Varsity (train)

The Milwaukee Road began operating trains that connected Chicago and Madison in 1927, a service which took the name Marquette a decade later, and initially ran between Chicago Union Station and Mason City, Iowa. An eight-hour, 384-mile run, it ran until 1951, when service was terminated between Madison and Mason City, and the train was renamed the Varsity.[1] In the beginning, during the days of steam, motive power would usually be the Milwaukee Road's 4-6-2 "Pacific" type locomotives. In the late 1940s, however, diesel power took over, and by the 1950s, EMD F-unit locomotives were assigned to the train.[2] The consist also usually included a railway post office car, one to two passenger coaches, and a café parlor car. During holidays, and during home Wisconsin Badgers football games at Camp Randall Stadium, the Varsity carried more cars, however.

By the late 1950s, the Varsity began to face declining ridership due to the growing popularity of air and car travel. In 1963, the Milwaukee Road ended parlor car service, although, for a brief time, café-lounge service was retained, via displaced Skytop Lounges from the defunct Olympian Hiawatha. By 1965, the train had switched to all coaches. Following the termination of the Milwaukee Road’s contract with the United States Postal Service in 1967, the Milwaukee Road petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to end service, with the ICC ruling that the Varsity must retain service on weekends and holidays. Service was officially terminated on April 30, 1971, with the creation of Amtrak.

2016 Version

On June 12, 2016, the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's Nickel Plate 765, a 2-8-4 "Berkshire" type steam locomotive, pulled an excursion train, given the name the Varsity in honor of the original Milwaukee Road train, over part of the route. It ran round-trip between the North Glenview Metra station and Janesville, with a stop in Fox Lake.[4]

Power for the 2014 Varsity included this E8 locomotive

Leaving Chicago Union Station, the Varsity traveled on what is now the Milwaukee District / North Line, making stops in Glenview and Fox Lake, Illinois. After crossing into Wisconsin, the train then continued on, making stops in Walworth, Avalon, Janesville, Edgerton, Stoughton, and McFarland, before crossing Lake Monona, and the Chicago and Northwestern Railway line in the middle of the lake, and arriving in downtown Madison.