The Adams Subdivision or Adams Sub is a
railway line owned and operated by the
Union Pacific Railroad. It meets the
Wyeville Subdivision
The Wyeville Subdivision or Wyeville Sub is a railway line owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. It meets the Altoona Subdivision to the west in Altoona, Wisconsin and runs to Wyeville, Wisconsin to the east where it connects with the ...
to the west in
Wyeville, Wisconsin
Wyeville is a village in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on Wisconsin Highway 21. The population was 147 at the 2010 census.
History
The West Wisconsin Railway was authorized in 1876 to build from St. Paul, Minnesota thr ...
, and runs to
Butler, Wisconsin in the east where it meets the
Milwaukee Subdivision. It was constructed in 1911 by the
Chicago and North Western Railway. The Milwaukee, Sparta, and Northwestern Railroad, a subsidiary of the
Chicago and North Western Railway, began the "Air Line" or "Adams Cutoff" from
Adams, Wisconsin towards
Sparta, Wisconsin in 1910.
The Adams Cutoff avoided the steep grades of the Elroy to Sparta cutoff on the route from
Madison, Wisconsin.
The ''
Twin Cities 400'' ran on the Adams Subdivision from its creation in 1935 to its discontinuation in 1963, and was the last routinely operated passenger train to run on the line. In July 2019, an excursion train ran on the Adams Subdivision as part of the "Great Race Across the Midwest" celebratory tour. The train was led by
Union Pacific 4014
Union Pacific 4014, also known as the "Big Boy", is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad (UP) as part of Union Pacific Heritage Fleet, their heritage fleet. It is a four-cylinder simple Art ...
, a
4-8-8-4
A 4-8-8-4 in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a locomotive with a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. Only one model of locomotives ha ...
Big Boy type
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
.
References
Rail infrastructure in Wisconsin
Union Pacific Railroad lines
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