I moved to Montana more than 25 years after the last Milwaukee Road train traveled east on its famed Pacific Extension, and its rails (or at least most of them) were pulled up for good. But despite never witnessing the Olympian Hiawatha call on Missoula, or a pair of EF-1 boxcabs push a heavy train over Pipestone Pass, the mystique and spirit of The Milwaukee Road has never been far from my thoughts.
Perhaps it’s because people have always been attracted to stories of tragedy and failed empires. If you need proof, the R.M.S. Olympic made 257 successful round trips across the Atlantic, but no one ever made a movie about her. And despite the affection The Milwaukee Road enjoys among railfans and model railroaders, there’s no doubt that it’s a railroad marked by failure, particularly its “Lines West.”
Prior to the 20th century, Milwaukee Road was primarily a “granger” railroad serving the agricultural prairie region. Chartered in 1847, the Milwaukee & Waukesha (later renamed the Milwaukee & Mississippi) aimed to connect the port of Milwaukee with the Mississippi River. Construction began in 1850, and it reached the Mississippi River seven years later. Over the ensuing decades, the railroad expanded throughout the Midwest, linking Chicago, the Twin Cities, Omaha, and Kansas City. However, by the turn of the century, railroad management believed it needed to do more to break out of the shadow of its wide-reaching competitors, such as Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Union Pacific. After contemplating a route from Omaha west to California, Milwaukee Road management announced in November 1905 its plan to construct a 1,400-mile extension from Mobridge, S.D., to Tacoma, Wash. While the initial segment of the Milwaukee connecting its namesake to the Mississippi took seven years to build, the Pacific Extension was completed in less than four years. The final spike was driven into place on May 14, 1909, at Gold Creek, Mont.
However, the Pacific Extension cost $233 million to build (about $7.6 billion in today’s dollars). While the infrastructure itself was superior to that of its direct competitors (better curves, well-built bridges, easier grades), its route was less than ideal, bypassing key markets. For example, it had to rely on Union Pacific to access the city of Spokane, Wash.; Bozeman, Mont., was located on a branch line; and it completely missed Billings, Mont. It quickly became apparent that the Milwaukee would be unable to poach much traffic from GN, NP, or UP, and the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 didn’t help matters. As Richard Steinheimer wrote in his seminal book about the Pacific Extension, The Electric Way Across the Mountains, “In retrospect, the line should have never been built.”
In an effort to reduce operating costs, Milwaukee Road management made a bold bet: it would electrify significant portions of its western main line through Montana, Idaho, and Washington. In November 1915, Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul 10200, at that time the largest electric locomotive in the world, arrived in Montana. A total of 656 miles of track was electrified in two segments: 440 miles from Harlowtown, Mont., to Avery, Idaho, and 216 miles from Othello to Tacoma, Wash. Between the two electrified segments was a 210-mile “gap” through North Idaho and Eastern Washington that didn’t have wire over it because it was relatively flat and, therefore, was less of a priority.
While the railroad had planned to eventually electrify it — and even sought power suppliers — it never got the chance to. Part of that was because the traffic on the Pacific Extension could not justify the cost. The railroad would struggle financially for decades, declaring bankruptcy in 1925, 1935 and finally 1977. In an effort to save itself, it abandoned the Pacific Extension west of Miles City, Mont., in 1980. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The Milwaukee Road became a fallen flag on January 1, 1986, when it was taken over by Soo Line. Today, much of the Milwaukee in the Midwest survives, operated by short lines and Class 1s, and even some segments still remain in service out west. But for the most part, the Milwaukee Road in Montana, Idaho, and Washington is marked by an empty right-of-way and other remains that were never taken down.
The broken signals, trackless bridges, decaying substations, and abandoned freight cars from long-lost wrecks scattered across the West add to the mystique of the Milwaukee Road in this region. Evidence of a failed empire remaining a half-century later still fascinates railfans and model railroaders alike.
Long Live The Milwaukee Road.
—Justin Franz
