Ladysmith Wisconsin

The Sweet Soo. 10/3/2026 dwm

 It's been awhile since we lived near railroad tracks. It seems it was more than 20 years ago, when we lived in Augusta, Wisconsin that the sound of train whistles and horns were part of the audio landscape.

 

 In Augusta, we lived six blocks from the tracks but in the winter, when the ground was frozen, our house shook whenever a train rumbled through town.

 

 Friday night in Ladysmith made me think of Augusta as it seemed there was a train barrelling through almost once an hour. And when they came through town, the engines were going at a good clip.

 

 You could hear the whistle warning cars to stop and wait for the train to pass. Usually within minutes the train was making through the next city on the way to its destination.

 

 According to Google the tracks through Ladysmith are the primary freight corridor for the Canadian National Mainline hauling products south to regional hubs and the Chicago gateway or north to Lake Superior and international connections.

 

On average, 23 trains pass thru daily. 10/3/26 dm

There are two trains on display in Ladysmith. One is the engine called Old Smoky (bottom left), which the Soo Line Railroad donated to Ladysmith in 1961.
  

The other is Sweet Soo (above left), which was the first passenger diesel on the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste Marie Railway.

 

The Sweet Soo was one of the first diesel-electric locomotives in regular passenger service. They were in operation until the mid-1960s.

 

The Sweet Soo is on display near State Highway 27 just south of U.S. Highway 8, where the engine and several cars are in place on tracks under a protective roof.

 

Old Smoky. 10/3/2026 dwm

 Old Smoky is also under cover. It was built in 1920, the locomotive and tender stretch 82.5 feet long and weigh 493,100 pounds. 

 

 It's last trip was in 1955 after traveling 1.4 million miles. The school children that raised money for its installation named the mighty engine. 

 

 There is a depot next to Sweet Soo and two cabooses on display. The replica depot was built in 1998 and is run by the Rusk Chamber and houses a rail museum.

 

 For a small community, Ladysmith has a surprising downtown with several blocks of storefronts and a beautiful park hugging the Chippewa River. There are also several displays around town depicting townspeople who served in the United States military.

 

More photos follow: 

 

There are several murals around Ladysmith dedicated to their veterans. 10/3/2026 dwm

 
 

Old Smoky. 10/3/2026 dwm