NRHS

Southwest Wisconsin Chapter C049 of the National Railway Historical Society

The Southwest Wisconsin Chapter of NRHS is a group of railroad enthusiasts dedicated to preserving and celebrating railroad history of “The Driftless Area” of southwestern Wisconsin.  We enjoy a close relationship with the Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Society (LCHGS) based in the county seat of Darlington, WI.  Working together with the historical society which owns and operates the Darlington Depot as a historical museum, we have been able to highlight rail history of our area including the Mineral Point Railroad Company which was first to serve the mining region by constructing the line from Mineral Point Wisconsin to Warren Illinois to connect to the Illinois Central Railroad in 1856.  

When the Mineral Point Railroad went bankrupt (1881) it was purchased by The Milwaukee Road (MR) and the line was operated by MR until service stopped in the 1980’s.  In 2023 we were able to place a caboose on tracks beside the Darlington Depot and restore it to MR livery in 2024. (It is a Missouri Pacific Caboose built in 1937 by the Magor Car Company), with the help of a Historical Preservation Grant from NRHS.

Next we will restore the interior to an example of a working caboose open to public.  And we are working on a book about the history of the depot and caboose and their restoration. We  support all railroad history preservation efforts in our part of the State. For the most current updates on our activities, see our Facebook page.

If you’d like to join our Chapter of NRHS, visit the NRHS website nrhs.com and sign up. Simply indicate the Chapter as #C249, Southwest Wisconsin Chapter. Questions? call Barb at 608-482-2483.