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milwaukee northern
Milwaukee Northern
    The Milwaukee Northern Railway (MN Rwy) was Milwaukee's third interurban company, independent of the CNS&M
and TMER&L.  The headquarters was in Cedarburg.  The Milwaukee station was on 5th Street between Wells and Kilbourn.
    In addition to the interurban, they also operated a streetcar line on their tracks through Milwaukee's north side, with a
branch to Lindwurm Park.  The streetcar carbarn was at 10th and Atkinson.  Their city streetcar exchanged transfers with the
CNS&M but not with TMER&L.
    In 1922 the MN Rwy was acquired by TMER&L and integrated into the TM system.
BRIEF HISTORY
Oct. 28, 1907 - Milwaukee Northern Railway (MN Rwy) begins interurban
service between Milwaukee and Cedarburg.
Nov. 2, 1907  - Service extended to Port Washington.
Nov. 19, 1907 - MN Rwy begins local streetcar service on its line in Milwaukee.
Sept. 12, 1908 - Service reaches Cedar Grove.
Sept. 22, 1908 - Service reaches terminal in  Sheboygan entering city on tracks
of Sheboygan Light, Power & Railway.
1912 - Line double-tracked from Milwaukee to Brown Deer.
1922 - Acquired by TMER&L and operated as a subsidiary.
Apr. 30, 1923 - Milwaukee MN station closes, and cars now use Public
Service Building.  Deluxe parlor car service begins.
1925 - Cars share new Sheboygan terminal with Wisconsin Power & Light.
April 30, 1928 - Officially merged into TMER&L system.
Dec. 6, 1931 - New route through Port Washington uses part of former
C&NW spur,and passes through Wisconsin Chair Factory building.
July 16, 1933 - Route in Milwaukee changed from 6th Street to 3rd Street.  
End of freight service.
Oct. 31, 1938 - TMER&L becomes Wisconsin Electric Power Co. (WEPCO).  
Transit operations are taken over by a new subsidiary, The Milwaukee Electric
Railway & Transport Co. (TMER&T).
Sept. 23, 1940 - Line abandoned between Sheboygan and Port Washington.  
Cars turn on new loop at Port Washington.
Mar. 3, 1941 - New Port Washington station in service.
Sept. 27, 1945 - Line between Milwaukee and Port Washington sold to
Kenosha Motor Coach Lines (KMCL).
1947 - KMCL sold to Shore Line Transit Corp.
Mar. 28, 1948 - Line abandoned between Milwaukee and Port Washington.  A
section of track in Port Washington remained in electric freight service to bring
supplies from an interchange with C&NW to the power plant.  This operation
lasted until the mid-1970's.
As built, Milwaukee Northern Rwy car No.1 was a fine example of a classic wood interurban.  After TMER&L acquired  the
line, they rebuilt the cars as shown above.  These cars were then used on other lines, and the standard TM interurbans were
used on the Northern Line.
A Milwaukee bound TMER&L interurban pauses
at the Cedarburg station.  This building has been
acquired and restored by the Ozaukee County
Historical Society as their headquarters.
A similar station in Cedar Grove is a private
residence.
Note the smaller building in the left front corner,
used for loading inbound milk and freight.
One of the memorable aspects of a trip on the Milwaukee Northern
had to be a ride across this viaduct in Grafton.
A northbound TMER&L interurban passes the Grafton Station.
This storefront building also housed a soda fountain and sundries.
The destination sign reads "Inspection Trip" while the car was
operating on a fan trip.
Until a 2004 street rebuilding, the outline of the single track  
buried in the pavement of 11th Street was clearly visible.


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