Need railfanning help from the peanut gallery again. I will be spending the next 3 days in Ripon, Wisconsin. I know that there are several industries served by the Wisconsin & Southern, as well as the old MStP&O (CNW) tracks running through through town. Does anyone know when the trains roll through Ripon.
Thanks in advance.
I know that the WS still runs up to Ripon and beyond at least once a week but I’m not sure when that is regularly scheduled.
I do know that the old CNW(These were CNW proper, not CMStP&O) tracks from FonduLac to Marshfield that went through Ripon are completely gone. The track were pulled back to Ripon in 80’s and removed completely back to FonduLac in the early-mid 90’s.
The old MILW depot on the WS right of way that was right next to Hwy 23 has been gone for at least 5 years.
Hopefully someone know what the W&S schedule is through Ripon.
Scott Sonntag
Here is the E-mail address of a fellow railfan that lives in Ripon! alternating_ditch_lights@yahoo.com I met him while railfanning in Rochelle, Illinois. He’ll tell you everything about Ripon. He’s a nice guy. If you e-mail him, tell him that Robert Jackson referred him! Good luck!
Robert Jackson
WSOR’s HOK run (Horicon to OshKosh) usually runs on Tuesday afternoons around 1 ish thru there and also on Friday afternoons around the same time, but has a tendancy to be late. There are many good places to get pictures in the city. If you can get a map of Ripon that shows streets you should have a decent chance to get almost anywhere. The switching is usually done on the way to Oshkosh (75% of the time) but sometimes happens on the way back. Most of the places to switch are visible easily from public streets or parking lots. Train speeds are usually pretty low and they will use horns from time to time so you may have a bit of warning the train is coming. Power is usually GP38-2’s (2-3 typically) but rarely there may be an SD40-2 with the train. I’ve only seen that once. Good luck! If you see a black Ford Ranger supercab with a topper and a guy taking pictures with a camera on a tripod that’s likely me.
I’ve caught HOK in the Brandon area around 9-10 in the morning, when
they make the branch line run to Markesan. After they return, they
couple up and head up to Ripon around noon. They usually spend time
switching Speed Queen(or whatever it’s called now) and the grain
elevator on the north side of town, before heading to Oshkosh.
As far as I can tell, they run to Ripon daily, with the Oshkosh trips on Tuesday and Friday as CNW 6000 mentioned.
Hwy 44 parallels the line from Ripon to Oshkosh, and you can get some good shots along the line.
That would be interesting. I’ll find out if that’s the case. It’d be neat to get there besides on T/R.
Here’s what I heard from someone who knows more than I:
Tuesday and Friday are the Oshkosh days. We go through Ripon as needed the other days. I was on the HOR that combined with the HEX at Golden Grain, a bit south of Ripon. Left Brandon with 92 cars. Golden Grain has been shipping a lot recently, and some places in Oshkosh are also needing a switch more than twice a week. Hwy 23 in Ripon has Griswold crossing signals at it, but the rotating stop signs are long gone.
Good luck.
When I was going to Ripon Collego in the 1980s, I’d often walk down to the WSOR and C&NW around noon to see what was going on. Speed Queen used to have a circus-loading TOFC ramp, and Rippin Good would get covered hoppers. Boy, did I get tired of seeing those light blue 4400 GP’s!!
The CNW had been abandoned west of town, and even in 1984 I knew the remaining days were numbered. The local would have a pair of CNW GP’s, and after they’d work Green Giant they would run light as far as the end-of-track, which was in a golf course. What a sight it was seeing those units in the middle of that pristine golf course! And talk about rickety rail. 80 pounds per yard, no ties. I never saw them going above 5 mph. It must have been an all-day sucker working that turn.
I wish I’d have had my camera with me then. 
Is there a possibility of adding a 3rd day on a regular basis? That’d be neat.
They run as needed. Last week they went to Oshkosh every day.
Seneca is on the old CNW alignment. There is a four-axle restriction on the lead, after a SD40-2 had all six axles on the ground in there. The transfer track is still there, but only for MOW machine parking.
That’s good to hear that enough business is there to warrant more service. I may have to swing by Ripon/Seneca more frequently.