NOTE: This layout will only be available for an extra session the week of ProRail.

The Milwaukee Road (officially known as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific Railroad), was a class 1 railroad that operated between Chicago, IL and Seattle/Tacoma, WA, but had many branch lines en-route. Being the 3rd major railroad to push west (after the GN and NP), the Milwaukee’s traffic never reached the expected levels. However, they still moved a lot of freight, and were a very pro-passenger railroad in the 1950’s.

The railroad you will see, when complete, will include the main line from St Paul, MN to Aberdeen, So Dakota (which encompasses parts of all 3 divisions listed below in the Division/Location section). However, the primary portion of the modeled railroad will be the Hastings & Dakota Division. Basic scenery as seen in photos will be greatly enhanced after railroad is fully operational. However, having the buildings, painted roads with vehicles, etc now, gives operators a better sense of place.

Today, most of the benchwork is complete with about 40% of the track in place and operational (running from St Paul, MN on the east to Montevideo, MN on the west), providing about a 190’ run. When complete, the mainline run will be about 550’. The railroad is 2 levels (except for the Minneapolis terminal area) and is a full “mushroom” design with levels facing opposite directions and a raised floor for the upper level so you are always at the same height to the top of the benchwork. An open helix (so you can see your train), is under construction and will move trains between the 2 levels.

There is a very active freight yard that works 6 trains plus a constant exchange of cars to/from the Minneapolis Patrol that services some 13 industries with almost 70 car spots in the Minneapolis Terminal. There is also a very active passenger terminal that handles trains from the Milwaukee, Soo Line and Rock Island. Trains are built and/or broken down, or cars are added and removed on thru trains, between the Depot and Coach Yard and Express Tracks. Finally, there are also 5 more busy local switching jobs and 12 road freight and passenger trains (most which do some work en-route) to run.

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