The Milwaukee Road Beer Line
Updated on 11/22/21, see below for version 2.0 update notes.
Modeling the southern-most extent of one of the most celebrated branchlines in history, this layout is a collaboration of 25 members and recreates the Milwaukee Road Beer Line in 1:1 scale. Trackplan was built on historic railroad blueprints imported as QuickTerrain for complete accuracy. The layout incorporates over 30 custom props made exclusively to recreate (currently) the final 1.5 miles of trackage on the Beer Line stretching from the North Avenue Viaduct to the Lincon St Warehouse. Schlitz Brewery is modeled in its entirety along with distinctive Milwaukee landmarks along the rails from the Pabst grain elevator to Weisel’s Sausage to Trostel Tannery and more. A large number of custom liveries are included along with a major effort on QuickMods to detail rolling stock and engines with prototypical accuracy not seen in a previous Rolling Line layout project.
The operational timeframe can be set anywhere from 1940s to late 1970s depending on the users preference. In terms of detailing, an emphasis is placed on the 1950s however localized scenes throughout the layout give photo-op locations for a variety of eras. Our trackplan is configured for continuous running of several simultaneous trains and a generous staging area allows consists to be stored or created without pausing the traffic. Pre-built consists stored in the staging area give players operational suggestions to deliver these mixed freights to their intended locations. Informational signs aid in clarifying industries, yards, streets, landmarks, and the intended destinations of these cars.
On performance:
This is a no-holds-barred, gigantic map with loads of custom props, custom models, and custom liveries which are all packed into the save. It is performance intensive. Load time is 80 seconds on my PC which is a good-quality desktop. You may need to lower your graphics settings depending on your computer. Some report not being able to run it. Try windowed mode.
On the Railroad:
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad was a Class I RR operating from Indiana to the West Coast. Famous for their stylish passenger equipment and electrified divisions on the Rockies & Cascades, the Milwaukee Road, as it was later known, is regarded as legendary in status among the fallen flags of US railroading. Mile-per-mile, the Milwaukee Road’s most dense and profitable stretch of trackage was a six-mile urban branchline in its hometown of Milwaukee known to crews as the Chestnut St Branch or simply The Nut.
Milwaukee’s nickname of "The Brew City" is derived from the presence of six massive breweries which survived prohibition and prospered into the 1980s era. Three of these (Schlitz, Pabst, & Blatz) were served by the Chestnut St Branch, earning it the famed title of "The Beer Line." Blatz operated a large rail-distribution operation from the Lincoln St Warehouse which Milwaukee Road Historian Art Dorn nicknamed "the anchor of the Beer Line." Other industries were also served there as well including paper for The Milwaukee Journal and furniture shipments for Oster Bros, among others.
Pabst received incoming shipments of grain at their elevator at Cherry and Commerce, and a swarming army of drayvans (delivery trucks), brought a ceaseless stream of beer to Cherry St Yard, where it was loaded into railcars for shipment across the midwest. Although responsible for a large amount of traffic, the actual breweries for both Blatz and Pabst were located several city blocks away from the Beer Line itself. However, the third member of the Beer Line trinity was located directly on the trackage itself: Schlitz.
At its apogee, the Joseph Schlitz Brewery was the largest brewery in the entire United States and fueled round-the-clock operations on the Beer Line, shipping up to 50 carloads of completed beer in a 24 hour period. Each building in the sprawling complex is labeled on our layout for the inquisitive player, offering operating potential for icing empty refrigerated cars (look for the open roof hatch cars), car setouts at 3 bottling plants, 1 keg plant, inbound grain delivery, outbound spent grain, outbound cullet (broken glass), and inbound used bottles for washing and re-use. The iconic Schlitz Brewhouse Turret at the complex entrance was modeled as well as the distinctive kilns atop the fermentation house.
Continuing with non beer-related traffic, Trostel Tannery received 3-5 carloads of hides each day, associated chemical tank cars, and outbound deliveries. Schuster’s Department Store Warehouse received boxcar loads and a nearby team track served the semi lot delivering to various industries throughout the area. This area is particularly fun to operate thanks to a stretch of peculiar elevation that crews referred to as the Rollercoaster or the Racetrack due to its steep inclines.
Another team track loading dock is situated next door to Weisel’s Sausage which served several tanneries across the river and other industries. Two large coal operations are also located in this area; Maumee Washed Coal and Milwaukee Western Fuel Co which offloaded barges full of coal from Lake Michigan onto the riverbanks by steam cranes and loaded it into railcars and trucks for distribution around Milwaukee in the 40s/50s.
Finally, the Yard Office at Humboldt Yard was command central for the Beer Line. Located away from the frenzy of the massive, sprawling main yard of the Milwaukee Road, working The Nut was considered a prime assignment since these crews had autonomy away from the bosses of the main yards. Outbound traffic was staged at Humboldt and trains assembled here before departure.
For more information on the Beer Line, consult Milwaukee Road Historical Association Special Publication No.5 by Art Harnack.
UPDATE 2.0 (11/22/21) the one year anniversary update:
This update has been a long time in the making and adds a large new area. Beer Line 2.0 expands the layout into the area from North Avenue up to Locust Avenue. This adds 4 major new rail-served industries: Tews Lime & Cement, Milwaukee Lace Paper, Krendtler Bros, Shadbolt & Boyd Building Supply, and Capitol Liquors. New scenic elements include Humboldt Gardens, the Blatz Temple of Music, a large residential area, and yet more shoreline! Small fixes and extra labels in the original area have been added to buildings that we learned about since making 1.0.
The Beer Line Rolling Line layout builder’s club is (in order of appearance):
Microcosmologist – Project Lead, Chief Engineer
Frysco – Modeler (H10-44)
Hong Kong – Historical research, media
Waldo Lahr – Modeler (TMERC Streetcars), map-builder, media
Wrobo1999 – Historical research, map-builder
Long – Modeler (SW1, reefers, boxcars), map-builder, detail specialist
DevTheTrainMan – Map-builder, vehicle specialist
William Tremblay – Map-builder, ground texture specialist
HaltonAllTheWay – Modeler (U-boats), liveries
AdamPalmer2000 – Historical research
ClassicFanatic – Liveries
CoconutPie – Modeler (50’s cars)
DarkDerby – Liveries, graphic design
FlaredRadiators – Liveries
Detroit – Liveries, map-builder
Space – Modeler (MP15AC)
Okami – Map-builder, architecture/vehicle specialist
Parkman – Historical research
Dr. Meth – Map-builder, road specialist
Cyber.exe – Liveries
Burnt Toast – Map-builder, liveries
ThePainTrain – Modeler (SW1200s, bay window caboose)
KevinIsThier – Modeler (Erie-Built, 50’s trucks)
CalneBTC – Modeler (MILW Bulldog)
Please note that if you want to save a local copy of this and edit trains/etc, you’ll need to actually download all the props (as opposed to the workshop save which has them packaged into it) or they will vanish from your saved copy. This is how Rolling Line works. All props are in this collection: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2200549310
