The Elroy-Sparta Rail Trail: Was that part of the line that crossed over at Winona and went to Rochester and points west (the old Winona and St. Peter route)?
Yes, the line went to Winona, which was west of Sparta. When the C&NW built the bypass line from Milwaukee, to Wyeville, to Sparta in 1911, the Sparta line that you mention became immediately obsolete. But railroad are slow to change, so passenger and freight trains used it for decades later. Joe Q: I have a watch fob that has the Chicago Northwestern logo, but says “employee owned” rather than the normal “Chicago System.” Any idea on its history and date? I know the railroad was sold to the employees in 1972. William A: We don’t have any listing of watches. It may or may not have been company issued. The C&NW Company Store at its headquarters did order and sell things like this. On the last couple of days of the railroad’s existence in 1995, the employees cleaned out the store. The Employee Owned period lasted from 1972 to 1982. Joe Q: Reading the Dan Patch famous pacer harness horse story I see his owner had leased 2 train cars from your line. M. W. Savage had leased a baggage car an
