Thanks to all who answered my thread about Dale, WI. Now on to Appleton…
There are tracks that leave the Appleton Y (west of Spencer street) to the Northeast, run over Wisconsin Avenue, and then run due east (south of Appleton Medical Center) towards Kaukauna.
When is the best DAY time to railfan that stretch of track? I hear the horns at times VERY early in the AM (between 2:00 and 8:00).
Thanks in advance.
Welcome to Appleton, trains run 24/4–there are a number of trains that run from Green Bay to Neenah as well as a couple of locals. Sometime between 2:00am and 4:00am is the Green Bay to Stevens Point train that has power on both ends. It returns durning the moring aprox. 9:00am give or take. Also, not on schedule gets a UP coal running to the power plant in GB. Get to see some varied power, mostly GE’s with a SD90 tossed in occasionly, sometimes get to see 70’s Randall street at Ballard Rd. just north of Wisconsin Ave., and near the overpass on WI ave is a good spot to watch, as well as the Depot just off of Outagamie St. between Spencer St. and Prospect Ave.
I live near the Mason St. overpass.
Enjoy!!
Jared
Thanks for the quick reply.
Depot? Do you mean the yard/yard office to the south of Miller Ellectric?
Yes, that is the building, sorry, just used to calling it the depot, it is the office for the yard.
I’ve gotten some good railfanning shots on that frontage road near the GNC factory just south of the Prospect exit off of US41. You can pretty much follow the trains from there down to and through the Neenah yard. That works great for me because I like to take pictures. Good luck!
This is a favorite spot for me as well - I think its called Stroebe Road (pronounced Stroh-Bee). I’ve seen a lot of stuff either parked there, or waiting there for meets. Do a mapquest search for 300 Stroebe Rd, Appleton, WI and you’ll have a star right on the RR track
The other line I like at Appleton is the line that heads east/southeast from the yard office, past Tom’s Drive Inn (I think that’s still there) and down the hill to the Appleton Flats area. I followed that all the way along the river valley through Little Chute and into the South Side of Kaukauna. If I understand it correctly, that was part of the old Manitowoc to Appleton route and still serves a lot of industry along there. Got a few pics of the local working that route. I’d like to see the grade profile since they go from being riverside down in the flats area, to crossing over the top of Hwy 441 near CE then back down to the River at Kaukauna.
Yes, the Tom’s Drive Inn is still there although it is now empty. I can listen to the engines climbing the hill out of the flats from my house. On a quiet day it is great to hear them struggle up the hill. Quite often they will have to stop on the hill just short of the Mason St. crossing and hold for other traffic and then proceed. That is fun to watch, as they start up on the hill and continue to the yard and on to Neenah. Quite often on Stroebe Rd. you can find UP coal trains parked, both full and empties.
Whati really like here is the long bridge acroos the Fox River on the Flats.there is quite a grade on both ends of that line.Does any one know the percent of grade…I am waiting for the rework of the rail bridge that has not swung in a couple of decades at Lock # 4,on the newly rebuilt lock system on the Fox river.Really enjoy this area.Thanks for all the info on this area.