The Mad City Model Railroad Show and Sale^ was held February 17th and 18th, 2007. Ed "MilwBeerNut" and I headed out there on Friday, as Ed was part of a group exhibiting their layout, and naturally we did a little railfanning along the way.
Saturday morning we made our way to Janesville to see what was happening at Five Points, and then we headed back to Madison for the show, which included a meeting of several 3um members (see photo). Saturday afternoon I made my way around Madison while Ed enjoyed the show. Sunday, I had planned to spend a few hours at Portage, but decided to venture a little farther north, doing my best to get myself lost... All in all, I got some great photos of a wide variety of railroad operations throughout the middle of the southern half of Wisconsin.
CP 8766 Scares Away Geese •
WSOR "Blinky" JH16
Janesville •
Madison •
Poynette/Portage/Packwaukee
Stevens Point •
Wisconsin Rapids •
Nekoosa
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CP 8766 Scares Away Geese
Before I had even left town, I spotted CP 8766 heading west on the mainline with a manifest train. In its path was a group of Canada geese, happily chowing down on some grain spilled between the rails. As 8766 approached the tannery crossing, it sounded the horn, sending the geese on the adjacent track on their way, but the group of geese directly in 8766's path didn't fly away until the train was almost directly on them! At least it provided for an unusual photo...
Canada geese
CP 8766
CP 8766
WSOR "Blinky" JH16
On our way down, we (naturally!) followed the route of Wisconsin & Southern, knowing that we would meet the JH somewhere along the line. Fortunately for us, we also know somebody who lives right next to the tracks, and has established a good friendship with most of the crews. We found out that the JH would be stopping for a little assistance, as their lead engine developed a problem out on the road...
WSOR JH16
WSOR 4051
WSOR 4054
field repairs
light bulb replaced
it works!
WSOR JH16
WSOR 4051
WSOR JH16
Janesville
Saturday morning, Ed and I took a ride down to Janesville to see what was around. One find was black CSXT 5974; another was the ICE local, which I was told later was running a day behind!
CSXT 5974
WSOR 4001
ICE 4201
ICE 4201
ICE 4201
ICE 4201
ICE 4206
ICE 4206
end of train
WSOR 4052
WSOR 4052
WSOR 3801
Madison
Saturday after the train show, I decided to make my way around Mad-town, and see what was happening on the rails – which, unfortunately, wasn't much. Sunday morning, as I made up my mind as to where I was heading, WSOR 3806 made an appearance at the south end of the yard.
WSOR 2052 and 2054
TILX 194469
MILW 35A
WSOR 3806
WSOR 3806
WSOR 3806
Poynette/Portage/Packwaukee
I decided I'd spend a few hours at Portage on Sunday, and thought I'd explore the M&P line on my way. When I got to Portage, there wasn't much moving, and there was even less power there than I'd expected, so I decided to wander a bit further north to Packwaukee, where Union Pacific has a bridge over Buffalo Lake.
railroad signals
railroad signals
SOO 4601
Buffalo Lake bridge
Buffalo Lake bridge
Buffalo Lake bridge
Stevens Point
When I was done exploring Packwaukee, I checked the map, and decided Stevens Point wasn't really all that far away... While in the Point area, I explored several "off-the-beaten path" spots, some of which I had seen on Bruce's Railroad Pictures^.
WC 1559
WC 1570
D&TS 2644
CN 2581
WC 6920
CN 2581
CN 5384
Soo Line #2713
Wisconsin Rapids
From Stevens Point, I headed west to Junction City before heading south to pass through Wisconsin Rapids. Some of the trackage on the west side of the river has changed in the past few years, and the "Taylor Train" heads west on the former industrial lead to reach ex-Green Bay & Western trackage to Ashley Furniture at Arcadia (and other customers).
CN 5454
WC 1565
WC 35227
Nekoosa
As I headed back towards Madison, I passed through Nekoosa, and looked towards the rail yard -- only to see a huge pile of pulpwood. Driving a bit further, I spotted freight cars moving through a gap in the pile. I turned around, didn't see the cars at that same spot, and continued back north. As I passed the end of the pile, the sight of a rather new CN EMD SD70M-2 greeted me! I got ahead of the train, pulling into a private crossing where I got a few pictures, then moved up to the WIS-73 crossing after the train had passed.
CN 8015
CN 8015
CN 8015
Last updated 3/2/2007 -MH
