Being a member of the University of Wisconsin football team has its benefits.
Unfortunately, those benefits no longer include kick-ass train rides.
Half a century ago, trains still represented a viable and economic method of transportation, instead of simply being a rattling iron snake that noisily disrupts campus on a daily basis. And for Madisonians looking to take a trip via rail, the West Madison Depot was the place to go.
Located just west of the Kohl Center, the depot was built in 1903 and served the Chicago, Milwaukuee and St. Paul Railway for the better part of a century. In 1953, a group of lucky football-playing Badgers departed from the station to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, which they lost 0-7 to the USC Trojans.
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While the bitter taste of defeat has subsided, especially with a recent Holiday Bowl victory, the train station exists today, albeit transformed into a bicycle shop. Take a look at what the station looked like then and now with the pictures below:
Photo courtesy of UW
Marissa Haegele/The Badger Herald
