The La Crosse & Milwaukee railroad graded most of the line from Madison to Portage (1856 and 1857).

The evidence

• “In 1856 and 1857, the La Crosse & Milwaukee railroad graded most of the line from Madison to Portage. After the failure of the company, this line was abandoned, and so remained until 1870, when a new company was organized, under the name of the Madison & Portage City railroad company.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/04-wisconsin-railroads-commerce-health-statistics.md, PDF p. 225

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

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