Anyone living in the Milwaukee area can easily explore the remains of one of the most interesting urban lines in America:
The Milwaukee River Parkway, starting at bit north of Riverside Park (a couple blocks north of Kenwood and just west of the UWM campus) there are the ruins of the old Beer Line that used to join Milwaukee and La Crosse, Wisconsin, as well as the lineside industries. A series of mountain biking and hiking trails snake all through the ruins of old industrial complexes that used to line the Milwaukee River. The rail line itself is now a paved cross-country bike trail that goes all the way down to the Lakefront where the old CNW station used to be.
From the start of the ruins south to Riverside Park, all of the ruins are in city-owned public parkland, so trespassing is not an issue as it’s fully legal for people to be there during open park hours. South of the park, the rail-become-trail follows the old cutting through the East Side of Milwaukee, and past the old factories, most of which have been turned into condos.
One of the most interesting is the Kenilworth Building, which was built in 1914 as a Ford Model-T plant. It was also used in WW-II as a torpedo factory, and now is used by the University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as art studios and student apartments.
There was also a book that was released by the Milwaukee Road Historical Society that was entitled “The beer line” It was a very good book. It was more like a large magazine but still had some great facts and information.
I still remember the day they imploded the Schlitz grain elevator in 1998. It was neat it took 2 explosions (Each one equating 1megaton bomb if Im not mistaken), and almost needed a third. Its a shame this line was dying/dead when I was young.
Hi Metro: I was born in Milwaukee and grew up in Shorewood. I used to enjoy watching the beer line in action. It was a very interesting operation. I remember the crossing shantys down town. I wounder if one was saved for posterety? Do you know if anyone is modeling the line? It had such a wide veriaty of industries besides beer that it would be a good candidate for a model railroad. I’ve been thinking about doing a small layout based on the line but I don’t think that I’ll have the time.
Just to clear things up a bit, you’ve got two railroad lines mixed up into one.
The old railroad line described above was actually part of the Chicago & North Western’s Airline Subdivision (which ran along the eastern bank of the Milwaukee River, past the Kenolworth Building, etc. and cut over to the Downtown lakefront). It has since been converted into the biking/hiking trail between Estabrook Park/Shorewood and the Downtown Lakefront.
The Milwaukee Road’s “Beer Line,” on the other hand, was on the west side of the river leading to Downtown (but not the Lakefront) where the Schlitz, Blatz,