No. 2” fish car.
Nearby
From North Freedom, Wisconsin, the Mid-Continent Railway Museum is close to the Circus World Museum about 7 mi off and the Riverside & Great Northern Railway roughly 13 mi away.
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