Build The Beer Line

摘要

When searching for a locale for our 75th anniversary project layout, we turned to our old neighborhood in downtown Milwaukee, Wis. The "Brew City" not only has a strong connection with model railroading (Kalmbach Publishing Co., Wm. K. Walthers Inc., and the National Model Railroad Association), it has a rich railroad history as well. The Milwaukee Electric Ry. & Light Co., Chicago & North Western, and Milwaukee Road were all here. Though all of these railroads featured interesting operations, it was a Milwaukee Road industrial branch that proved the best fit for our 4 × 12-foot HO scale layout. Welcome to the Beer Line, circa 1947. The Beer Line was in a gritty, industrial part of Milwaukee. In the 1940s, when coal was used prominently by industries (and to heat houses), everything had a sooty appearance. Overgrown weeds and assorted junk could be found in empty lots.