The End of the Beer Line

Marsupial Bridge
Originally uploaded by repowers

While the Beer Line railroad trunk has been gone from the Beer Line neighborhood for a long time, the last legitimate piece of the stretch has finally been given regulatory approval to close. With the closure of a 2.4 mile stretch by Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, all that is left of the famous line is 1 mile.

In its heyday, the six-mile stretch hauled more freight than many cross-country railroads. It linked foundries, machine-tool shops, lumberyards, tanneries and makers of engines, castings, shoes, cardboard, cans, batteries, furniture and sausages. The north side line also connected three of the nation’s biggest breweries; during summer peaks in the 1950s, the Beer Line carried up to 270 boxcars each day with nothing but kegs and bottles. Read more…

All things considered, you can’t be upset that the line is slowly being removed. The portion removed in the Beer Line neighborhood clearly has created a lot of land for quality development. I would expect the same to happen with the latest 2.4 mile stretch over time. Wisconsin & Southern clearly isn’t fleecing the city’s industries either, they’re simply not in need of large industrial shipping anymore.

The only thing consistent in life is change. Apparently that rule applies to urban Milwaukee too.