The Omaha Road

After the Omaha Railroad was built from Rice Lake to Park Falls, people began to settle in the community which was called Winter, in honor of Mr. John Winter, an Omaha Railroad official, who came to the community from St. Paul because of his logging interests.

Omaha Road
Omaha Road

The city of Spooner, in Washburn County of Wisconsin, was once a major hub of railroad activity in the north-western “Indianhead Country” of that state. Spooner was at the intersection of “the Great Omaha X” of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad. Four original rail lines, completed by 1883, made up the “X”:

the Hudson line running south-west from Spooner to Northline Junction (near Hudson),
the Altoona line which ran south-east to Eau Claire.
the Ashland line running north-east to Ashland and Bayfield,
the Itasca line running north-west to Duluth-Superior,

A fifth line, connecting Park Falls in the east with Radisson Junction (Tuscobia) on the Altoona branch, was completed in 1914.

When construction of the Soo Line began in 1884, the first segment built began at Cameron, Wisconsin to connect Turtle Lake with Bruce. The Soo used the Omaha Road to reach from their headquarters in Minneapolis to Turtle Lake until their own connecting line was completed in 1887.

Friends of the Tuscobia Trail
Friends of the Tuscobia Trail

The Great Omaha X

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Hemlock Logging Engine
Hemlock Logging Engine
Short Train at Rice Lake 1890
Short Train at Rice Lake 1890
Winter Depot 1970's
Winter Depot 1970's