Wild Rivers State Trail - Yellow River Bridge

In 1871, the North Wisconsin Railway (NW) began construction of a 13 mile railroad line between Northline (east of Hudson, Wuisconsin) and New Richmond, Wisconsin.  The line was extended an additional 25 miles to Clayton, Wisconsin in 1874, followed by 18 miles to Cumberland, Wisconsin in 1878 and 26 miles to Spooner, Wisconsin in 1879.  In 1880, the NW was consolidated into the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway (Omaha Road).  That year, the Omaha Road constructed an additional 39 miles between Spooner and Cable, Wisconsin, followed by 30 additional miles to Mason, Wisconsin in 1882.  That year, the Omaha Road came under control of the Chicago & North Western Railway, which operated a growing railroad network in the Midwest.  In 1883, an additional 28 miles to Bayfield, Wisconsin was completed, and a short 4 mile branch to Ashland, Wisconsin was opened.  This line served as one of the northern mainlines of the Omaha Road, and would share the right-of-way with the other mainline between Spooner and Trego, Wisconsin.  These two mainlines formed a large X through northwest Wisconsin.  The line was critical to serving a booming logging and forestry industry in northwest Wisconsin.

The C&NW constructed and acquired a large amount of trackage through the Midwest, and the Omaha Road provided additional lines in western Wisconsin, southern Minnesota and parts of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.  By the early 20th Century, the Omaha Road operated a respectable network of railroad lines, serving in conjunction with the C&NW lines.  The Omaha Road would formally be merged into the C&NW in 1959.  As traffic over this line diminished, the line would be subject to abandonment.  During the late 20th Century, the C&NW sought to sell or abandon unprofitable and excess lines.  The first segment to be abandoned was between Hayward and Bayfield in 1978, followed by the Northline to Spooner segment in 1981.  The branch to Ashland would be abandoned in early 1982.  In 1992, the Spooner to Hayward segment would be sold to Wisconsin Central, Ltd. (WC) as part of a larger sale of the other mainline between Cameron, Wisconsin and Superior, Wisconsin. In 1997, the State of Wisconsin acquired the Trego to Hayward Junction segment of the line, and Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad (WGN) began operating a tourist railroad between Trego and Hayward.  Today, much of the segment south of Spooner is abandoned, while much of the segment north of Hayward has been reused as part of ATV/snowmobile trails.  The Wild Rivers Trail uses the segment between Spooner and Trego.  WGN continues to operate the Trego to Hayward segment.