CHAPTER 19
THE MANITOWOC - NEENAH BRANCH
and
SEAGOING FREIGHT TRAINS
In 1895 the Manitowoc Terminal Company, a subsidiary of the Central,
purchased all the available land around the river on the flats west of
the present City of Manitowoc, Wis. At the same time the Central and the
Flint & Pere Marquette R.R. were making exhaustive studies of grain
movements from the west to the eastern markets and of West Virginia coal
tonnage to the west -- what evolved was the first practical plan for ferrying
freight trains across Lake Michigan; 60 miles of deep rough water, an innovation
in box car transportation.
It was then disclosed that the Central proposed to build a branch line
from Hilbert Junction, making Manitowoc the terminal and distributing point
for heavy freight traffic.
The plan for a railroad connecting Neenell-Menasha and Manitowoc had
been agitated periodically since 1850, beginning with George Reed.
The Flint & Pere Marquette owned and operated a fleet of steamers,
but new steamers were designed for the Manitowoc-Ludinston route. The heads
of the two railroads pioneered the car ferry scheme and were first to establish
the method of transportation that became standard with all car ferry lines
following the Pere Marquette successful operation.
The Manitowoc branch began under the name of the Manitowoc & Western
R.R. Co., incorporated May 25, 1895, chartered to build a line of railroad
from Hilbert Junction to Manitowoc, a distance of 27 miles. Construction
began in April 1895. It was completed in April 1896.
The prehistoric bank of Lake Michigan, immediately west of Manitowoc,
rises abruptly for several hundred feet, so a huge cut necessitated the
removal of vast quantities of earth to obtain a workable grade down to
the lake level. Other earth work of major proportions in the vicinity slowed
progress and it was not until May 1, 1896 that the job was finished. A
new jack knife drawbridge solved the problem at the Manitowoc River and
completed the Central connection to Menasha and the main line.
On June 24, 1895, the first passenger train from Menasha entered Manitowoc,
in charge of Conductor Bernie Scott and Engineer Nolan. By a strange coincidence,
the first Central engine to enter Manitowoc was a little Manchester, No
42, 4-4-0, with 60 inch drivers, that was scrapped in 1909. It was the
same engine that handled the first train into Chicago in 1886. Early in 1895 the Central obtained trackage rights over the C.M.&St.P.
between Menasha and Hilbert Junction, 14.3 miles. This agreement provided
timely aid and convenience in construction of the Manitowoc Line, and thereafter
assured uninterrupted access to its own rails at Hilbert Junction. On
July 1, 1899, the Central purchased ???????
interest in the line between Hilbert Junction and Menasha,
a joint ownership which exists today with train operation under C.M.&
St.P. rules.
While the Central steam-shoveled the Manitowoc Branch Line into tangible
form, President Crapo of the F.& P. M. built the famous car ferry,
the “Pere Marquette”. The stout old ship made her maiden voyage February
17, 1897, and her successful performance fully confirmed the utility and
value of the Abbot-Crapo plan.
As an ice-breaker and pioneer long-distance carrier of freight trains,
the Pere Marquette became a unique institution on Lake Michigan, and her
early cargo lists tell of thousands of cars put on board by the Central
at Manitowoc for delivery to Flint & Pere Marquette rails at Ludington.
Later the car ferry distribution of Central cars widened to include
connections with the Big Four Railroad at Benton Harbor and the Ann Arbor
Railroad at Frankfort, Michigan.
For many years following 1897, the Central handled solid trains of flour
and western wheat from Minneapolis to Manitowoc via Menasha on airtight
time schedules, and all except first class passenger trains "went in the
hole" to clear the track. for the "high-ball flour runs".
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