The Madison, Lodi and Baraboo Railroad was incorporated on March 29, 1864. The company graded a line between Columbus and Baraboo via Merrimac but did not lay any track.[1]
Under the North Western construction continued. By 1872, twenty miles were finished to Lodi, Wisconsin. The ridges between Elroy and Sparta were tunneled at great expense and with much difficulty.[4][5] The Baraboo Air-Line Rail Road connected to the LaCrosse, Trempealeau & Prescott Railroad at Winona Junction and opened for traffic in September 1873, through to Winona, Minnesota. In 1874, the C&NW reported an expenditure for its three tunnels of $476,743.32 and for the construction of 129 miles of railroad between Madison and Winona Junction of $5,342,169.96.[6]
As completed by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the line ran 129.10 miles (207.77km) from Madison to Winona Junction.[2] Most of it has since been abandoned and converted to rail trails. The North Western abandoned the line between Sparta and Elroy in 1964; it is now the Elroy-Sparta State Trail, the first rail trail in the United States.[7] The line west of Sparta was abandoned in 1977 in favor of trackage rights over the Milwaukee Road's parallel Tomah Subdivision. It is now the La Crosse River Trail.[8] The line between Reedsburg and Elroy was abandoned in 1986 and is now the 400 State Trail.[9] The line between Reedsburg and Madison is now known as the Reedsburg Subdivision and is leased by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad.
