Talk:Edgewater Generating Station

Latest comment: 5 years ago by Radon360 in topic Railroad Information

Railroad Information edit

This section is partially incorrect, or at least confusing:


At present, coal is delivered to the plant entirely by railroad, originating primarily from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, via a Union Pacific spur line that was originally the main line of the Milwaukee Northern interurban railway.


The first part about coal being delivered entirely by rail is correct.

The Union Pacific spur line is a bit confusing. It depends on which section of track is being referred to as the spur. The roughly 2 mile east-west section from the plant, which can be labeled a spur, was part of the Milwaukee Northern (TMER&L). When looking at the entire lakeshore sub originating from Milwaukee, this is also technically a spur line. It is formerly the mainline of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad between Milwaukee and Green Bay. This larger section of track was NOT shared with the Milwaukee Northern, though the two lines essentially ran side by side from Port Washington to Sheboygan. Since the track gauge was the same, there were a couple interchange points between the two lines, including one at Port Washington, whose (at the time) coal-fired power plant was also serviced by the Milwaukee Northern.

Basically, the section referring to the Milwaukee Northern interurban line is a little misleading without further context. Reading it one way, it sounds like the Union Pacific is using a former interurban line for 50 miles to deliver coal, which is not correct. In reality, the last couple miles in Sheboygan is over the former right of way of the Milwaukee Northern.

I'd make the change myself, but I don't have the references to cite this information at the time.

Radon360 (talk) 15:16, 4 October 2018 (UTC)Reply