Railfanning in Northern Wisconsin

[SpaceMouse]

There are quite a few things to see railroad wise in Northern Wisconsin. The following is from the Rhinelander Logging and Rail Museum.

First of all, let me apologies for the lighting on some of the pictures. The auto feature was fooled by some of the light.shadows of the trees. This is particularly disappointing on the first picture. What you are looking at is a geared steam tractor. The pilot is a pair of skids so that the timber could be pulled out in snow. Most of the logging in this area was done in the winter.

The next pic is a narrow guage turntable.

A donkey.

A Soo caboose.

An inspection vehicle.

And a narrow guage 2-8-0 Consolidation.

The following is a photo of the way freight that came past our cottage every day. The schedule was erratic and I only caught it this once. As Brakie put it,

Just think of the proud and beautiful looking WC units being replaced with the likes of that CN unit..SIGH!

 

[Steve B]

Great pic's Chip, i like the steam tractor, now that Would look good up and running, i can see your point about the nice red and gold WC loco'c being replaced by the like's of the CN loco in the picture, i recon it'll need more them a coat of paint to fix that one up

 

[SpaceMouse]

Thanks Steve. I was amazed at the size of that turntable. It can't be 15 feet across.

 

[jbaakko]

Awsome, I've been to Rhinelander a few times and I NEVER knew that musuem was there!

 

[IronBeltKen]

Chip,

Enjoyed the pix. At first glance, that ittybitty turntable looks like a playground carousel - especially with Shane standing beside it! Took a few seconds before I noticed the rails.

Your last photo, and Brakie's comment about what the CN did to the once-majestic WC, reminds me of the fate of my own beloved Western Maryland after it got swallowed up and spit-out by the Chessie cat...

 

[Steve B]

LOL i didn'e see the rails on top, i thought it was the base for something bigger

 

[grande man]

Cool pics! I love that turntable.

 

[OldGettysk]

Nice Pics Steam once ruled. What's next Nuclear power. OLDGETTYSK

 

[AndyWS]

Northern Wisconsin does come across as a better place for railfanning than the southern part of the state. At least I always seem to run across more trains when I go "up there".