While detouring on Wisconsin Hwy. 33 to get to I90 this afternoon I drove through Horicon and spent about a half hour trying to find the WSOR paint shops…I DID.
There was a bunch of pretty neat equipment around, including about twelve ex-Metra bi-levels in the old silver, orange and brown color scheme (used to run on C&NW lines I believe). In addition they had an ex-BN E-9 that had gone to MARC (it was number 91 I believe) rusting on a siding. Also saw two LTEX GP15-1 units freshly painted on a siding. There was plenty of other units sitting within the shops area but I did not want to press my luck and get nabbed for trespassing.
Sorry folks, I did not have the brand new digital camera I bought last week with me…but I promise I will bring it in the future.
Hey i can answer some of those questions being i live only 10 miles from horicon (iron ridge) the MARC is going to a meuseum(IRM i believe and to my knowledge has its prime mover removed and those metras have sat there for years (dont know why?) larrys truck and electrics have sat there for months (also not sure why) umm if you go into the main station and talk to a man named dennis prescott he might help you out on some pics? let me know the next time you go there i might also
Hey i can answer some of those questions being i live only 10 miles from horicon (iron ridge) the MARC is going to a meuseum(IRM i believe and to my knowledge has its prime mover removed and those metras have sat there for years (dont know why?) larrys truck and electrics have sat there for months (also not sure why) umm if you go into the main station and talk to a man named dennis prescott he might help you out on some pics? let me know the next time you go there i might also
I just talked to Bill gardner owner of wsor today as of about 45minutes ago nice guy!!
Thanks for helping me out on some of those issues. With the commuter agencies being short on cars (many Metra rush hour trains are standing room only these days) due to many more folks taking the train rather than paying $4 plus for gas…those Bi-Levels might not stay there for long!
The MARC unit is going to IRM. It’s waiting to get rebuilt with an E unit prime mover with an E?B unit. So far from what I heard things aren’t going well.
The LTEX GP15-1s have been there for a while. Again, if I heard right they are on lease to WSOR, or for some other reason.
The Bi-Levels have been there for a long time. This guy wants to restore them, but they have been sitting on that storage track for some time now.
The LTEX GP15-1s aren’t on lease to the WSOR (or at least weren’t last I knew). They were painted at Horicon in small batches for Larry’s Truck and Electric in several different schemes. LETX has then been leasing them out to various railroads. Apparently they decided though that for some of those that haven’t been leased it’s simpler just to store them at Horicon then bring them home only to have them sit again.
The MARC unit came from IRM in the first place, along with a former E9B that had been converted into a power car. The primer mover from the MARC unit is being put into the B unit to make it functional again. Quite the task from what I understand, and they’ve only had the project up there for something like a year and a half. I was told when their finished the MARC unit will be returned to IRM, but the B unit becomes part of the WSOR fleet. The original rumor was that the deal the WSOR made is that when Bill Gardner decides to retire the passenger fleet, all three WSOR E units will go to IRM. Whether that is the truth or not I don’t know, but that’s how the story was being told when the B unit first showed up.
Minor correction – prime movers! The WSOR trio is the only trio of E-units in an as-built configuration, that is, with two engines per locomotive. (UP’s have been rebuilt with a single engine, they are essentially E38-2s.) WSOR 102 already has the engines in, but there is still some wiring work to be done. Sounds like the MARC unit will end up “stuffed-n-mounted” for IRM, better than the alternative…!
Good to see you again, Noah! Nice to ride behind (oh yeah, ahead of too) WSOR 101 as well.
I believe that those Metra (ex CNW) bi-levels are first generation cars. If that’s true and they are first generation then the cars would now be up there around fifty years old. As much as Metra needs the extra capacity I think those cars would be more of a service liability if used in everyday service.
That is correct the MARC engine had been at IRM for a bit. They bought two MARC E9s, the first is still at the museum, and the second is being used as a parts source for the E9B. The MARC engine will have its prime mover transferred to the E9B shell. It won’t be a easy job at all, and will take time to get finished. There is a lot more to completing this task than what it might sound like, but in the end, that will mean WSOR will be the only active railroad to own a complete set of A-B-A E9s that will have original E9 prime movers. As mentioned earlier, it is rumored IRM will get the WSOR E9s when and if they are retired as well as the shell of the MARC E9. It is rumored IRM may restore the shell of that E9 and sell it, at least that’s what I heard from volunteers at the museum.
The B-unit is getting closer to completion. Work is progressing right along. All E-unit prime movers are 645 engines, from rebuildings over the years. The B-uint runs especially cleanly.
A truck swap was performed, the B-unit lost its traction motors quite some time ago.
I believe the bilevels to be ex-CNW cars.
There were 7 LTEX GP15-1s that came up for paint, and other work. 3 are still in Horicon.
BNSF SD70ACes have been coming up for final test, and some for paint. Some freight cars are also getting painted.
This is hiding out by the roundhouse, usually used at night by the yard job
Engineroom and truck work is done; MARC 91 has the parts from the power car, WSOR 102 has the working parts. 102 needs some additional inside work (likely wiring and plumbing) and paint. Anybody know what kind of uniform 91 will get?
The green one is back on E-unit trucks, without traction motors. I was able to get a shot of it while it was up on the shop trucks during the truck swap (or, Kennecott Copper’s high-clearance passenger engine[:D]). The roof panels are the smoothed out ones from the power car, and the inside is full of steam generator parts.
