Per Wis. Stat. § 190.11 every real estate transfer or lease, deed of trust, mortgage or satisfaction made by any railroad corporation must be filed first with the applicable County Register of Deeds office, then with the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads.
After filing with the applicable County Register of Deeds office, save a copy of the county-filed railroad conveyance as a pdf file, and file it with the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads via the following link Upload tab: Railroad Real Estate Search. There is no longer a per page fee for railroad filings. Electronic filing of documents is now required. The Office of the Commissioner of Railroads will record the date of filing and maintain the documents filed.
All railroad real estate conveyances are available on this webpage. Railroad real estate documents between 1857 and 1982 are located in volumes 1-52. Please use the
index. Documents post 1982 are located using the Search function in the following link: Railroad Real Estate Search.
To search archived railroad real estate documents, please refer to the index to reference volumes 1-52 of the Secretary of State Railroad Mortgages, years 1857-1982. Find the links to the volumes below.