When the Lakeside Power Plant was built in 1920 it was supplied with coal unloaded from a dock on the Kinnickinnic River and hauled over local lines to a switch off the original Kenosha Line at St. Francis. (Kenosha Sub on the map above.) This was not a great situation so a connection to the CNW was built and coal was delivered directly to the plant. In the 1920's with the upgrade of interurban lines it was decided to build a belt line around the city mainly to handle freight. When TM Kenosha Line was upgraded in 1928, the line was extended to the Belt Line. Construction on the Belt Line west to Hales Corners was begun in 1931, but not completed until April 1932. The line was built to high standards with virtually no grade crossings. (Editors Note: There was a grade crossing at Kansas Ave in St. Francis and the rails are still in road. Some of the rails are still visible under the little repaving that has been done.) and all rail lines crossed by bridges. The interchange with the Milwaukee Road (Powerton Yard) was built. However no interchange with North Shore was built. TM and North Shore interchanged downtown at the North Shore depot.
There was never any regular passenger service on the line since there were few houses in the area at the time. With the abandonment of the Rapid Tranist. the line west of Powerton was useless and abandoned in the 1950's. The line remained TMERL. With changes at the Lakeside Power plant from coal to natural gas there was little use for the line. The track from the scale house to the CNW interchange was sold to the CNW. This included service to the only other customer on the line EZ Paintr. Note: EZ Painter is still in the same building today. The equipment remained at the power plant for moving cars of fuel oil when natural gas shortages required a change in fuel.
There was also a rail shuttle between St Francis (Kinnickinnic Ave) and the power plant. The first car was a single truck Pullman #65, renumbered #20. An interurban trailer #1258 was motorized in 1927 and used until 1945. It was replaced by various 600's and 700's until 523 was assigned in 1950. It ran until 1954 when #882 replaced it. It was retired on May 8, 1961. It was the last trolley car running in Milwaukee County.
Powerton Yard came off the Belt Line just west of 6th street. It crossed Waterford Ave at grade. Then it opened into a four track yard. The tracks were at a slight angle to the Milwaukee Road main. It was a double ended yard. At the south end it connected to the Milwaukee Road with two double cross-overs. Plus there was a fifth track that paralleled the Milwaukee to the south. Today this track is a siding at Lake(Layton Ave.) on the CP. All five of these track were under wire. It was not uncommon to see 20+ 34' hoppers in the yard at one time. The steeple cabs could only four cars up the hill at a time. They usually only took six to the power plant. So they would usually double the hill and use the siding just east of the North Shore tracks to store the first cut. It was a fun operation to watch and the North Shore was good for at least a couple of trains during the same time. |
