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23-458: The line dates back to 1907, when it was a part of The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company line from East Troy to Milwaukee . The East Troy-Mukwonago segment was purchased by the Village of East Troy in 1939, when the remainder of the line to Hales Corners was abandoned. Under terms of the purchase, it was operated by TMER&L crews for ten years. In 1949, TMER&L declined to renew

46-492: A 250-horse-power Allis Corliss steam engine and a 150-kilowatt Walker generator and switchboard apparatus. The trolley line was divided into three sections, each fed separately. Alfred M. Jones , who was well known under the familiar name of "Long Jones," was the first president. The operation of the road was initially under the charge of C. L. Jones, formerly of the Milwaukee Street Railway. The railway

69-650: Is a standard gauge common carrier railroad that operates in interchange with Canadian National Railway (formerly a connection to Wisconsin Central Ltd. ). This gives the East Troy electric railroad the ability to pick up and deliver freight (including fertilizer for the Farmers Co-op, sand for the local Ready-Mix , and lumber and steel tubing) to the village of East Troy. However, the railroad has not been used to carry freight for at least ten years. Much of

92-632: The Milwaukee Interurban Lines or TMER&L , is a defunct railroad that operated in and around Milwaukee , Wisconsin . It was the largest electric railway and electric utility system in Wisconsin, and combined several of the earlier horsecar , steam dummy , and streetcar lines into one system. Its Milwaukee streetcar lines soon ran on most major streets and served most areas of the city. The interurban lines reached throughout southeastern Wisconsin. TMER&L also operated

115-564: The Burlington line to Lake Geneva . However, none of these plans came to fruition. Waukesha Beach Railway The Waukesha Beach Railway operated from 1895 until 1949 as an interurban railway from Waukesha to Pewaukee Lake in Wisconsin . The Waukesha Beach Railway was formed on August 27, 1894, with $ 75,000 in capital. The railway was built by C. E. Loss & Company of Chicago. The first summer resort season on

138-617: The Elegant Farmer store at Phantom Woods, and to Indianhead Park in Mukwonago. A collection of approximately 30 pieces of electric railway equipment is kept in storage barns in downtown East Troy and at Phantom Woods. The museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational corporation run by volunteers. The substation, located at 2002 Church Street in East Troy, is on the National Register of Historic Places . The railway itself

161-549: The Illinois Steel Company. An abundance of gravel ballast was obtained along the route, and the contractors have put in a very solid roadbed over which trains ran as smoothly as if on the best steam trunk lines. The time usually taken between one terminus and another was about 15 minutes. The schedule, including switching at terminals, was a round trip every 40 minutes. A trip has been made in 12 minutes. Usually there were no stops between terminals. The profile of

184-675: The Milwaukee Northern Railway and added their Milwaukee to Sheboygan interurban line to the system. During the Great Depression , services on streetcar and interurban lines were reduced, replaced with buses, abandoned, or sold. Abandonments ceased during World War II when gas and tires were rationed and defense workers needed transportation. After the war, riders returned to their automobiles and abandonments resumed. The last streetcar to run in Milwaukee and

207-659: The agreement for another ten years and the village hired its own crew and operated the railroad from 1950 until 1985. This is when the railroad became the Municipality of East Troy Wisconsin Railroad and adopted the reporting symbol METW. In 1985 the village approached the Wisconsin Trolley Museum and asked them to take over the operation of the railroad. They agreed to do so, and moved their collection of trolleys to East Troy. Museum operations began over

230-660: The cars made 40 miles an hour around them. At the crossing of the Fox River in Waukesha a plate girder bridge 50 feet long was erected. At the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad crossing interlocking home and distant semaphore signals were put in so that trains on neither road stop unless compelled to by the signals. Two trains were kept in operation. The rolling stock consisted initially of three motor cars and four trailers. All were open except one motor car which

253-478: The entire state operated on Wells Street on March 2, 1958. Electric locomotives continued operating at the power plants until the early 1970s. The last two remaining sections of interurban lines were to Hales Corners and Waukesha . They continued in operation until June 30, 1951 as part of the Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail Company's rapid transit service, as it had essentially lost

