Mid-Continent Railway Museum
The restored 1894 Chicago & North Western Railway depot serves as the starting point for museum visitors.
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| Locale | North Freedom, Sauk County, Wisconsin |
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| Dates of operation | 1959–Present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 3.7 mi (6.0 km) |
| Website | www |
The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a railroad museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin, United States. The museum consists of static displays as well as a 7-mile round trip ride aboard preserved railroad cars.
Mid-Continent Railway Museum's collection emphasizes the preservation of railroad items operated in the upper Midwest from the period of 1880-1916, what the organization refers to as the "Golden Age of Railroading". During that time, railroads saw an unprecedented rate of expansion, growing in size in the United States from 93,000 to 254,037 miles of track.
Three steam locomotives are currently under restoration to federal guidelines. The museum has 13 steam and 7 diesel locomotives including Chicago & North Western # 1385 and over 100 other pieces of rolling stock. The museum has the largest collection of wooden passenger cars in the United States as well as six of only seven surviving wooden boxcars built by and the nation's last surviving , Wisconsin Fish Commission "Badger Car #2".
The depot is an original Chicago and North Western Railway depot from the small town of Ableman, now known as Rock Springs, Wisconsin. It was built in 1894 and moved to the museum to its current location in 1965. The depot consists of two seating areas separated by the ticket office. A gift shop now occupies the former freight room. The interior was extensively renovated following water damage during flooding in June 2008.
In addition to the depot, other railroad structures moved to the museum's location include a crossing shanty, crossing tower, section shed and water tower. Additional structures have been built new to house and maintain the collection but attempts were made to make the structures appear period appropriate.
The rail line used by Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a spur off the original Chicago & North Western Railway main line. With the development of the Illinois Iron mine in early 1903, the C&NW sent a team of engineers on July 8, 1903 to survey a route to the iron fields. By August 12, C&NW president Marvin Hughitt had arrived in North Freedom in person to announce that a branchline would be built. A second major mine, the Iroquois Mine (also called the Sauk Mine) was established in October not far from the new rail line. By December 1903, the 3-mile (4.83 km) branchline was completed at a cost of $40,533.
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