Choo Choo

Now you are probably thinking that I am going to write about those terrible oil tankers but actually this is another glimpse into Chaseburg's 'past' specifically the railroad and its importance to small towns as they needed better access to La Crosse, the city in order to not only buy supplies but also market their goods...

One of my neighbors, Della, whose family land borders ours remembers her grandparents talking about the train that came through Chaseburg. "Grandma and Grandpa would tell us stories about the "Hobos" that would stop at their farm and offer to do odd jobs in exchange for a meal (Grandma was a good cook) or to sleep in the barn/ hay loft. It must have brought a lot interesting characters through the area!" As a kid Della discovered the train bed along the creek. 

Originally there were two different railroads servicing the area, the Burlington route through Stoddard and the Milwaukee Road that came  through Viroqua and Westby and then Chaseburg.  People complained of lousy scheduling which would require an overnight in La Crosse besides high tariffs for businesses.

Chaseburg's wood frame depot

The La Crosse Board of Trade was convinced by a C. J. Smith, in 1902 of the Vernon County agricultural prosperity (Chaseburg's tobacco crop,  daily 2,000 lbs of freight ) and the supply and demand of these neighboring towns and the advantageousness of an electric railroad connecting these consumers. La Crosse businessmen filed incorporation papers and the small towns were anxious to grant the necessary franchises. Elevators were proposed, Chaseburg's was   the only one built. 

1906 Chaseburg

Eventually the La Crosse and Southeastern Railroad answered the needs to connect La Crosse and these smaller towns in 1905 with 2 trips daily; a  morning schedule of leaving Viroqua at 5am, Westby 5:40, Coon Valley, 6:40 Chaseburg at 7, Stoddard at 7:20 connecting with Chicago, Burlington and Quincy train at 7:41 arriving La Crosse at 8:09.  The two lines competed heavily with each other in having the fastest freight service. South Eastern lost the postal route.

 A new turntable was installed since Chaseburg ended up being the end of the line with connections to Westby 2-3x/wk.

After WWII trains were erratic and the electric rail service lasted until 1933.   Goodbye to the Rail service through many small towns... In 1945 the Chaseburg depot was removed.

Many years later a bike route was proposed to use those old railroad beds which unfortunately Chaseburg opted not to be pursue due to expense. That bike trail would have indeed brought some tourism into Chaseburg.  We could have picked it up right here from End of the Rainbow Valley but that was just not in the cards...  

* credit for photos and info gathered by Sharon K Twinde in her publication of the History of Chaseburg 2013