Trolley Tuesday 12/7/21 - The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light... Revisited

After much delay, welcome to our final November rewrite! This one's a bit special because it's actually a rewrite of our second-ever "guest piece" by our friend, photographer, railfan, and Milwaukee native Jonathan Lee. As a love-letter to Milwaukee and its interurbans, it was a fantastic piece; but for a reader, it was a bit too lengthy! That's why we're condensing and refining the best parts of his report, in fairness to the work he did for us and the quality you, the riders, expect from Twice-Weekly Trolley History! While Milwaukee is famous in heavy-rail circles as forming part of the legendary Milwaukee Road, its streetcars and interurbans are equally as legendary, skirting the fine line between innovation and insolvency. On today's Trolley Tuesday, we raise our beer mugs high as we look at what's made Milwaukee famous to traction fans!

Trolley Thursday 10/21/21 - Milwaukee's NMRA Speedrail Wreck

In the context of railroad history, no company is more synonymous with the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, than the famous Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, otherwise known as "the Milwaukee Road". Unfortunately for you, foolish reader, today is not a day to talk about the famous Route of the Hiawatha, as Beer City is home to more than just a famous streamliner. For the purposes of this blog, we'll be discussing the city's lesser-known system of local interurban and streetcar lines operated by the Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail Lines (also known as "Speedrail" going forward) and how one man's dreams were destroyed on a weekend meant to boost this fading, failing interurban. On today's Trolley Thursday, we look back on the tragic NMRA Speedrail Labor Day Wreck of 1950 and why it's important to remember today.

Trolley Thursday 7/30/20 - Guest Piece - Milwaukee Streetcars by Jonathan Lee

Welcome to the last Trolley post of July! As is tradition now with our transit experts of the month, we delegate onto them a guest post to write and have them impart their knowledge directly onto you, the unwilling captive and interested audience. For this month, our expert, Jonathan Lee, has written for you a concise history on the city of Milwaukee's interurban and streetcar operations. There's a lot to be said, but from us here at Twice Weekly Trolley History, thank you for reading our material, for giving us the biggest readership we've ever seen, and we hope you all stick around for more in the future. Mr. Lee, you have the floor!

(Also all photos today are credited to Joseph Canfield, author of "TM, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company," unless otherwise noted. Find the book link in the epilogue.)