In 1895 the Manitowoc Terminal Company, a subsidiary of the Central, purchased all the available land around the river on the flats west of the present City of Manitowoc, Wis. At the same time the Central and the Flint & Pere Marquette R.R. were making exhaustive studies of grain movements from the west to the eastern markets and of West Virginia coal tonnage to the west -- what evolved was the first practical plan for ferrying freight trains across Lake Michigan; 60 miles of deep rough water, an innovation in box car transportation.
It was then disclosed that the Central proposed to build a branch line from Hilbert Junction, making Manitowoc the terminal and distributing point for heavy freight traffic.
The plan for a railroad connecting Neenell-Menasha and Manitowoc had been agitated periodically since 1850, beginning with George Reed.
The Flint & Pere Marquette owned and operated a fleet of steamers, but new steamers were designed for the Manitowoc-Ludinston route. The heads of the two railroads pioneered the car ferry scheme and were first to establish the method of transportation that became standard with all car ferry lines following the Pere Marquette successful operation.
The Manitowoc branch began under the name of the Manitowoc & Western R.R. Co., incorporated May 25, 1895, chartered to build a line of railroad from Hilbert Junction to Manitowoc, a distance of 27 miles. Construction began in April 1895. It was completed in April 1896.
The prehistoric bank of Lake Michigan, immediately west of Manitowoc, rises abruptly for several hundred feet, so a huge cut necessitated the removal of vast quantities of earth to obtain a workable grade down to the lake level. Other earth work of major proportions in the vicinity slowed progress and it was not until May 1, 1896 that the job was finished. A new jack knife drawbridge solved the problem at the Manitowoc River and completed the Central connection to Menasha and the main line.
On June 24, 1895, the first passenger train from Menasha entered Manitowoc, in charge of Conductor Bernie Scott and Engineer Nolan. By a strange coincidence, the first Central engine to enter Manitowoc was a little Manchester, No 42, 4-4-0, with 60 inch drivers, that was scrapped in 1909. It was the same engine that handled the first train into Chicago in 1886.
Early in 1895 the Central obtained trackage rights over the C.M.&St.P. between Menasha and Hilbert Junction, 14.3 miles. This agreement provided timely aid and convenience in construction of the Manitowoc Line, and thereafter assured uninterrupted access to its own rails at Hilbert Junction. On July 1, 1899, the Central purchased ??????? interest in the line between Hilbert Junction and Menasha, a joint ownership which exists today with train operation under C.M.& St.P. rules.
While the Central steam-shoveled the Manitowoc Branch Line into tangible form, President Crapo of the F.& P. M. built the famous car ferry, the “Pere Marquette”. The stout old ship made her maiden voyage February 17, 1897, and her successful performance fully confirmed the utility and value of the Abbot-Crapo plan.
As an ice-breaker and pioneer long-distance carrier of freight trains, the Pere Marquette became a unique institution on Lake Michigan, and her early cargo lists tell of thousands of cars put on board by the Central at Manitowoc for delivery to Flint & Pere Marquette rails at Ludington.
Later the car ferry distribution of Central cars widened to include connections with the Big Four Railroad at Benton Harbor and the Ann Arbor Railroad at Frankfort, Michigan.
For many years following 1897, the Central handled solid trains of flour and western wheat from Minneapolis to Manitowoc via Menasha on airtight time schedules, and all except first class passenger trains "went in the hole" to clear the track. for the "high-ball flour runs".