[3] In 1870, the Baraboo Air Line Railroad began building northwest from Madison toward Winona Junction, near La Crosse, a distance of 129 miles (208 km).

[5] In 1911, the North Western opened the Adams Cutoff, a new line between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Sparta.

The new line shortened the distance between Milwaukee and Minneapolis, and avoided the difficult grades of the original route between Elroy and Sparta.

[7] The North Western abandoned that part of the line altogether in 1964 and it was converted into the Elroy-Sparta State Trail.

[10] When Union Pacific sought to abandon 15 miles (24 km) between Madison and Evansville in 1998, the municipalities of Oregon and Fitchburg acquired the line.