The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company , also referred to as the Milwaukee Interurban Lines or TMER&L, is a
defunct
Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to:
* ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014
* Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems
See also
*
* :Former entities
* End-of-life product
* Obsolescence
Obsolescence is t ...
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
that operated in and around
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. It was the largest electric railway and electric utility system in Wisconsin, and combined several of the earlier
horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
,
steam dummy
A steam dummy or dummy engine, in the United States and Canada, was a steam locomotive enclosed in a wooden box structure made to resemble a railroad passenger coach. Steam dummies had some popularity in the first decades of railroading in the U. ...
, and
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
lines into one system. Its Milwaukee streetcar lines soon ran on most major streets and served most areas of the city. The
interurban
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...
lines reached throughout southeastern Wisconsin. TMER&L also operated the streetcar lines in
Appleton,
Kenosha
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...
, and
Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...
, as well as its own switching operations at the
Port Washington and Lakeside power plants.
The first electric streetcar in Milwaukee operated on Wells Street on April 3, 1890. The
Waukesha Beach Railway was formally opened on June 25, 1895. The first interurban ran between Milwaukee and Kenosha on June 1, 1897. Other lines soon reached
Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
,
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
* Burlington, Prince Edward Island
* Burlington Bay, no ...
, and
East Troy
East Troy is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,687 at the 2020 census. The village is located southwest of the Town of East Troy. A small portion extends into the adjacent Town of Troy.
Geography
Eas ...
. In 1922, TMER&L acquired the Milwaukee Northern Railway and added their Milwaukee to
Sheboygan interurban line to the system.
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, services on streetcar and interurban lines were reduced, replaced with buses, abandoned, or sold. Abandonments ceased during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when gas and tires were rationed and defense workers needed transportation. After the war, riders returned to their automobiles and abandonments resumed. The last streetcar to run in Milwaukee and the entire state operated on Wells Street on March 2, 1958. Electric locomotives continued operating at the power plants until the early 1970s.
The last two remaining sections of interurban lines were to
Hales Corners
Hales Corners is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,692 at the 2010 census. History
The land in the area that would eventually encompass the Village was first claimed as French, then British, and even ...
and
Waukesha. They continued in operation until June 30, 1951 as part of the Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail Company's
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
service, as it had essentially lost the remainder of its postwar ridership following a collision in Greenfield, Wisconsin that killed 8 people and injured around 40, just the year before. The outer end of the East Troy branch (beyond
Mukwonago
Mukwonago is a village in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 8,262 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The village is located mostly within the Mukwonago (town), Wisconsin, Town of Mukwonago in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, ...
) continues to operate as the
East Troy Electric Railroad
The East Troy Electric Railroad is an interurban Heritage railway, heritage railroad owned and operated by the East Troy Railroad Museum. Passenger excursions run on a stretch of track from East Troy, Wisconsin, East Troy to Mukwonago, Wiscons ...
, a long
heritage railroad
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
.
There were plans to extend the Watertown line to
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, the East Troy line to
Delavan, and the Burlington line to
Lake Geneva
, image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg
, caption = Satellite image
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = Switzerland, France
, coords =
, lake_type = Glacial lak ...
. However, none of these plans came to fruition.
Gallery
File:TMER&L2.png, TMER&L interurban, circa 1911
File:TMER&L3.png, The Interurban station at Waukesha Beach, circa 1911
File:Oneida Street Station Apr11.jpg, The Oneida Street Station
Oneida Street Station, also known as the East Wells Power Plant, was a power plant operated by The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company. Constructed from 1898 to 1900, it was designed by architect Herman Esser in neoclassical revival style. ...
, also known as the East Wells Power Plant, was a revolutionary power plant belonging to TMER&L. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company
Defunct Wisconsin railroads
Interurban railways in Wisconsin
Streetcars in Wisconsin
Transportation in Milwaukee
History of Milwaukee
Electric railways in Wisconsin