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Chicago St Paul Minneapolis and Omaha in Donald WI

  CStPM&O & CNW

Donald Wisconsin

As the Omaha Railroad Line ventured East from Arnold, it meet upon another little town called Donald. The Omaha at this point would have still been on the South side of M. Donald is at the location of the Omaha and Soo line interchange. This stretch of Soo line tracks ran from Owen to Ladysmith and beyond to Lake Superior. There is not much left of Donald, but had the Omaha remained, it could have grown very large. Generally interchanges created labor requirements due to produce transactions coming from Green Bay or Milwaukee Chicago area. In the early 1900's, a new depot was built in Ladysmith just a few miles North of Donald. When that happened, the old wood framed depot that originally serviced Ladysmith in the 1800's was moved to Donald. It no longer stands near the tracks as it once did. 

Below is Donald as it is today. and old building from the late 1800's, the Soo Line crossing, and an old General Store converted into a home.

Old Barn

General Store

Soo Line Crossing 
Old building resembling a barn on North side of County Trunk M. Omaha rails ran on the opposite (south) side of the road. House on South side of M. Judging by the windows in the front, can be recognized as a General Store at some time in the past. The rails would have ran 100+ yards behind the building . A view facing East of M as it crosses the Soo Line rails. Just a couple of hundred yards to the right of the road should have been where the Omaha rails crossed the Soo line.
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 I grew up on a farm about 3 miles east and north of Donald, went to the Donald Grade School (1941-49) and made lots of visits to Hannibal and Arnold for ball games.   When the Omaha tracks were removed, my family also obtained some of the old ties and used them for mostly corner post on our farm fences...there may still be a few of them standing. 

Just a couple comments about the Donald information.  First of all the Omaha track was located south of "M", it paralleled "M" all the way from the County Line (about mid-way between Arnold and Donald and was about 200 yards to the south) to Hannibal.  The old right-of-way can be recognized where it crosses just about any north south road heading south from "M". Note in the opening remarks under  Donald, one would be venturing "East", not "West" to get from Arnold to Donald. 

In regards to the 3 pictures: I can't place the "Old Barn" picture. I do not recall a "barn" within Donald at anytime (first recollections were about 1940).  Note in the caption, the Omaha is correctly mentioned as being on the South side of M.

Yes the "Old General Store" was indeed that.  I will bring this site to the attention of a classmate of mine (just revisited at our 50th high school reunion).  I believe her mother was the last operator of the Donald Store. The View Of M picture....this view is looking east toward Hannibal...The caption statement of where the Omaha rails would be is incorrect....once again it would be about 200 yards to the South (to the right in the picture). 

Courtesy of Ron Englebretson

 (Captions were corrected above. Thanks for the info Ron)

 If you have any information, stories, corrections, or pictures regarding this or any of the other towns along the Hannibal branch line, Please let me know, < E-mail > along with your permission to publish your personal memories in an attempt to keep the history available for future generations. Non-digital pictures and documentation will be returned upon request.

Thanks for looking

 Doug Stoll