In the second half of the nineteenth century, railroads remade the geography of the Midwest. In Wisconsin, the Chicago and Northwestern, The Milwaukee Road, and the Soo Line were the major railroads. They crossed the state and connected the produce of farmers and miners and lumberyards to port cities on the Great Lakes, the barges on the Mississippi, and most importantly, to the commercial markets in Chicago. The Soo Line Engine #1003 represents that history.