April 2, 2025
The Wauwatosa Historical Society recently partnered with railfan organization Steel Highway to launch a live webcam at the Little Red Store in Wauwatosa, giving train enthusiasts around the world a chance to watch Amtrak and Canadian Pacific Kansas City trains pass through the village. Since March 26, 2025, the webcam has been streaming live 24 hours a day. Railway buffs can catch all the action on the YouTube channel Steel Highway Railcams.
The railway line running through Wauwatosa holds a special place in history—it’s the oldest railroad track in Wisconsin. As settlers pushed westward across the Mississippi River, demand for railroads to transport people and goods grew.
On November 20, 1850, a wood-burning locomotive with an immense funnel-shaped black stack pulled two open cars of dignitaries on an inaugural run across newly laid track to Wauwatosa. The train sped along at 30 miles per hour, covering the distance in just twelve minutes before pulling up at Spurr’s Tavern in Wauwatosa.
Five months later, the track extended to Waukesha, and regular service was established with one passenger train and one freight train running daily between Milwaukee and Waukesha. The cost of a ticket from Milwaukee to Wauwatosa was 20 cents. The Little Red Store quickly became a bustling railroad hub for rail passengers. Eventually, in 1880 a larger depot opened about a quarter mile to the east, along what is now State Street. The new station featured spacious covered porches with spindled columns and latticed rails. This elegant station was used until 1945 when it was destroyed and replaced by a modern red brick Prairie Style building.
By the last decade of the nineteenth century, 22 trains arrived at Wauwatosa station daily, carrying between 150 and 200 passengers to and from Milwaukee. Commuters could catch a morning train to Milwaukee and return to Wauwatosa by 5:30 p.m. The train was so popular that residents even petitioned for an evening train so they could attend events like theater performances or lectures in the city.
The railcam at Milepost 90.6 on the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CKPC) Watertown Subdivision brings a piece of railroad history to life. With Steel Highway’s YouTube channel, railfans can watch trains in real-time, chat with other train buffs, and enjoy a front-row seat to the ongoing legacy of Wisconsin’s oldest railway line.
This article, written by Marguerite Helmers, draws on sources from the Wauwatosa Historical Society archives, including past issues of Historic Wauwatosa and railroad history notes and documents collected by Ed Wilkomen.
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