Madison station (Milwaukee Road)

For other uses, see Milwaukee Road Depot.

For other places of the same name, see Madison station.

The Milwaukee Road Depot in Madison, Wisconsin was a railroad depot built in 1903 and operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). It served numerous passenger trains, including the Sioux and Varsity, and was located next to a major yard, turntable, and roundhouse.^[2] The station was one of two Milwaukee Road stations in Madison, and was also known as West Madison station or West Madison Depot to avoid confusion with Franklin Street station on the east side of Madison. All Milwaukee Road passenger service in Madison was consolidated to this station with the closing of Franklin Street in 1952. The Milwaukee Road's service from Chicago to Minneapolis-St. Paul traveled through Milwaukee and central Wisconsin, bypassing Madison to the north. The railroad's competitor, the Chicago and North Western Railroad, offered direct service northwest to Minneapolis.

Madison
Former Milwaukee Road passenger rail station
Two passenger trains seen at the depot in May 1967.
General information
Location	640 West Washington Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
History
Opened	1903
Closed	1971
Former Services
Preceding station Milwaukee Road Following station Middleton towards Rapid City Rapid City – Madison Terminus Terminus Madison – Milwaukee via Watertown Franklin Street towards Milwaukee Madison – Milwaukee via Waukesha Lake Waubesa towards Milwaukee Madison – Rondout Lake Waubesa towards Rondout Madison – Portage Franklin Street towards Portage
Milwaukee Road Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	640 West Washington Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Coordinates	43°04′05″N 89°23′40″W / 43.06806°N 89.39444°W / 43.06806; -89.39444 (Milwaukee Road Depot (Madison, Wisconsin))
Area	1.7 acres (0.69 ha)
Built	1903 (1903)
Architect	Frost & Granger
NRHP reference No.	85000990^[1]
Added to NRHP	May 9, 1985

Passenger operations

In 1953 the station mainly served On Wisconsin and other trains east on a route to Watertown, Milwaukee and then to Chicago.^[3] Additionally, the timetables showed these named trains that took at direct path to Chicago, through Janesville:^[4]

• Sioux (a Chicago-Rapid City, SD night train)
• Varsity (a Chicago-Madison train; it left Madison in the morning and returned from Chicago in the evening)

Eclipse of service

Rail service in Madison was terminated in 1971 when the Milwaukee Road opted to end all of its passenger operations.^[5] Only the main line between Chicago and Minneapolis had intercity rail after 1971.

Current usage

The depot is now used as a shopping center; including a bicycle shop, a café, and a restaurant. MILW 35A, an EMD E8A locomotive, sits on static display outside of the depot along with several Milwaukee Road, New York Central Railroad, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority passenger cars.^[6] A single-tracked line operated by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad remains in front of the depot.

The depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.^[7]

 

The historic depot with "CMStP&P" written on the outside

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
2. "Historic Madison Depot". The Alexander Company. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
3. "Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific R.R., Table 17". Official Guide of the Railways. 86 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1953.
4. "Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific R.R., Tables 11, 16". Official Guide of the Railways. 86 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1953.
5. Neckar, Lance; Rankin, Katharine H. (February 1981). "West Madison Depot, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway". NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form. Madison: National Park Service. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
6. "Milwaukee Road Depot Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
7. "640 W. Washington Ave". Wisconsin Historical Society. January 2012. Retrieved 2018-06-06.