The Milwaukee District / North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District / North line are pale "Hiawatha Orange" in honor of the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha passenger trains.[2] The line utilizes the Canadian Pacific Railway's C&M Subdivision from Chicago to Rondout and Metra's Fox Lake Subdivision from Rondout to Fox Lake. Metra is the primary user of the C&M Subdivision, with commuter services operating between Union Station and Fox Lake. As of July 12, 2021, the public timetable shows 19 weekday departures to Chicago, with 14 beginning at Fox Lake, four beginning at Lake Forest, and one beginning at Deerfield. Each weekday 19 trains depart Chicago Union Station with one train terminating at Deerfield, four terminating at Lake Forest, and the remainder terminating at Fox Lake. Metra operates a reduced schedule on weekends, with nine trains operating both to Chicago Union Station and Fox Lake, with one additional train between Lake Forest and Chicago on Saturdays. This service is supplemented by Amtrak, whose Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service inter-city trains stop at Union Station and Glenview. Before 1982, this line was operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). When the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt, the Regional Transportation Authority took over operation of the line. By 1984, the line passed to RTA's newly created Commuter Rail Division, which rebranded as Metra in 1985. Today this service is one of several Metra routes operated by Metra crews, but trains are dispatched, under contract, by the Canadian Pacific Railway through its American subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad, which operates freight trains over this route.[4] The Milwaukee District/North Line route and Metra's track ownership diverge from the Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis mainline at Rondout, Illinois and proceeds northwesterly toward Fox Lake. This secondary route, owned by Metra, was known as the Janesville Subdivision (J-Sub) of the Milwaukee Road. The mainline north of Rondout is owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)[5] through its American subsidiary Soo Line Railroad and sees Amtrak and freight traffic only. Metra service and track ownership ends at Fox Lake. The tracks beyond Fox Lake are owned by the State of Wisconsin and operated for freight service by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad. Commuter service beyond Fox Lake, abolished in 1982, served the communities of Spring Grove, Illinois, Solon Mills, Illinois, Zenda, Wisconsin, and Walworth, Wisconsin.[6] Until 1984, there was a stop in Rondout. The station building itself was demolished in the mid-1960s. The station was located at Rondout Junction, where the line crosses the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway's tracks at a diamond junction.[7] Before 1982, service ran as far north as Walworth, Wisconsin. Metra has conducted studies on extending the Milwaukee District / North Line to Richmond, Illinois, and constructing a second branch, running along the Canadian Pacific main line from Rondout north to Wadsworth. However, there are not any plans to construct the extension.[8]
