The first locomotive arrived in Janesville, in charge of Engineer John C. Fox.

The evidence

• “The building of the Milwaukee & Mississippi railway during the previous year had progressed so far that it was ready to operate early in January, 1853. On January 5, 1853, the city celebrated its completion with public meetings and speeches. The first locomotive did not arrive until January 10, 1853, when it pulled into Janesville and stopped at the depot on the bluff east of the present gas works, in charge of Engineer John C. Fox.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/26-history-of-janesville.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 33 / book p. 547

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources