Things I Miss and Things I Don’t - 2025 LbNA #77548
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Add Location| Owner: | Wisconsin Hiker
 |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Aug 4, 2025 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Brookfield |
| County: | Waukesha |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| Boxes: | 2 |
| Found by: | shooting starz (2) |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Aug 23, 2025 |
| Status: | F |
| Last edited: | Aug 12, 2025 |
Last checked/found: 4-AUG-25
Location: Trailhead parking at 2825 North Brookfield Rd (refreshments nearby in historical train depot from 1867)
Distance: 2.5 miles round trip
Terrain: Level asphalt path with almost no shade
Martini Man & I lived in Wisconsin all our lives until we moved to Arizona in 2016. We have lived in the Tucson area since then, but we come back to Wisconsin almost every year to visit family and friends. I decided to start a series (perhaps an annual series?) to highlight things we miss about Wisconsin, and things we DON’T miss. So this is the first episode…
Park in the small FRT parking lot and head down the incline to the main trail. On the main trail, start out by chugging west. From 1991-2016, Martini Man & I lived a few blocks from here and could hear some of the trains go by on the nearby active tracks. But when we lived there, what is now an asphalt path was an overgrown abandoned railroad track. We bushwhacked our way along the old tracks to plant one of my early boxes way back in 2005. See the end of these clues if you are interested in the history of the old railroad path that you are walking on. (I included the same information in my clues for the old box, which disappeared 10 years ago.)
Well, 20 years after planting that Brookfield Junction box, we were here again to plant two boxes. It was much easier walking now on the newly constructed trail! As you stroll along the path, you’ll have views of wetlands and the Brookfield Recycling Center. Eventually you’ll cross a bridge over the Fox River. Continue onward until the wetland changes to more solid ground. Pass a sumac on your left and stop at a single tall maple(?) on the left. Something we DON’T miss is lurking behind the tree, at the base of the trunk. Please rehide well.
Continue on the path a bit further to a tree on the left with at least 10 trunks. Something we DO miss is nestled inside the ring of trunks. You can try some yourself by driving only a mile or so south on Brookfield Road. Please rehide the box well.
Retrace your steps back to your vehicle.
Please let us know how the boxes are doing if you look for them. Thanks!
Railroad History
The first railroad in Wisconsin ran between Milwaukee and Waukesha and was completed in 1851. Two years later, in 1853, the first railroad depot was built in Brookfield. Subsequently destroyed by fire, the depot was replaced with this structure (now the coffee house) in 1867. A community known as Brookfield Junction grew up here in the mid-1800s, at the point where the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railway tracks crossed the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad tracks. The community included a post office, saw mills, hotels, saloons, blacksmith shops and stores. Some of these buildings can still be seen in the area today. Fare from Brookfield to Waukesha was once about 10 cents.
In later years, the Hiawatha train (lounge cars designed by Brook Stevens) also traveled on these tracks. The Milwaukee Road had a corporate commitment to pure speed. It invested in locomotives and tracks able to rush trains for mile after mile at speeds above 100 mph. The heyday of Hiawathas began in the 1930s. With the end of the World War in 1945, The Milwaukee Road set about asserting anew its access to the Pacific Northwest. It publicized its excellence and market access with an Olympian Hiawatha train, named for the state of Washington mountain range shielding Puget Sound. (The current Amtrak train that passes this station, the Empire Builder, travels from Chicago to Seattle.)
Another noteworthy train that traveled on these tracks was the “Cannonball”. Originally it ran from Chicago to Milwaukee then on to Watertown, Wisconsin, where it divided into two sections, one going to Madison, the other to Portage. Eventually the train was reduced to a commuter run, east in the morning from Watertown to Milwaukee and back to Watertown in the evening. The regulars considered it a rolling social club, especially on Friday nights when a festive atmosphere prevailed, complete with iced drinks furnished courtesy of specified commuters. Its last run was on July 31, 1972.
Location: Trailhead parking at 2825 North Brookfield Rd (refreshments nearby in historical train depot from 1867)
Distance: 2.5 miles round trip
Terrain: Level asphalt path with almost no shade
Martini Man & I lived in Wisconsin all our lives until we moved to Arizona in 2016. We have lived in the Tucson area since then, but we come back to Wisconsin almost every year to visit family and friends. I decided to start a series (perhaps an annual series?) to highlight things we miss about Wisconsin, and things we DON’T miss. So this is the first episode…
Park in the small FRT parking lot and head down the incline to the main trail. On the main trail, start out by chugging west. From 1991-2016, Martini Man & I lived a few blocks from here and could hear some of the trains go by on the nearby active tracks. But when we lived there, what is now an asphalt path was an overgrown abandoned railroad track. We bushwhacked our way along the old tracks to plant one of my early boxes way back in 2005. See the end of these clues if you are interested in the history of the old railroad path that you are walking on. (I included the same information in my clues for the old box, which disappeared 10 years ago.)
Well, 20 years after planting that Brookfield Junction box, we were here again to plant two boxes. It was much easier walking now on the newly constructed trail! As you stroll along the path, you’ll have views of wetlands and the Brookfield Recycling Center. Eventually you’ll cross a bridge over the Fox River. Continue onward until the wetland changes to more solid ground. Pass a sumac on your left and stop at a single tall maple(?) on the left. Something we DON’T miss is lurking behind the tree, at the base of the trunk. Please rehide well.
Continue on the path a bit further to a tree on the left with at least 10 trunks. Something we DO miss is nestled inside the ring of trunks. You can try some yourself by driving only a mile or so south on Brookfield Road. Please rehide the box well.
Retrace your steps back to your vehicle.
Please let us know how the boxes are doing if you look for them. Thanks!
Railroad History
The first railroad in Wisconsin ran between Milwaukee and Waukesha and was completed in 1851. Two years later, in 1853, the first railroad depot was built in Brookfield. Subsequently destroyed by fire, the depot was replaced with this structure (now the coffee house) in 1867. A community known as Brookfield Junction grew up here in the mid-1800s, at the point where the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railway tracks crossed the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad tracks. The community included a post office, saw mills, hotels, saloons, blacksmith shops and stores. Some of these buildings can still be seen in the area today. Fare from Brookfield to Waukesha was once about 10 cents.
In later years, the Hiawatha train (lounge cars designed by Brook Stevens) also traveled on these tracks. The Milwaukee Road had a corporate commitment to pure speed. It invested in locomotives and tracks able to rush trains for mile after mile at speeds above 100 mph. The heyday of Hiawathas began in the 1930s. With the end of the World War in 1945, The Milwaukee Road set about asserting anew its access to the Pacific Northwest. It publicized its excellence and market access with an Olympian Hiawatha train, named for the state of Washington mountain range shielding Puget Sound. (The current Amtrak train that passes this station, the Empire Builder, travels from Chicago to Seattle.)
Another noteworthy train that traveled on these tracks was the “Cannonball”. Originally it ran from Chicago to Milwaukee then on to Watertown, Wisconsin, where it divided into two sections, one going to Madison, the other to Portage. Eventually the train was reduced to a commuter run, east in the morning from Watertown to Milwaukee and back to Watertown in the evening. The regulars considered it a rolling social club, especially on Friday nights when a festive atmosphere prevailed, complete with iced drinks furnished courtesy of specified commuters. Its last run was on July 31, 1972.