3M Railroading

3M Railroading .

3M Railroading

This is Wausau, the 3M shingle granule plant.

It's a big place, and maybe a rarity, considering it is the last heavy industry in an old industrial area.
I used to watch the CNW switch this place in the evenings, over 35 years ago.
With a Fairbanks Morse H-10-44 engine. I vaguely remember CNW 1049, 1051, and 1053.

All the pipes and conveyors and older brick buildings would make a great Walthers model building kit.

They have at least two big wheel loaders. Each can push two or three empty hoppers from the little yard to the loading bays.
In the 'old days', I remember the CNW did more of the switching, and a little yellow farm tractor with a wood board would grunt and push a car to the loading chute.

There are 4 pages in this series:
3M Railroading
Aerial view of the Wausau granule factory
3M Rail Spur on the west side of Wausau
Railroad flag men

Link back to my index page, Bruce's RailRoad Pictures