Local officials joined residents and officials of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad on one of the company’s trains Wednesday to take a tour of the rail line between Milton and Stoughton so they could understand the condition of the line and the company’s plans to repair it.
The train and theater car pass by the Pleasant View subdivision in Fulton Township, the site of two derailings in 2007 during a tour of the railroad between Milton and Stoughton.
MILTON — The smooth, quiet ride wouldn’t last long, Bill Gardner warned.
The president of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad told his passengers he was taking them backward from Milton toward Janesville to experience the modern rail installed a few years ago before showing them the worn-out rail between Milton and Madison.
“I want to show you good rail, what the rail is supposed to feel like,” he said. “Then you can compare it to the rail we’re going to go on, which I call ‘crap rail.’”
Town, county and city officials joined residents and railroad officials for the trip Wednesday between Milton and Stoughton to see the condition of the rail and learn about Wisconsin & Southern’s plans to rehabilitate it.
A few miles south of Milton, the train switched directions. About 25 minutes into the trip, the train slowed its speed by half as it hit the 80-year-old jointed rail. Passengers felt the jolt each time the train hit a new piece of rail, their heads swaying as the train rocked along the track.
“We are now officially on the jointed rail, and it’s noisy,” Gardner said.
The track between Janesville and Milton is 115-pound continuous rail, while the 30 miles of track between Milton and Madison is 90-pound jointed rail.
The size of rail is measured in pounds per yard. A yard of 115-pound rail, for example, weighs 115 pounds.
Wisconsin & Southern hopes to replace the old, lighter rail over the next two years. It had planned to enact phase one—replacing rail ties and upgrading crossings—this year, but it only received $3 million of the $5 million it requested from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The state owns the land under the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad lines and pays 80 percent of rail improvements. Wisconsin & Southern splits the remaining 20 percent with local governments.
With the reduced funding, the Wisconsin & Southern plans to replace 30,000 rail ties by the end of the year.
Gardner hopes the DOT will provide 80 percent of the cost—about $11 million—to complete the project next year by upgrading crossings and bridges and laying 30 miles of new rail between Milton and Madison.
The state will start creating its next two-year budget later this year. It takes effect July 1, 2009.
Gardner urged local officials to contact state legislators and pass resolutions supporting the Wisconsin & Southern’s budget request.
“Without your help, I can’t fight this battle by myself,” he told them.
The trip made supporters out of Ken Veitch and Dave Brown, Town of Fulton supervisors. The township was the site of two derailments in early 2007 that Wisconsin & Southern blamed on old rail.
The Fulton Town Board passed a resolution supporting Wisconsin & Southern’s request last year for state funding, and Brown expects it to pass another after Wednesday’s trip, he said.
“We learned an awful lot about how they maintained the railroad, how they’re fixing it and especially what they’re doing in the area of the derailment,” he said.