Wisconsin & Southern aids Gulf shore rebuilding

The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co., based in Milwaukee, will soon be offering a low cost alternative to conventional means of freight shipping by offering freight rail service to a local business in Elkhart Lake.

Beginning in early July, the Wisconsin & Southern will begin shipping railcars of aggregate (sand/gravel mix) blocks from a transload site in Elkhart Lake to Galveston, Texas, where the blocks will be used to shore up Gulf Coast shorelines recently destroyed from hurricanes. This long-term project will also help to prevent further deterioration to the Gulf Coast shoreline, by making the Texas shorelines stronger and able to withstand hurricane forces.

Working collaboratively with a reputable aggregate producer and local barge and rail companies, transportation managers utilized a multi-modal approach that results in a cost-effective way to move aggregate from eastern Wisconsin to the far southern tip of Texas — nearly 1,500 miles in distance.

The rail line servicing Elkhart Lake was purchased by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2005 and is currently leased by the WSOR. The WSOR currently provides bi-weekly service to local industries along the rail line between Fredonia and Kiel. The WSOR is a regional railroad operating 700 miles of track throughout south central Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois.