After I detrained, two items caught my eye. The first was Wisconsin Central SW-1 1 "Francis J. Wiener", ex. Conrail 8480, nee New York Central 683 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1941, In its career, it served as the shop switcher at North Fond du Lac. Francis Wiener worked for the SOO Line Railroad from 1948 to 1984 as a brakeman and number grabber. Although he never worked for the Wisconsin Central, he was a great fan of the company. During non-working hours, he photographed train wrecks and repairs and trains in motion all seasons of the year.
The second was this speeder in front of the locomotive.
The now rear of our train that would return to Laona in about eight minutes. I would be aboard as the weather was scheduled to turn bad this afternoon and I had a long drive to Janesville, wanting to do as much as possible in the dry weather.
Unique crossing wig-wag signals.
The front of our train.
Logs and a steam tractor.
I was the lone passenger so boarded the rear caboose, C-401 "Camp 5" and here are the views from the cupola on both sides.
Camp 5.
The train whistled off and we started the trip back to Laona with our steam engine pulling the train.
Leaving Camp 5 behind. We stopped at the coal loading area and he tender was filled high with coal.
Great views of our steam engine working from my caboose vantage point.
Looking back.
Crossing the Rat River.
The ladder blocked a clear view from one side of the cupola.
Working through the next open curve.
Looking back.
Running back along Scattered Rice Lake.
Looking through the trees.
Passing the meadow.
Curving back into the Laona station.
Arriving at the station, where I detrained a happy rider and thanked the crew for a great trip aboard the Camp Five Lumberjack Steam Train.
Laona and Northern 2-6-2 4 gave me a great ride.
The train was now ready for the noon trip and I was ready for my drive south.
The Drive to JanesvilleI departed at 11:45 AM and drove south on Wisconsin Highway 32 to Gillet, which turned onto Wisconsin Highway 22 and stopped at Shawano.
The Wisconsin Central, formerly Wisconsin and Northern, station is still active and was the divisional office for the railroad, a mover of products that served pallet and box factories, sawmills, coal distributorships, a large condensery and creamery, and many of the commercial enterprises located on Main and Green Bay streets in the city.
The Chicgo and North Western station, formerly St. Paul Eastern Grand Trunk station, built in 1884 and is now a bicycle store. It was on the line from Clintonville to Oconto, connecting with Chicago & Northwestern lines at those cities. Only a few years after the line was built, it was acquired by the Milwaukee Lakeshore & Western Railroad. In 1893, the Chicago & Northwestern absorbed the entire Milwaukee Lakeshore & Western system and in 1905, built a line from Green Bay to Eland, integrating into it the existing tracks through Shawano.
By 1928, it was no longer profitable to operate trains between Clintonville and Oconto and in September 1935, an announcement was made that the line would be abandoned and that the tracks would be removed by the first of November. All that would remain were the rails through Shawano, which had been integrated into the Green Bay-Eland line.
I stopped for lunch at an A&W then stayed on Highway 22 until it became US Highway 46, which I took to New London. I had to get directions to the Historical Village and they were perfect.
Chicago and North Western station previously located on East Beacon Avenue, built 1923 and replaced the original station that dated from the 1870's. It is home to the New London Heritage Historical Society.
The display train.
Laona & Northern Railway 45 ton switcher 101 built by Vulcan in 1941 as United States Army 4554 and moved to its present location in 1999.
Soo Line wooden box car 76518 built by American Car and Foundry in 1924.
Chicago and North Western caboose 11153 built by International Car in 1968.
SOO Line caboose 138 built by Lafayette Car in 1888.
The train set looking towards the station from the street.
One last view from the parking lot. I returned to US Highway 46 and took that to Oshkosh, where Auk, one of the regular callers to Let's Talk Trains, lives and I wished I had his address so I could have visited him and talked about Richard Hamilton's death. I then entered US Highway 41 for a short stretch, taking that to Wisconsin Highway 26 south towards Janesville. I stopped at KFC in Watertown for an early dinner before continuing to Janesville and I drove to the Baymont Inn where I checked in and worked on this story most of the evening.
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