Sawyer County

1.)Bissell Lumber Company This railroad began at a junction with the SOO at Crane about 5 miles northwest of Ladysmith in Rusk County. It began in 1909 as the Crane Logging & Lumber Company which constructed a line northeast to the Sawyer County line. In 1912 Crane sold out to the Puffer-Hubbard Lumber Co. Both Crane and P-H only operated in Rusk County, and used Russell log cars. About 1914 the line was sold to the Held Lumber Co. In 1917 it became property of the Fountain-Campbell Lumber Company of Ladysmith, who extended the line into southern Sawyer County and converted operations to use regular flat cars. F-C trains ran south on the SOO into Ladysmith and their locomotives utilized the SOO facilities located there. Prior to this in 1916, Fountain-Campbell had rebuilt a small portion of the Chippewa River & Menominee from a connection with the SOO Line to Russell's Landing to get logs from the area into the Chippewa River. In 1928 Fountain-Campbell sold out to the Bissell Lumber company, who extended the railroad north until it almost met the CSPM&O Park Falls branch. Much of this was accomplished utilizing old grades from the John Kaiser Lumber Company Railroad. Bissell operated until 1934. There was a steep grade wast of Crane which forced all loaded log trains to double the hill.

2.)Arpin Hardwood & Lumber Co. This line operated north from a point on the CSPM&O Park Falls branch about 3 miles east of Radisson. It operated between 1912 and 1914. Arpin Hardwood & Lumber company also owned the Chippewa Valley & Northern Railroad. Log trains reached Arpin by running west on the CSPM&O and then east on the SOO to Bruce.(see Rusk County page)

3.)John H. Kaiser Lumber Company. This line ran south from Winter to southern Sawyer County. It ran between 1907 and 1924. Several of its grades were later re-used by the Bissell Lumber Company, and the Superior & Southeastern Railroad.

4.)Delco & Northern Railroad. This line ran north from the CSPM&O Park Falls branch at Delco. (about 7 miles east of Loretta) It ran several miles north into Ashland County. From 1915 to 1929 it was owned by the New Dells Lumber Company. New Dells became the Dells Paper & Pulp Company in 1929 and on July 18, 1929 they incorporated the common carrier Delco & Northern Railroad to operate the southern 3.3 miles of the line. The reason for this was to force a tarriff division and get lower rates on carloads of logs being hauled by the CSPM&O to Eau Claire. In 1936 when the line was abandoned and removed, the track and equipment were re-used on the Dells & Northeastern Railroad. (see Ashland County page)

5.)Superior & Southeastern Railroad (see also Bayfield South & Ashland County pages) In 1920 the Park Falls Lumber Company (owned by Edward Hines) built a line north from Loretta into Ashland and Bayfield Counties. This line utilized rail and equipment from Park Falls Lumber's recently closed operation out of Park Falls. This line connected up with the existing Superior & Southeastern Railroad which ran southeast from Grandview. (see Bayfield County South page for history of this portion of the S&SE) In 1924 the northern portion of the railroad in Bayfield County was abandoned. The remaining portion of the line north from Loretta in Ashland and Sawyer Counties remained in operation until 1930 when it was abandoned. In the early 1922 Park Falls Lumber constructed a new line south from Loretta into the southeast corner of the county. On Oct 20, 1922 3.42 miles north from Loretta and .68 miles south from Loretta became common carrier trackage. This was done, probably to force a tarriff split with the CSPM&O as the Delco & Northern had done. Much of the track south of Loretta was laid on grades left over by the John Kaiser Lumber Company Railroad. On Apr 17, 1928 Park Falls Lumber became the Edward Hines Hardwood & Hemlock Company. The Superior & Southeastern, running from Grandview to the Southeast corner of Sawyer County billed itself as the longest logging railroad in Wisconsin, and from 1922 until 1924 its main line was about 60 miles in length. In 1929 Hines appealed to the Wisconsin Railroad Commisssion to have the line's common carrier status revoked as it hauled only logs for the owning company. The commission approved and the remaining portion of the S&SE south of Loretta operated as a private carrier. The trackage north of Loretta was abandoned in 1930. that south of town lingered until 1934.

6.)West Lumber Co They operated a few spurs in the far eastern portion of the county. (see Price County page)

7.)Glidden & Southwestern This railroad operated southwest out of Glidden into the northeast portion of the county (see Ashland County page)

8.)Chippewa River & Menominee This railroad operated north out of Rusk county into the south central portion of the county (see Rusk County)

9.)Chippewa Valley & Northern This railroad operated north out of Rusk county to Exeland where it crossed the SOO. Exeland got its name from this crossing. (see Rusk County page)

10.)Rice Lake Lumber Company This company built a line northwest from a point on the CSPM&O Park Falls branch about 1 mile west of Loretta. It began operations in 1909. It later was bought out by the Park Falls Lumber Company in 1920. Operations were then transferred to Loretta.

11.)North Wisconsin Lumber & Manufacturing Company. This Hines owned company built north from Hayward into southwestern Bayfield County. (see Bayfield County South page for more info)