282.1 West Wye Switch 278.0 Medary | 281.2 La Crosse, Wisconsin | |
south to IC&E/CP Marquette Sub, north to River Sub 283.6 Bridge Switch (La Crescent, Minnesota) 280.0 Grand CrossingBNSF St. Croix Subdivision | ||
Lots of foreign power along the cp s tomah subdivision railfanning journal 33
The Tomah Subdivision or Tomah Sub is a railway line that runs about 103 miles (166 km) from La Crosse, WI in the west to Portage, Wisconsin in the east.
The line is operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway through its subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad. The line crosses the Mississippi River between La Crescent and La Crosse, Wisconsin. Junctions in La Crescent lead to the River Subdivision to the north and the Marquette Subdivision to the south. East of Portage, the rails continue as the Watertown Subdivision. Interstate 90 runs roughly parallel to the rail line.
Most of this segment of track was quickly built over the span of two years. The line was completed from Portage to New Lisbon in 1857, and from New Lisbon to La Crosse in 1858. It took several more years for the crossing of the Mississippi River into Minnesota to take place, but that was finally completed in 1876.
The Tomah Subdivision had previously been operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, though Canadian Pacific took it over in 1986. In 1935, the Milwaukee Road introduced the Hiawatha passenger train which ran at high speed between Saint Paul, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois. Speeds were routinely over 100 mph, and with ATS in use between Portage and Hastings, MN, the Hiawatha actually had no speed limit per se.
Today, the Amtrak Empire Builder uses the CP between Chicago and St Paul, but is limited to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h). Along this segment it stops in La Crosse, Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, and Portage.