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Cannonball (Milwaukee Road train)

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Cannonball
A yellow Milwaukee Road EMD E9 hauling two stainless steel bilevel coach cars
MILW 37A (E9A) Train 12 for Chicago with bi-levels at depot in Milwaukee (1966)
Overview
Service typeCommuter rail
StatusDefunct
LocaleMetro Milwaukee, U.S.
First service1886 (1886)
Last serviceJuly 31, 1972 (1972-07-31)
Former operator(s)Milwaukee Road
Route
TerminiMilwaukee Union Station
Watertown Depot
Stops15
Distance travelled45.5 miles (73.2 km)
Average journey time70 minutes
Service frequencyOne-daily roundtrip
Train number(s)12 (eastbound)
23 (westbound)
Line(s) usedWatertown Subdivision
Technical
Rolling stockEMD FP7 or EMD E9
Two streamlined coaches
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Operating speed70 mph (110 km/h) (top)
39 mph (63 km/h) (average)
Route map
Legend
 Amtrak to
Seattle and
Minneapolis
Chicago & North Western
46 mi
74 km
 Watertown
Watertown Yard
Rock River
46 mi
74 km
Watertown (closed 1926)
 TMER&L Watertown Line
Rock River
39 mi
63 km
 Ixonia
33 mi
53 km
 Oconomowoc
31 mi
50 km
 Gifford
30 mi
48 km
 Okauchee
28 mi
45 km
 Nashotah
26 mi
42 km
 Nagawicka
25 mi
40 km
 Hartland
23 mi
37 km
 Lakeside
20 mi
32 km
 Pewaukee
17 mi
27 km
 Duplainville
Soo Line Railroad
14 mi
23 km
 Brookfield
10 mi
16 km
 Elm Grove
Chicago & North Western
5 mi
8 km
 Wauwatosa
Menomonee River
Grand Avenue Junction
to North Milwaukee
Menomonee River
 TMER&L Rapid Transit Line
“Cut-Off” to Muskego Yard
to Public Service Building
North Shore Line to Loop
0 mi
Everett Street (closed 1965)
0 mi
 Milwaukee
Amtrak to Chicago
This diagram:

The Cannonball was a commuter rail train operated by the Milwaukee Road from Watertown to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, until 1972. It was the last commuter train to serve Milwaukee. Cannonball was a colloquial nickname for the train, which operated as Train No. 12 inbound in the morning and No. 23 outbound in the evening.

History

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The Milwaukee Road main line was completed between Milwaukee and Watertown in 1855.[1] The train's heritage dates to 1886, originating as a Madison–Milwaukee–Chicago intercity service. The corridor has had several of these trains throughout its history, but train 12 left Watertown at daybreak and arrived in Milwaukee before business hours. Its counterpart, train 23, left Milwaukee just after office close and arrived back at Watertown by early evening. Passengers would have a layover at Milwaukee between runs to or from Chicago, where head-end cars would be switched onto the train.[note 1] Amtrak would continue the Milwaukee–Chicago through practice, ultimately extending to St. Louis, until July 10, 1972, a few weeks before the commuter train's discontinuance. On February 18, 1957, direct service to Madison was truncated at Watertown, firmly establishing the train's dedicated commuter status.[2]

By the 1940s, passengers began calling the commuter train the Cannonball, a nickname the Milwaukee Road rarely acknowledged.[3][4] In 1958 the railroad petitioned to discontinue service, citing the service net a loss of $37,931 (equivalent to $307,000 in 2023[5]) the previous year and operating costs were $1.32 per mile (equivalent to $10.70 per mile in 2023[5]).[6][7] Service at this time was one daily roundtrip, inbound to Milwaukee in the morning and outbound in the evening, excluding Sundays and holidays. In a public hearing on discontinuation held in Milwaukee, commuters represented by attorney David E. Beckwith successfully argued there were more people riding the trains than the railroad claimed and that replacement bus service would not be a viable alternative for communities.[8] In 1959, it was proposed that service on Saturdays and holidays could be dropped.[9] At some point thereafter, it transitioned to a Monday-Friday service schedule.[10]

The Cannonball attracted regular riders over the course of its run, like Evelyn Thomsen, who took the train's first seat each night and earned the nickname of the train's "first lady". William Clark, the train's conductor for over five years, said the commuters were "like a family". The train hosted parties during the Friday night trip outbound from Milwaukee; a band would play music, and the train often held at intermediate stops to resupply beer and ice for the festivities.[10][11]

In 1965 the Milwaukee Road moved all trains to their new downtown Milwaukee station, and abandoned Everett Street Depot. In 1969 there were five trains, including the Cannonball, providing service throughout the day in the Milwaukee–Watertown corridor.[12] That year the service cost the railroad $67,000 to operate, jumping to $76,000 in 1970. When Amtrak took over intercity trains on May 1, 1971, they retained no shared stops with the Milwaukee Road's commuter service; the next station west of Milwaukee was Columbus, 65 miles from Union Station. In its dying days the train was averaging only 50 to 60 passengers a day. The final day of service was July 31, 1972.[13]

Equipment

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The Cannonball typically operated with only two streamlined coaches hauled by an EMD FP7 or EMD E9 based out of Watertown. Usual coaches were 1942 Hiawatha cars retired into commuter service. All equipment was painted Armour Yellow with red lettering, the Milwaukee Road's standard passenger scheme since 1955.[10][14] On the final day the train hauled an extra coach to accommodate the additional riders who came out to say their last goodbyes.[3]

Before the 1920s, a private railcar was a regular part of the consist, chartered by executives to reach their lake homes the Milwaukee Road passed in Okauchee and Oconomowoc. The through run to Chicago allowed the train to be serviced at the railroad's Western Avenue Coach Yard, which served long-distance trains and Chicago area commuter trains, and is now a Metra facility. During the brief period when the equipment was split between the Milwaukee Road and Amtrak, foreign power and coaches sometimes crept into the commuter service from Amtrak's Chicago pool.[note 2][2]

Legacy

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After its discontinuance, passengers appealed to court to try to get the Cannonball reinstated. Periodic attempts to reintroduce commuter rail to Watertown have been met with unsupportive state funding. In October 1980 a Budd SPV-2000 demonstrated commuter service for a five-day trial. Despite the railcar breaking down on the first trip, reception was modest with ticket sales covering half the cost and some trips having standee passengers.[10][15] A brief revival occurred once again in the form of a 90-day pilot program to provide alternative transportation during repaving of Interstate 94 from April 14 to July 11, 1998. The service extended four roundtrips of Amtrak's Hiawatha to Watertown station, with intermediate stops in Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Elm Grove, Brookfield, and Wauwatosa before Milwaukee and continuing to Chicago. The pilot saw 32,446 riders use the service, with 89% saying they would continue commuting on the train if it remained available. Canadian Pacific, successor to the Milwaukee Road and reluctant host of the commuter pilot, refused to allow the service to continue, claiming upcoming track work.[10][16]

Future Amtrak service to Madison is planned by extending Amtrak Hiawatha trains from Milwaukee, with the new route expected to reintroduce stations at Watertown and Oconomowoc.[17][18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Chicago through service, sharing numbers and equipment with Watertown–Milwaukee runs, was treated as a separate train as their two operating districts divided at Milwaukee.
  2. ^ During Amtrak's early years their equipment was generally pooled from the route's ex-operating railroad and often still serviced at their facilities. Amtrak's Chicago–Milwaukee trains continued to be serviced at the Milwaukee Road's Western Avenue Coach Yard, but when Amtrak extended the Abraham Lincoln to Milwaukee on the Cannonball's through service schedule, the fleet pool included ex-Gulf, Mobile & Ohio rolling stock.

References

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  1. ^ "Chapter on Railroads". watertownhistory.org. Watertown Historical Society. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Scribbins, Jim (1998). "Once Upon a Milwaukee Road Timetable: Memoirs of the Cannonball". The Milwaukee Railroader. Antioch, Illinois: Milwaukee Road Historical Association. pp. 12–23.
  3. ^ a b Schaar, Ted. "Sixteen Decades of Railroads in Brookfield and Elm Grove". tswrites.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  4. ^ "Cannonball Conductor Feted at End of the Line" (PDF). The Milwaukee Road Magazine. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. May–June 1969. p. 29. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  6. ^ "Discontinuance of the Milwaukee Road's Commuter Train". Watertown Daily Times. September 12, 1958 – via Watertown Historical Society.
  7. ^ "Milwaukee Road 'Cannonball'". Watertown Daily Times. September 23, 1958 – via Watertown Historical Society.
  8. ^ "Miscellaneous008". Watertown Daily Times. October 30, 1958 – via Watertown Historical Society.[title missing]
  9. ^ Amendments to the Transportation Act of 1958 (train Discontinuance): Hearings Before the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Eighty-sixth Congress, First Session, on S.1331. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Subcommittee on Surface Transportation (1959). United States: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 279.
  10. ^ a b c d e Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
  11. ^ "Cannonball commuter train rides alone through Waukesha County". Waukesha Daily Freeman. October 7, 1961. Retrieved November 7, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Dorin, Patrick C. (1970). Commuter Railroads: A Pictoral Review of the Most Travelled Railroads. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 117.
  13. ^ "Cannonball Chugs to Last Goodby". Milwaukee Journal. August 1, 1972.
  14. ^ Dorin (1970), p. 124.
  15. ^ "Brookfield was more than a whistle-stop". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 23, 2003.
  16. ^ "Hiawatha Extension service". Watertown Daily Times. July 2, 1998 – via Watertown Historical Society.
  17. ^ Sullivan, Tim (May 30, 2024). "Checking in on Watertown's potential Amtrak service". Watertown Daily Times. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  18. ^ Bollier, Jeff (December 7, 2023). "Wisconsin gets $2.5 million to study Amtrak expansion from Milwaukee to Green Bay, Madison". Green Bay Press Gazette. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
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