Madison is on track for some railroading adventure

The Mid-Continent Railway Museum, in North Freedom, has operating trains, educational exhibits, and displays of restored rolling stock. | Photo via Wikimedia Commons

All aboard. It’s been announced that five new rail routes in Wisconsin have been selected to receive $500,000 each in planning and developing rail expansion. This includes a corridor that would connect Milwaukee to Minneapolis through Madison.

While you wait, choo-choose your own train adventure:

East Troy Railroad Museum , 2002 Church St., East Troy
Visitors can take a 10-mile trip on the last remaining piece of the original interurban network which operated in Wisconsin.

Mid-Continent Railway Museum , E8948 Museum Rd., North Freedom
It is an outdoor, living museum and operating railroad recreating life during the Golden Age of railroading.

Whitewater Historical Society , 301 W. Whitewater St., Whitewater
The local history museum is located in the 1890-91 Whitewater Passenger Depot.

For something much closer, Olbrich Botanical Gardens currently has its Holiday Express Model Train and Flower Show. And, while shopping downtown, hop aboard the free holiday trolley .

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Jonathan Shipley

Jonathan is based in Madison, WI, having grown up in the Pacific Northwest with a stint in the deep South. He’s written for the Los Angeles Times, BBC Travel, and Discover Magazine. He also got poems published in a German trade magazine for welders (true thing). Around Madison, you’ll find him at a brewery, a ball game, birding, or at a bookstore.

Madison is on track for some railroading adventure

Madison is on track to have an Amtrak station. In the meantime, trains abound.