hey,
can someone tell me some details…
Neenah
where is the yard? how to get thier? good watching spots? waht is the main switchers
Wis Rapids where is it & how to get their & spots to watch? main switchers? where do the trains go form their?
Green bay i believe thier is a yard their? if so where is it & spots to watch & where do the trains go that leave green bay?
any help gladly appreciete it
thanks
The yard in Neenah is easy to get to. From US 41 take the Breezewood Exit and go East. At the first road going left down the hill, turn and go straight on this road for about a mile or so. People watch the trains switch from a parking lot near a building owned by the Boys/Girls Brigade. I haven’t had problems with anyone when I’ve watched trains from that lot, however from time to time the B/G Brigade does have events there, so be prepared to park on a road and watch from a lawn chair. The yard is monitored closely by CNRRPD via CCTV so I wouldn’t try to trespass. However, there is a road cutting across the ladder of the yard that is public with a sidewalk and if you walk on it you can sometimes see back to the yard office and fueling area. If you’re taking pictures have a telephoto, it’ll help.
As to power there’s usually an IC or CN GP/SD of some variety (usually a GP40-2W or an SD40-2), although there are a few WC GP’s around from time to time. I have also seen some WC SW1500’s (I think!) working as a pair but they’re sometimes hard to spot as they stay deep in the yard. You can see the mainline from that parking lot and the south end of the yard ladder, but not where they ‘hump’ the cars. I’ve gotten a lot of ‘roster-type’ shots from near that area as you can see if you look in my “Photos” link in my sig.
I hope this helps!
For Green Bay, do a Mapquest search for 900 Prairie Avenue, Green Bay, WI. The yard office and adjacent lot are on Prairie Ave. The roundhouse and engine service/storage tracks are along Prairie too. There is an overpass over the yard (Atkinson Dr.), but you have to park along Velp Ave and walk up there. Better to drive over than walk over.
You’ll also want to see the old CNW depot that is now Titletown Brewing. Its a good place to eat and the depot is still in nice shape (big building)
http://www.titletownbrewing.com/
For Wis. Rapids, again, using Mapquest, enter the address 99 Railroad St, Wisconsin Rapids, WI. The yard is just east of where it will show the star. Intersection of 1st St and RR St.
I’d also check out the CN yard at Stevens Point. Busy place. Mapquest for 2300 Division St, Stevens Point, WI (Division St. at Depot St. is the depot and dispatch office). The shop and yard office is east of there. The bridge over the Wis River is a little west.
This picture is of the old C&NW (now UP) terminal in Green Bay you will want to see while there. It is on the North side of downtown near the oil company tank farm but is worth the time to find.
thanks for the help,
monday ill be in neenah ( spring break next week) i got a aortho appt thier so after im done their im gonna spend some time watching trains their. whenever a nice day comes ill go out to point & rapids. ive been to point before so i know every spot around their to watch from. green bay im gonna have to wait ahwile.
again thanks for the info
Have they torn down the rest of the roundhouse yet? when I was still working there it’s time was short .
I head out to those area’s that have already been listed quite regularly. Not sure on my plans for next Monday yet but I may be down by the Boys and Girls club parking lot area. I’ve take quite a few decent pictures from this area. Also if you head south on Harrison st (same road that the boys and girls club is on) you’ll notice quite a few good spots to watch the trains go by.
If you by any chance see an older maroon Saturn while you are out feel free to say hello.
-Tim
KC9FSH
I’ve seen you there before Tim! If you ever see a black Ford Ranger 4x4 extended cab with a Lifeguard bumpersticker that’s me. By the way…
[#welcome] to the forum!
In the pic that Eola fan posted (nice pic by the way) you can see about 4 stalls remaining of the GB roundhouse. That’s all that is left of it today.
Thanks for the welcome [:)]
I think that I may have seen you out last Saturday. Where you on Chapman Ave? I plan on heading out again tomorrow. Work is making me get up at 4am to work a whole 3 1/2 hours so I might as well use the day for something useful. If you see me this weekend feel free to stop and say hello.
If it was you on Chapman Ave and you are one of the regulars that Nathan has told me about then I’ll try to swing by there tomrrow. My plans for tomorrow are to head down to Neenah around 0800 and stay down there until around 0900. Then I will head to the Manitowoc Sub to try and get the outgoing train that heads to Manitowoc. After that I will probably return to Neenah for a few more hours.
On a side note, if you’d like to check out some of my pictures feel free to check out my gallery website at http://www.kc9fsh.com/trains
Hope to see you out there,
Tim
I may be in Shawano tomorrow aft/eve to spend some time with the future in-laws. So I probably won’t be there…but there’s always a chance!
If you get to Green Bay, you’re likely to see a bit of everything. During the day, there are usually 2 switch jobs working the yard (one on the east yard, one on the west) kicking cars to classify them for outbound trains. The yard power can be old WC SW switchers, CN SW’s or even smaller 4 axle CN road switchers (GP’s- though I don’t think CN nomenclature calls them GP’s)
The road power from Fond du Lac will be waiting on the former serving tracks. If you’re here on a Saturday or anyday before about 9AM, the Escanaba and Lake Superior RR power will be on the same tracks (GP-38’s, SD-40’s maybe an SD-9, even an occaisional F unit.) The power from the Green Bay Pulliam Plant coal trains lays over there as well - Big UP GE’s or EMD’s.
You didn’t miss too much. I saw one train heading north through Neenah, one heading North into Neenah (IC 6257 and IC 6129 and just some switching. I didn’t get too many pictures yesterday. Just a couple of the WC 2500, that alone made it a worthwhile couple of hours.
I did drive past a couple of times…there was a CN intermodal/mixed train holding south of Breezewood and I did see one southbound head through the Yard. I wasn’t impressed.
today i was in neenah from 9:00 to 11:00. then i went a got a btie to eat at mcdonalds & headed home. when i went over the breezewood bridge a train was waiting to get in. while i was their WC 2500 was switching, & i saw a Intermodal mixed w/ freight fly through neenah on up to point & a suprise it had a caboose on the end. i heard the guys on the radio say that one had a caboose on it. pics on my website & my photobucket album.
friday im planning on a trip to point.
Not too bad. I envy you since you have a better picture of the WC 2500 than I do at the moment. I plan on heading down there in about 30 minutes to check things out and hopefully get a good picture of the WC 2500.
Good luck in Point on Friday. Always nice to go to Wisconsin Central’s former “home.” I have yet to check out the yard in quite a few years. I moved to Appleton from Point back in early 1994 (I was around 8) so I haven’t really checked out the yard much since then. Maybe I’ll head up there this weekend if the weather is cooperates.
-Tim