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With the onset of the second industrial revolution, electric street railways formed in many cities across America. Streetcars, also known as "trolleys," connected jobs and neighborhoods previously separated. Under the streetcars' influence, cities grew. The first electric streetcar line in Milwaukee opened in 1890. By 1920, Milwaukee's population had more than doubled due to the clean, fast, and frequent transportation. Many of the lines were also extended, operating between towns as "interurbans." At one point, there were nearly 400 miles of interurban trackage in Wisconsin alone!
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Photographer unknown, Sean Bowen collection
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In 1907, the majority of the electric railways in southeast Wisconsin were built, owned, and operated by The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company (TMER&L). That year, the company completed a brand new 36-mile interurban line to East Troy on December 13. Fast interurbans operated across the line every few hours and it took a little over an hour to traverse the line.
The interurban was a huge improvement over the bad roads of the time, and TMER&L began offering mail, express, and carload freight traffic over the line for cheap prices, influencing the opening of industry in the area, which included a Standard Oil Distribution Center, East Troy Lumber, a United Milk Products Plant, and Equity Co-op's feed and fuel plant. In 1911, TMER&L began providing electricity and other utilities along its route, modernizing many of the small country towns along the way. |
There's no use trying to pass a Ford, because there's always another one just ahead " 
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Also in 1907, Henry Ford introduced the mass-produced and highly successful Model T to the automobile market. Over time, cities and towns were connected with paved roads, disastrous for the interurban as most did not travel great distances.
By 1930, 60% of families owned a car, and cities had begun to be redesigned once again, this time with auto traffic prioritized. |
Saving an Interurban
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By the late 1930s, the lines to Watertown, East Troy, and Burlington were all experiencing financial difficulties. In October of 1938, TMER&L was broken up into two separate companies. The Wisconsin Electric Power Company operated the power plants and handled electrical distribution; The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Transport Company (TMER&T) operated transportation properties. In 1939, TMER&T filed to abandon the East Troy Line.
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TMER&T Meeting. Photographer unknown, Sean Bowen collection
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The Village of East Troy and a group of concerned citizens opposed the abandonment of their line because the freight service was so important to area businesses. After several hearings, TMER&T agreed to sell the line from Mukwonago to East Troy to the Village of East Troy for $10,000. The agreement included an interchange with the Soo Line Railroad at Mukwonago, which would allow freight traffic to continue. The Village of East Troy passed a referendum approving the purchase by a vote of 321 to 11. The line was operated by TMER&T through 1949 and the tracks between Mukwonago and Hales Corners were torn up.
An Isolated Line
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In 1950, the village hired several people to maintain and operate the 6-mile line when TMER&T, now completely out of the interurban business, declined to renew the operating agreement. At this point, the line became the Municipality of East Troy Wisconsin Railroad (METW), at the time the only municipality-operated electric railroad in the country. The TMER&T also gifted the village two rebuilt locomotives: box motor M15 (later rebuilt into a line car with a rolling office inside) and dump car D13. The railroad hauled 800-1000 freight cars per year and even had a small profit due to WWII. However, by the 1970s, the line was underused and falling apart.
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Photographer unknown, Sean Bowen collection
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Preserving History
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The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society (TWERHS) was allowed after negotiations to begin operating weekend trolley rides on the line using its own restored trolley equipment. In 1984, the Village of East Troy cancelled the Historical Society's operating lease and began looking for another organization to lease and operate the entire railroad. The village approached the Wisconsin Trolley Museum, which had a strong core of volunteers led by Paul Averdung restoring trolleys at the old Milwaukee Road depot in North Prairie, WI. The village asked if they would move to East Troy and take over the line.
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Opening Day 1972, Scott Patrick Colletion
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The Wisconsin Trolley Museum agreed, entering into a 25-year operating lease. In the spring of 1985, it moved its collection of seven trolleys to East Troy and took over operation of the railroad. A new trolley car barn was built in East Troy, and a new electrical substation was installed to provide power to the overhead trolley wire.
In 1993, the Friends of the East Troy Railroad began to negotiate with the Village of East Troy to purchase the property outright. The sale was completed on January 13, 1995. Since 1985, the East Troy Railroad Museum has operated and maintained the East Troy Electric Railroad (ETER) and since 1995 the non-profit corporation has owned the railroad as well. The line has not handled freight in several years; however, the interchange with the Canadian National Railroad (the successor to the Soo Line) at Mukwonago is still maintained. |
In recent years, the museum has seen a new maintenance facility constructed, more cars restored, and new volunteers, young and old, as it continues to present history exactly as it once was on TM's East Troy Line.