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Midland Continental Railroad
Without the Midland Continental Railroad (MCR), there would be no Sydney ND. Without Sydney there would be no me.
All four branches of my family intersected in Sydney at one time or another. The township of Sydney was plotted by the MCR. Soon Sydney had a grain elevator and a general store. By 1936 the store was in the hands of my Grandparents. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I would spend a couple weeks each summer at the store/house. I remember waving 'Good Morning' to the engineers across the way. They would give the horn a toot in reply.

The Midland Continental Railroad was envisioned to run from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Galveston, Texas. The vision of creating a mid-continent north-south railroad line between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico was first promulgated by Herbert Sydney Duncombe, a Chicago lawyer, and Frank K. Bull, president of the J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company. Sydney was named after Mr. Duncombe.
The company had not attracted any substantial investment, hence lacked the funds for this short length of line -32.7 miles (52.6 km). Certain of its investors set up the Midland Townsite Company in October 1909 to speculate in land at four future railroad town sites on the route: Franklin, Nortonville, Sydney and Millarton. Even so, money was so tight that the line was only finished on 1 November 1912 and had taken over three years to build.
However lack of fund meant it never went further than 77 miles: from Edgeley to Jamestown, and Jamestown to Wimbledon.
The Midland Continental Railroad was purchased in 1966 by the Northern Pacific and Soo Line railroads. After serious flood damage then spring of 1969 most of the line was closed. Unfortunately the Sydney Depot was gone by the time I was around. Engines still ran occasionally - at least that's what I remember. I remember hiking the line north and south as there was very little to do in Sydney. The joke was, "I would double the population when I visited my grandmother." Sometime before 1973 they tore up the tracks. My grandmother abandoned the store that year. One of the two elevators collapsed some years after than. Now there is nothing left of Sydney.
More on the MCR
Thankfully the Wimbledon depot remains and was turned into a fine museum. My interest in the Midland Continental Railroad has been constant through the years, so when I heard about this museum, I put it on my list. This year I finally made plans to attend. My dad's cousin was spending the summer again and was game to visit it with me.
In an odd coincidence, one of the most famous people to ever come out of North Dakota was Peggy Lee. Originally born Norma Egstrom, her father was the station manager for the Wimbledon Depot. So they also feature her living quarters and another area dedicated to Peggy Lee's career.
Although I was more interested in the railroad, it was interesting to see how they lived, and see the memorabilia the museum has from her career. They had a copy of her confirmation class on display. There was my great-uncle: Herbert Maas in the back row. Peggy Lee had a very interesting live. I'm looking forward to reading her biography. The North Dakota Music Hall of Fame has a nice little overview if you'd like to read it.