Its time for me to go railfaning again…(its been about a month) and I would I thought about going to La Crosse for a day. Except I know absolutly nothing about the railroad in and around the La Crosse area so if anyone could tell me good spots to go, and what railroads there are that would be a big help. The railroads I think are in La Crosse are CP and BNSF…I think I might be wrong though. Thanks for all your help guys & gals.
There is a three page article on railfanning La Crosse in the March 1999 Trains magazine.This info is six years old-
At a Glance;
Train frequency-BNSF 30, CP 15, UP 2, IC&E 4 per day
Radio-BNSF La Crosse North160.695 (AAR 39) South 161.100 (AAR 66)
CP La Crosse East 161.520 (94) West 160.770(44)
Grand Crossing seems to be the best place, where BNSF crosses over the CP(Milwaukee).BNSF’s yard runs north from the diamond.Three miles south is Grandad Bluff giving a great overlook of the BNSF line.The Amtrak station is one mile west of the diamond. The CP seems to cross the Mississippi on a series of smaller bridges and not one huge one.At La Cresent on the Minnesota side the IC&E has the line heading south into Iowa and has trackage rights to the Twin Cities.I don’t know if UP (C&NW) is still operating on trackage rights through town and up to Winona MN.
Thanks william6[:I]
cool thanks
Nanaimo: the last time I was in LaCrosse, It was the Mississippi (River), not the Missouri. Sorry to be so picky, but…
W.
For all of those intrested:
In La Crosse, Train frequency is
BNSF: 55-60 trains a day Or more
CP: 25-30 trains a day–usually at night but there are a few during the day
UP: 2-4 a day The UP runs a westbound to WInona on Thuesdays and Thursdays and an eastbound on Wendsday and Friday
ICE: 2 a day KCSP and SPKC (Kansas City-St Paul).
Amtrak: 2 trains an eastbound in the morning and a westbound in the early evening
The CP uses two bridges to cross the Black River and Mississippi River. One was replaced last year and the other is slated to be replaced within the next few years. The CP’s swing bridge is one of five swing bridges left on the Upper Mississippi River. Two are in the Quad Cities, one is Savanna, and the oldest is in Dubuque.
I hope this fills in some of the blanks.
“The Q and MILW live on in our hearts”
Are there any remnants of Burlington’s street running trackage there?
Mitch
Just about fifty yards or so down by the the brewery. It’s a stub track that never see’s any use.
Back in 1987 I spent a couple of days up in LaCrosse. It is a beautiful area. I remember a couple of things. There was a park on the south side of town, possibly the Grandad Bluff. It overlooked a golf course and you could see both rail lines. It was really a great place. I would suggest you go there…you will get a great perspective on railroads.
The second thing I recall was the stringer of crappies a couple of fishermen had. They had fished in the sloughs and they had some of the nicest crappies I have ever seen.
ed