Yahara River Trail Bridge (North)

Between 1857 and 1859, the Sugar River Valley Railroad (SRV) began grading a 33-mile railroad line between Madison, Wisconsin and Portage, Wisconsin.  The SRV never finished the line, and sold the right-of-way and partially completed roadbed to the Madison and Portage Railroad (MPR).  The MPR completed the line in 1870.  The line provided a critical link between existing railroad lines at Portage and Madison.  In 1873, the railroad was consolidated to form the Chicago and Superior Railroad (C&S).  This railroad was sold at foreclosure and acquired in 1880 by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee Road).  This line would serve as a connecting line for the Milwaukee Road, and provided an alternative route between Watertown, Wisconsin and Portage, Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Road was often in financial trouble, especially after the costly Pacific Extension was completed in 1909. In 1925, the company declared bankruptcy, and reorganized as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1928.  Throughout the 20th Century, the railroad often was in debt.  Financial hardship continued through the 20th Century for the Milwaukee Road, and the railroad again filed bankruptcy in 1977.  By 1985, a suitor for the Milwaukee Road was being sought, and the Soo Line Railroad, controlled by Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) purchased the Milwaukee Road in 1986.  In the late 1980s, a short segment in Madison was abandoned, and railroad traffic consolidated on nearby lines.  CP merged with Kansas City Southern Railway in 2023 to form CPKC. CPKC currently operates the Madison to Portage segment as the M&P Subdivision, and the line mainly provides CPKC with an interchange in Madison and serves industries along the way.