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276-729: The line as early as 1967 when The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society (TWERHS) relocated its collection of electric railway equipment from North Freedom, Wisconsin , to East Troy. TWERHS operated over the line using a trackage rights agreement with the village until 1984, when the trackage rights agreement ended and the Wisconsin Trolley Museum began to operate the line as the East Troy Electric Railroad. The Friends of East Troy Railroad Museum, Inc. purchased

299-454: The park. In 1897, a baseball diamond was added, where a Milwaukee team, managed by the legendary Connie Mack , played an exhibition game. The railway bought and fenced-off its entire right of way. The construction was much the same as that of a good, solid, steam road, except that the grades were heavier and some of the curves sharper than would be called good practice unless in a mountainous country. The rails were standard 60-pound T rolled by

322-478: The rail line from the village and also purchased the trolley collection of Paul Averdung between 1995 and 2000 in stages. The East Troy Railroad Museum operates a museum and just over 7 miles (11 km) of track offering rides on a weekly basis during the spring through fall season. The original substation building in East Troy, Wisconsin , is used as a ticket office and museum, and visitors can purchase rides to

345-403: The railway opened on June 15, 1895, while the railway was formally opened on June 25, 1895. Waukesha is situated 20 miles (32 km) west of Milwaukee and has become of national reputation on account of its mineral springs at the end of the 19th century, and developed to one of the best-known resorts of wealthy people from Chicago and Milwaukee. Aside from its spring water and the beauties of

368-612: The remainder of its postwar ridership following a collision in Greenfield, Wisconsin that killed 8 people and injured around 40, just the year before. The outer end of the East Troy branch (beyond Mukwonago ) continues to operate as the East Troy Electric Railroad , a 7-mile (11 km) long heritage railroad . There were plans to extend the Watertown line to Madison , the East Troy line to Delavan , and

391-426: The road was furnished out by William Powrie, the engineer. From Waukesha a climb was made of 140 feet in the first three miles and a descent of about 90 feet in the last three. The heaviest grade was 3.2 per cent. The deepest cut and the greatest fill were 7 feet (2.1 m) each. Outside of the city limits of Waukesha there were no curves of more than 6 degrees, and when not too heavily loaded or when running down grade

414-594: The streetcar lines in Appleton , Kenosha , and Racine , as well as its own switching operations at the Port Washington and Lakeside power plants. The first electric streetcar in Milwaukee operated on Wells Street on April 3, 1890. The Waukesha Beach Railway was formally opened on June 25, 1895. The first interurban ran between Milwaukee and Kenosha on June 1, 1897. Other lines soon reached Watertown , Burlington , and East Troy . In 1922, TMER&L acquired

437-581: The terminus at the North-western Railroad depot in Waukesha with the beach of the lake. The railway company carried out extensive improvements at the beach, which it owned, and it became a beautiful spot. The improvements included the Palm Gardens ballroom, a hotel, 3 roller coasters, a fun house and many other amusement rides. Well known entertainers such as Ted Mack , The Andrews Sisters and Heine & His Grenadiers were featured at

460-410: The town, Waukesha has had, originally, no attractions to make it popular as a resort. The new rail road, which was 6 miles (9.7 km) long, brought it within easy reach of Pewaukee Lake, a beautiful sheet of water about six miles long and a mile and a half wide. The railway was intended simply for summer pleasure travel to the lake and was planned to be shut down in winter. The railway line connected

483-515: The track is original and the railbed was refurbished during the mid-1990s. The line is completely electric, utilizing a 600 V direct current system. Power is supplied to trolleys and interurban railroad cars through overhead wires. The original 500 kW rotary converter motor-generator is no longer used and is on display at the museum. The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company ( reporting mark TMERL ), also referred to as

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506-455: Was bought by The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company in August 1897 for $ 62,500. By the late 1930s, financial problems and increased auto ownership led to the final abandonment of operations to the park on July 21, 1941. The interurban totally ceased operations on July 2, 1951. After World War II, Waukesha Beach became less of an attraction & the entire park closed in 1949. Today,

529-567: Was closed. They were all 37 feet (11 m) over all and the open cars had twelve seats. They were Pullman built mounted on Brill maximum traction trucks. The motor equipment consisted of two 50-horse-power Walker motors to each car. The Walker company has been devoting special attention to motors of this class for interurban service, and the results in this case were very satisfactory. The original two-motor cars were replaced with four-motor 100 type cars in 1903. Year-around service began to West Limits on 11 December 1899. The power plant contained

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