[milwaukee-electric] Re: Fwd: From the "What If?" department...

Mon Sep 28 20:27:38 EDT 2009

Stadium Curve to Hawley Rd.-images taken on 1-16-08.
On 9/28/09, Don L. Leistikow <DLeistikow at webtv.net> wrote:
> Rick:   As this question brings up historical purpose .... I'm including
> the m-e list for the record.
>
> Route 10 Wells~Downer was one of the longer lines in the City of
> Milwaukee and its suburbs.  Between Capitol Drive at Downer Avenue and
> its western split end's of line, they divided at 52nd and Wells Streets,
> operating into Wauwatosa to the end of line at the County Hospital on
> Watertown Plank Road, about the 8600 block.  The West Allis line was on
> private right of way just west of what is 52nd St., running south to the
> base line which was Fairview Avenue west of Hawley Road.
>
>
> Street running resumed on Fairview to 68th Street where private right of
> way resumed to a line of 70th Street, turning south on the prow where it
> then continued on prow next to the east line of S. 70th street which was
> encountered at W. Adler Street.  The prow continued to Greenfield
> Avenue, turning west where the line re-entered the street.  This was
> also the west line of the massive Allis-Chalmers complex.
>
>
> Operating west on Greenfield to the State Fair Park, the line then
> turned south on S. 81st Street to Lapham where it turned westward,
> again.  The West Allis Car Station was built at 84th and Lapham.  The
> line continued westward and resumed operation on the prow at 89th
> Street.  Continuing westerly, the line briefly sauntered southwesterly,
> returning west again to what would have been 100th street.  Here, the
> line turned north a few hundred feet and made connection with the 'new'
> Rapid Transit Line at what was then designated as West Junction.
>
> The above street references are based upon the last names designated for
> easy recognition by the reader.  References to historic names of places,
> such as Town of Wauwatosa or that 68th street was originally 59th
> street, were not included in this disertation.
>
>
> Getting to the point, the reason for Route 10's longevity, is not simply
> the prow operation but, also the 'anchor' of the Wells Street Viaduct,
> some 2100 feet in length and rising some 90 feet in height, also
> contributed to its longevity.  I should also mention that a great deal
> of track reconstruction was done to the Wells Street portions of Route
> 10 and to the street itself.  Much of the route was reconstructed in
> concrete, which was not the case in the track maintenance north and east
> of Jackson & Wells streets.
>
> That the final configuration of Route 10 Wells, truncated to end of line
> at Jackson, thence looping via Jackson, Mason, Water and returning west
> on Wells, was the eastern end whereas, the Wauwatosa branch ended at
> Harwood Avenue and the West Allis branch ended at Greenfield Avenue and
> prow adjacent to S.70th Street.  The conundrum here is that Route 18
> traditionally ended at S. 70th street and back in the 1930's did turn on
> the double tracked wye, up the prow to a pair of crossovers.  Back then,
> Route 18 was operated with the deck-roofed articulated trains of #100
> through #400 lineage.
>
> Something unusual happened on October 3 1943.  At that time, Route 18
> cars had terminated in the street, at a single track bracketed by twin
> Safety Islands.  That was removed and the double track restored.  The
> event of this day was that the ends of line were reversed.  Route 10
> cars changed ends here and the Route 18 cars took over the service to
> the then eno of line at 92nd and Lapham.  Why, who knows?  Ridership to
> downtown may have been bolstered and surely Route 10 ridership
> ultimately diminished but, not until the end of WW 2.
>
>
> Why the two lines did not continue to serve downtown West Allis, is a
> mystery.  That would have been the logical thing to do.  The other such
> operation of two lines sharing common trackage were Routes 11 and 16
> which came together on Milwaukee's near southside and both operated to
> the western terminus at 60th and Vliet streets.  It doesn't make sense!
>
> Never-the-less .... the last reprise for Route 10, was the construction
> of Milwaukee County Stadium which brought Major League Baseball to the
> Metro area. For a look at County Stadium, the motion picture, "Major
> League" was filmed there as the Home of the Cleveland Indians.  Bob
> Uecker as the play by play announcer, was priceless.
>
> A single track was constructed on the old Rapid Transit right of way for
> car storage while the game was in progress.  The original track ended at
> the top of grade, short of the Hawley Road bridge.  Shortly thereafter,
> the spur was extended to the Hawley bridge.  That track was filled out
> to capacity, on game days.  The track switch was located just west of
> the Soldier's Home curve.
>
> Watch for photos of Route 10 cars as the regulars carried black on white
> run numbers whereas, the Baseball Extras carried white on black run
> numbers.  While the regular cars were stationed at the Kinnickinnic Car
> Statiion, the extra Baseball cars were operated from the National Car
> Station.
>
> Storyline ... One operator (motorman) told me of his experience;  he was
> the first car to enter the layover track and was thus way back at Hawley
> Road.  With nothing to do for several hours, he fell asleep.  Waking up
> after sundown, he discovered that there were no cars in front of him.
> They were long gone!  He ran his empty car back to the Car Station.  The
> assigned Supervisor was remiss in not counting out the 'hold' cars at
> the end of the game.
>
> The topography of the right of way was such that the Hawley Road stop
> and trackage were not visable from the Soldiers Home/Stadium curve and
> the trackside phone box.
>
> fwiw.... I do have a list of the final operational cars.  Only six were
> 800's, the balance were 900's. The only remaining car was the W 1,
> wrecker, based at the Cold Spring Shops.  That car was scrapped about
> four years later.
>
> Don L. Leistikow
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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