ELKHORN---For the past year Elkhorn has had an unusual sight on little-used railroad tracks that cut through the southern edge of town: a nearly full length freight train missing both an engine AND an explanation. The mystery--in part---is due to the fact that the train sometimes moves along the rails in Elkhorn between lumber yards in the city and the end of line just south of Gateway Technical College and just north of the Elkhorn Industrial Park where manufacturers have the same curiosity that some people downtown do.
“I first saw it connected and lined up on both sides of the Interstate 43 overpass,” says Kent Yunker, whose Yunker Industries signage factory is just south of the eastern end of the Wisconsin Southern Railroad’s Elkhorn Branch. That branch runs as a 13 mile spur from the main line which passes through Darien and Delavan before ending at County Road H, where it turns into the White River Trail. At one time the line went all the way to Racine.
“What the heck is it doing here was my first thought,” said Yunker, “and why didn’t it move out at harvest time?” And the slight movement and separation of the train from time to time? “That’s weird too,” said Yunker.
The cars are refrigerator units, used for cold storage of food. “Could be for cranberries,” said Richard McClure, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater grad, and the owner of a short line railroad in the Southwest, the Southern California Railroad. “But they would definitely be empty now, and if they never leave Elkhorn, the railroad may be being paid to store them at the end of the line until they are needed, “McClure explained. There is a large cold storage facility at the start of the railroad branch in Birdwell near Delavan. But, the Americold Plant doesn’t likely need 44 full length reefer cars held in reserve.
WGTD has made many attempts since last year to get comment from the Wisconsin Southern Railroad, which has not returned calls or commented publicly. The closest public official may be Derek D’Auria of the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance, whose office at Gateway is almost within eyesight of the train lined up several hundred yards to the south.
He’s as mystified as everyone else in town, but says the appearance of a busy rail line to Interstate travelers between Beloit and Milwaukee may one day become reality.
“It seems like in the last six months prospects have been looking around at larger parcels of property near rail even though there’s not yet a spur onto the property,” notes the WCEDA executive director. “So that could become a trend.”
One obvious trend with the mystery train---noticeable to everyone---is it moves every few months. It could be to make way for an isolated movement of a lumber car or two for delivery, but McClure has a more practical theory. “You have to move cars like that for a short distance every three months or the wheels seize up from disuse and cause costly damage.” Other than the optical illusion of it running under the Interstate, the Elkhorn mystery train seems to be going nowhere soon.
Story and photo by: Jim McClure