Langlade County

1.)Langlade Lumber Company. Paine Lumber Company of Oshkosh began operating its railroad southwest out of Summit Lake in 1899. The first locomotive owned by the railroad was a Climax. The line exteded in a westerly and southwesterly direction from Summit Lake for about 10 miles to a post office in the western part of the county called Bavaria. Paine's railroad was so hilly that the Climax could only handle 5 loaded cars at a time. The C&NW hauled the logs south from Summit Lake to the Paine mill in Oshkosh. In 1919 The company was renamed the Langlade Lumber Company. It wasn't under new ownership, Paine simply wanted to avoid labor problems in Oshkosh, so he built a new mill in Antigo. Langlade Lumber operated at the Summit Lake location until 1922 when operations were transfered to Pearson. That year Langlade Lumber built a 7 mile railroad south from Pearson that served not only its own lands but those of the E. Norem Company as well. Operations at Pearson lasted until 1933. In that year the E. Norem Co. purchased the line and acted as a contractor to remove it. Removal wasn't completed until 1936.

2.)Morse & Tradewell Lumber Company. See Forest County Page

3.)Holt Lumber Compay. See Oconto County Page

4.)Oconto Company. Former Miner Brothers Lumber Company See Forest County Page

5.)Oconto Company. The Oconto Company operated two railroads in Eastern Langlade and Western Oconto Counties. The first began operations in 1916. It connected with the C&NW Bonita Branch in section 6 of town 31N range 15E. (The C&NW built a branch westerly from a connection with the Gillett-Laona Line about 4 miles south of Mountain in 1914 and 1915. It connected with logging railroads of both the Oconto Co and the Holt Lumber Co. Holt's operations were only in Oconto County and will be dealt with in that page. Oconto's were in both counties, but the majority of track was in Langlade county and will be dealt with here.) The Oconto Co road ran northwesterly from this connection and covered the eastern half of town 32N range 14E and the western third of town 15E. Oconto Company's operations at this point continued until 1928. It was said that this line was like a roller coaster. Oconto Company's other railroad connected with the C&NW at Flanders Spur in Oconto County about 3 miles northwest of Townsend. This line ran in a southwesterly direction and covered the southeastern quarter of town 33N range 14E. Operations on this line began in 1923 when operations ended on the former Miner Brothers line and ended in 1941.

6.)Connor Land & Lumber Company. See Forest County Page

7.)Underwood Veneer Company. See Forest County Page

8.)Crocker Chair Company. In 1907 the Crocker Chair Company began operations of its railroad extending north from Elton. The railroad was a rather simple affair with one ex-Milwaukee rod locomotive and a few cars. In 1923 Crocker sold out to neighbor Yawkey-Bissell who continued to operate the line into the early 30's.

9.)Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company. Yawkey-Bissell began operations in 1917 at White Lake. Y-B's initial line ran southeasterly from White Lake and eventually ended just south of Elton. Y-B aquired trackage rights on the SOO from White Lake north to Crandon and then moved operations north into Forest County. (See Forest County Page for more info.) In the late 30's operations were again moved back to Langlade County. Y-B's final rail line connected with the SOO about 7 miles north of White Lake. It lasted until 1946. The SOO also built a branch northeast from Holister to Camp 5 about 4 miles, in 1917,1919, and 1920. This line was built to accomodate Yawkey-Bissell. It was abandoned in 1931.