Markesan Railroad Yard/Time Table

I am working on a big project right now (more on that later) that has me digging into some railroad history in Oshkosh. While working on that, it has me wondering more about Markesan’s railroad yard. It can be harder to find information on small lines that ended in small towns. Once in a while I can find some information that is one more piece of the puzzle.

While cleaning my mass of papers, I found this copy of a Sanborn Map layout of the Markesan railroad yard. As you can see, the railroad did not run through town. The trains came in and had to be turned around. I am not sure how that all worked out, but,If I had to make an educated guess, I assume that a locomotive was always kept in the locomotive house. The locomotive that brought the train in was uncoupled. Meanwhile, another train was pulled out of the locomotive house and coupled to the back of the train to head out.