When Henry David Thoreau spoke of the railroad in 1854 he said, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us." Never were these words more true than in the creation of the Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda railroad (PLZ&W).

The PLZ&W officially rode into Lake Zurich on August 25, 1912, the result of a dream of Robert D. Wynn, and Justin K. Orvis. The original plan was for an electric rail line spanning 75 miles of Lake and McHenry counties and connecting other commuter lines. The result was an 11 mile stretch of steam-run railroad from Palatine at the Chicago Northwestern station to the resorts in Lake Zurich and Bangs Lake in Wauconda. The Lake Zurich connection would help deliver mail between the communities and transfer freight to the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (EJ&E) freight line.

Railroads were important in the area because the countryside was dotted with newly forming communities with little connection to each other. Railroads provided access to the rest of the civilized world, and brought the rest of the world to the small community. The automobile was still a novelty during the early l900s, and railroads added a prestigious reputation to communities along the line.

Unfortunately, the PLZ&W, sometimes referred to as Old Maud after its most famous engine, suffered many setbacks from its conception. The initial problems of raising funds to operate continued to plague the line, and it passed in and out of receivership several times during its troubled existence, in part due to the lower economics of the communities it served.

Establishing the rail lines through the countryside was also a great challenge. Rights-of-way often required bargaining with landowners, and even organizations like the Lake Zurich Golf Course who established a graveyard on their property to "foil the vile machinations of a huge and heartless railroad corporation who, through the iniquitous law of the right of eminent domain had thought to seize this beautiful spot for its own fell purposes."

Other problems occurred due to the use of second-hand equipment. The PLZ&W was dubbed the Palatine, Lake Zurich and Walk railroad at one point, because the engines had trouble pulling the load if there were too many passengers while on a steep grade. The trestle in Lake Zurich built to cross the EJ&E tracks was one such spot. The riders would sometimes be forced to exit the train, walk across the trestle and then meet the train on the other side.

Mother Nature was also an important factor in the ultimate demise of the PLZ&W. Before the tracks were laid in Lake Zurich they had to be built around a stubborn sink hole. The Great Blizzard of 1918 left the 42" of snowfall in 10-20 foot drifts which halted the train's progress, literally. Local volunteer crews of 75- 1 00 men hand shoveled the snow to clear the tracks while local women provided hot coffee and chocolate for the tired workers.

In 1920, there was a tornado that swept through Lake County touching down in Wauconda and destroying the engine house. Known hereafter as the Palm Sunday tornado, its effects were crippling to the little railroad.

1924 saw the final run of the PLZ&W shortly after a cold spring and unsuccessful July 4th holiday turnout. The legacy left behind was the purchase of some of the land by the Lake Zurich Lions Club, who built Lions Park and Lions Drive along the railroad's right-of-way.

Richard Whitney, a Wauconda resident, researched the railroad for 30 years and wrote the book Old Maud, available through the Ela Historical Society. He passed on in 1994, shortly after completing his life's work.

The future may see the return of the passenger train to Lake Zurich along the EJ&E lines which form a large loop around the Chicago suburbs from Waukegan down to Gary, Indiana. This line formed in the late 1800s has been primarily used as a freight line, but connects to every major passenger line in the greater Chicago area. It's future as a commuter line, however, will depend on the support of the residents of Lake County, and their willingness to forgo the automobile.