LAKE SUPERIOR SOUTHERN AGAIN
Possibility That line from Madison to Huron Bay May Be Reality.
Working on Wisconsin End. According to advices from Wisconsin, says the Marquette Mining Journal, the .'Lake Superior Southern railroad, from Madison, Wis., to Huron Bay, so long regarded in railroad circles as a dream in which there was but little of reality, may become a fact and active operations be begun during the year just opened. The contemplated line covers a distance of 200 miles, 200 of which is in Wisconsin According to a $12,000,000 mortgage.in form of construction bond, running to the Knickerbocker Trust Company, of New York, and recently tiled for record in Marquette county, the proposed railroad line will extend east of south from Huron Bay to Micbigamme, thence west of south through Iron county,' crossing the Wisconsin line and continuing on through the counties of Florence, Forest, Marinette, Oconto. Shawano, Outagamie, Brown, Winnebago, Waupaca,' Green Lake, Fond du Lac, Columbia and Dane. The company controls the roadbed of the old long defunct Iron Range & Huron 'Bay railroad and proposes to make use
of it from Champion to L'Anse and Huron Bay. The roadbed already graded, is 100 feet in width. This is commonly supposed to be a plan of the Illinois Central for the com pletion of the line from the gulf to Lake Superior.
WORK DONE IN WISCONSIN.
The Wisconsin & Northern rail road organized about a year ago, is supposed to be the Wisconsin end of toe project, and actual operation of a portion of its line has already been commenced. The road is planned to extend from Madison to
Crandon, via Oshkosh, Appleton, Shawano and other cities. The right-of-way for the entire road has been constructed from Shawano to its northern extremity. Construction work was begun late in the season of 1904 and was completed about two months ago. The first train was run about five weeks ago, making the trip from Shawano to Crandon without. a mishap. The officials of the road were on the. train making the initial trip. Construction work from Shawano
south is now in operation, although little can be done during the winter months. Information emanating from official sources is to .the effect that work will be rushed in the spring, and that in less than a year trains will be running into Appleton. It is said the -company will issue bonds for $10,000,000 for the completion of the road from Shawano, its present terminus, to Madison, although this has not been verified.
TO CONNECT WITH SOO LINE.
That the proposition is not a mere promotion scheme' is evident from the fact that the company in the name of Leander
Choate, of Oshkosh, has purchased a large amount of property near Appleton and in Outagamie, paying cash for it. The Wisconsin & Northem has completed its grade from Crandon north to the tracks of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railroad, a distance of seven miles.' As soon as the road Is In operation, it will compete for business with the North-western by arranging a combined tariff with the so-called "Soo line.". As soon as the junction is effected, work will be pushed south, from Crandon to connect with that portion of the line now under' construction and for partial operation from Shawano north at the point of contact with the Soo line, about one And one-half miles west of North Crandon, there is also a passage under the Soo, that will facilitate the extension to northern Michigan and Lake Superior.
The following official statement 'issued by President Phillips describes the territory to be tapped by the line: "The Lake Superior Southern railway will open to development large forests of timber and bring them tributary to the great manufacturing center of eastern Wisconsin. . It will traverse vast areas in both states now unproductive capable of becoming fertile agricultural lands, and well adapted to stock raising and dairy products. "For a distance of eighty miles it will cross the great Marquette and Crystal Falls mineral districts, rich in deposits of iron, copper, slate, clays and building stone, and Beaver Dam and Columbus. It will not take in Fond du Lac, going a little west of south from Oshkosh, and bisecting the triangle formed by the lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway . connecting
with Fond du Lac and Ripon.
BARAGA COUNTY OPPORTUNITIES.
If the line ever reaches Huron bay, and the harbor there is put in proper condition, it will mean much for Baraga county, the town in which it Is located now having very little to keep it in existence. The natural shipping facilities of Huron bay will make it a comparatively easy task to establish an important harbor there, and if the plans of the Lake Superior Southern carry, L'Anse and the other towns of Baraga county may see a return of the old days, before the D. S. S. &
A: was pushed through to Duluth and the copper country, A junction with the South Shore will probably be effected at Champion, making that town the junction point for three roads and raising it to the status of an important railroad
center.
=======
L'anse Sentinel Jan 12, 1907
