The Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad

The Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad ran between its namesake cities in Wisconsin, beginning service in 1852. Like many Wisconsin railroads, it was a subsidiary of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. 

It was incorporated five years earlier, and fully incorporated into the CNW system upon the creation of that company in 1859.

Sheboygan Falls Station. This is west of Sheboygan on the line to Fond du Lac. C&NW Historical Society archives collection.



As a CNW subsidiary, it eventually built northwesterly toward Marshfield, WI as the Marshline Subdivision.

This is a copy of the notice placed in the Princeton Republic as the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad neared completion of its plans to lay track to Princeton in 1872.


The route between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan was abandoned exactly 100 years later. But that was not the last of the railroad.

RSD5 1666 is idling while the crew waits for a Milwaukee Road train to pass. Behind the photographer is a diamond and smash-board where the CNW crosses the Milwaukee. Plymouth is on the line from Fond du Lac to Sheboygan. R. Albers photo, 1956. C&NW Historical Society Archives collection.

In 2011, the eastern 13 miles of the line, between Sheboygan and Plymouth, were reactivated for freight service by the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad.

Thanks as always for reading!
Location: Sheboygan, WI, USA

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