And well those folks should have felt that way; in 1974, the Best year for the Greenwood Line in Dad's tenure as Traveling Agent on the Greenwood Line, the Soo handled just about 1600 cars out there. That didn't go a long way to make the Management types in Minneapolis very happy. It didn't make the Greenwood Line look like a "Loser" like the Soo Line thought it should be. This total was up from the year before! Recall, I had totaled the cars Handled on the Greenwood Line in 1971 at 1,151 cars. Things in 1974 were, definitely, looking up! Sigh,...as with anything, this didn't last. I doubt it would have mattered had things continued on the upswing.

Comes this announcement, that the Soo was going to Rehab the Greenwood Line, and No One had the foresight to see it was the Dirtiest of Dirty Tricks, not even Cynical ol' Me.

Soo Line dropped hints early on, that Service *Might* be restored to three day per week operations. That right there should have been a tip-off to everybody something was in the wind. Dammit, everybody believed it. Yes, including Dumb ol' Me.

This was when service to the Greenwood Line was dropped to One Day Per Week. Originally, the Soo had said that this Drop in Service was to allow the rehab to continue unabated by Train Movements. An interesting point; but the Greenwood Line was mostly worked AT NIGHT. That, too, should have tipped everyone off.

Sure enough, though, Soo Line started running Ballast Trains out on the Greenwood Line in mid-April that year. We had an Early Spring, so the Quarrying of the Material the Soo was using as Ballast could be gotten out of the pit easy enough. Ballast Trains of 15 to 20 cars sallied forth on the Greenwood Line to deposit their loads onto the Tracks.

Trouble was, no one bothered to inform Mother Nature this work was going to be done in the VERY early Spring, (technically, when it started, it was still Winter yet, if you use the Calender Method of April 21st as the *Official* first day of Spring) and more than one Ballast Extra ended up smashing cars together in vain attempt to try to loosen the Frozen Load. It was still getting down below freezing at night, and it took most of the day in that early April for the Temperature to warm up enough to Thaw what was in those cars----if it thawed out enough to go through the hopper gates at all!

I am cause to Remember watching Soo GP-30 # 716 kicking cars together in Loyal as hard as they dared in a desperate attempt to loosen enough of the load to allow it to drop through the Ballast Doors. The Conductor of the Work Train, a Long Haired, Youthful fellow, said to Dad, "This ain't much of a Progress Report......three cars Dumped out of 17 in 6 hours." Such was life Spreading Ballast in Early April!

Another point: Ballasting didn't start until Milepost 5, just east of the Grade Crossing of School House Road. The rottenest section of Track on the Greenwood Line was from MP 1 to MP 5 (techinically, MP 4.75, but who's counting), which included that very happy 1.5% grade mentioned earlier. For the life of the Greenwood Line, very little was done to fix this section up at all, and this is where deterioration held up getting the trains OUT of, or IN to, Marshfield. It certainly would have been appreciated if the MP 1 to MP 5 section had had SOME ballast put on it. Right to the end, the section was in absolutely horrible condition, with a 10 mph speed limit on it. Between You & I and the Gods, 10 mph on the MP 1 to MP 5 section was TOO FAST, I kid you not.

Also: To be Truthful, I do not recall any Tie Work being done on the MP 1 to MP 5 stretch during the Rehab, either, except as was necessary in "Routine" maintainence. Since the Greenwood Line got NOTHING that resembled Routine Maintainence.......I have to believe there were few or no ties replaced, and none that I am aware of during the 1976 rehab.

The Ballast lends itself to a little criticism as well: The "Stuff" used was NOT Soo's Famous Blue-Grey colored, Dresser (Wisconsin)-mined "Trap Rock", but a Basalt-or Limestone-based White Crushed Stone, dug out along the Soo's Branch to Manitowoc. It was Cheap and easily had. In fact, the Soo Line used this White Rock in quite a few "Track Up Grade" projects, mostly in Yards. The Soo had spread some of this on the Nekoosa Line....I'm very happy to tell you that at this date, you can't see much of it left under the ties. The MP 5 to Loyal section of the Greenwood Line got it, and it proved, later on, to be the WORST thing the Soo could put under the track since spreading on it Sand in 1966. The White "Stuff" simply disappeared into the mud over time, but that's getting too far ahead.

The Tamper Operator that worked on the Greenwood Line Rehab in 1976 was under the impression the White Stone the Soo Line was dumping & spreading was for use as Sub-roadbed, which it would have been fine for. Such was not the case.

In rehabbing the Greenwood Line, the Soo Line ordered Tie Replacement----but only the WORST ties. In one Mile of the Greenwood Line, EACH tie was replaced---I believe it was the MP 15 to MP 16 segment, outside of Loyal---the ties had rotted out that bad. Dad, one day, while out making his Customer Calls, drove over the Gravel Township Roads while making his way back to Marshfield from Loyal looking for the Tie Gang as they did their work ahead of the Tampers. Dad found them at MP 14.5 that day, just west of Spokeville. The Foreman of the Tie Gang came over to Dad and they began talking about the troubles the Tie Gang was running into----such as NOT having to use the Tie Saw machine, because in many cases the ties weren't there or there wasn't enough left of a tie there to Saw in half! There was comment made that it looked to the Foreman of that Tie Gang that a number of the ties they were replacing had been HAND HEWN on the spot when installed! (I can tell you this from Personal Observation---a NUMBER of the ties replaced on the Greenwood Line looked to be un-treated LOGS with two sides sawed flat, even TREE LIMBS/Trunks of substantial girth to make a tie, with the Bark Knocked off and two sides hewn flat!!) The Conversation got to the Work Order, at which the Foreman said to Dad: "Holy Crist, Neil! It says, 'Only The Worst Ties' ", the Foreman Spread his arms wide, "Tell Me WHICH of these ties are the Worst? They ALL look bad!"

Dad said, more than once, if the Soo Line EVER put Ballast in on the Greenwood Line it would take around 100 or more cars of Ballast to do the job "right". I believe Soo spread over 100 cars of Ballast on the 12 mile portion of the Greenwood Line from MP 5 to Loyal. To guess, I believe the final total was 143 cars of ballast. As for the job being done "right".....well, it looked nice, for a while, anyway.

The Adams Avenue in Marshfield to MP 5 portion DID get Tamped & re-lined, however, but for little good it did. All the Tamper was able to do was pound the Mud back under the Ties, that was it. A year later and this section looked as bad---if not WORSE---as it had BEFORE anything had been done to it. And the L-4 Track Liner, well.....on the sections without much Ballast, had a Tendency to jack the track out so unevenly it hardly paid to have had the unit out there! The two-man crew on that L-4 Liner had a real Treat as they tried Lining that track, folks. >From the Junction Switch, about 6 carlengths from the Main Line, to Adams Avenue, the Greenwood Line's track remained buried in Mud OVER the Ties (Almost up to the railheads) until the Scrapping Train pulled it all up.

What was Ironic was the Marshfield Section Crew had to be sent out to dig out the Ties, Tie Plates & Spike Heads on the Junction Switch to Adams Avenue section so the Scrapping Crew could pull up the track in the 1982 abandonment!

By August of 1976, the Rehab work, such as it was, was finished. I say, "Such As It Was", for no rail was replaced, nor were the House Tracks in Loyal or Greenwood worked on (and God Knows both House Tracks REALLY NEEDED some Work), nor were any spurs. The rail on the Loyal Canning Company Spur was both OLD and SMALL.....I recall a Santa Fe Bx-60 "Beer Car" type insulated 60-ft. Plug Door box car that the Canning Company was loading for Modesto, Ca., and the wheel treads of the car hung out OVER the outside of the Rail Heads by a good TWO (2) INCHES on each side! (I Never figured out how the Section Gang was able to find Angle Bars the right size to keep patching breaks in the Canning Company Spur rails....when the Greenwood Line was abandoned, the Canning Co. Spur did NOT have a 39 ft. rail on it, it had been patched soooooooooo many times over the years!) If you followed the Soo Line as I have, work on Trackage OTHER than the Main Line was usually Nix.

Before I knock this work too much more, after the Tie Gang, Tamper & L-4 Liner had finished their labors on what had been reballasted, they had done very, very good work, I have to say. Although the Soo Line NEVER lifted the Speed Limit on the Greenwood Line above 10 mph after the work was completed, it wasn't unusual for the Train to sally forth out to Loyal from Marshfield in a little Over one hour. The Train Crew knew where the "Good Spots" were in the track!

Consequently, if the Train had to Double out to Loyal with a Long Train from Marshfield, the Train could Double out, do all the Switching work on the Greenwood Line, AND get back to Marshfield AND still have enough time to run up the Ashland Line as far as Colby to catch the Local work up on that stretch.

I quote the Sarcastic Comment of the regular Soo Line Engineer on # 57 after the Greenwood Line rehab: "I simply enjoy a 7-minute Mile." That's about 25 mph. Dad always claimed that # 57 was EXCEEDING that when you consider the 10 mph stretch from the Junction Switch to MP 5! I should recount: Dad came home one day shaking his head in disbelief not too long after the Greenwood Line Rehab had been finished. Dad had left Marshfield in the Soo Line auto well ahead of # 57 one afternoon. They both arrived in Loyal at almost THE SAME TIME! Mind you, Dad followed Highway 13 North to Spencer, then Highway 98 to Loyal, roughly 20 miles by road, a roughly-35 minute drive. YOU figure out how fast # 57 had to be going on the "Good Spots"!

And then, when the Rehab work was finished in August that year (1976), the Soo Line dropped the Bombshell: Service was going to remain One Day per Week. Costs, they said, were too high in ratio to Profits to justify running the Train out to Loyal & Greenwood any more than once per week!

If there was a Straw that Broke the Camel's Back, this News was it. Business had held up through the Rehab of the Greenwood Line, because the Soo had dropped hints they planned on Restoring the Service to AT LEAST twice per week after Rehab was done. Once the Soo's true intentions were known, Business began dropping off like Dead Flies.

First to go was K&M Builders. They told Dad, "We can't do Business like this". Next was Grassland Butter. Stewarts had left the Soo in 1973, after the Soo had announced, because of the Penn Central refusing to re-ice Iced Refrigerator Cars, the Soo Line was getting rid of their own Ice Facilities. From 1973 to early 1978, Stewarts loaded out only three cars of Cheese. Clark Electric quit getting in New Household Appliances in 1975, after the Soo delivered a car where the ENTIRE Load was damaged. Clark Electric still got in a couple carloads of Creosoted Power Poles each year, though, until the Bitter End in 1982. Soo shoo'ed off the Pulpwood Business again after 1976. They got rid of the Scrap Iron Business out of Greenwood in 1976. Only Bordens, O.W. Trindal (In it's Bankrupted State) Loyal Canning Co., Northside Elevator, Abby Ag Lime, Greenwood Milk Pool, and Cooperative Services remained.

At Spokeville, Spokeville Elevator was Bought up by Trindal's in late 1972. Thereafter, Spokeville Elevator got in around 3 cars per year, and only Barn Lime at that. I can't say I recall any reason for Dad to go to Spokeville on Railroad Business after 1975.

Loyal Implement left the Soo Line in the Spring of 1975. This was bad Judgement on the part of the Conductor on the Greenwood Line train; he thought the House Track at Loyal was "Too Soft" to support a Heavy Load of....I believe, Corn Planters, ....so refrained from spotting the car in Loyal. Instead, this car was dragged back to Spokeville, where the car was Set Out on the Spur Serving the Spokeville Elevator. I have wondered for a number of years since, about that decision; the Spur at Spokeville was 60# rail, set on MUD. Those rails PHYSICALLY BOWED under the weight of that loaded Flatcar! Worst, I don't know WHAT the Conductor was thinking in setting that car out at Spokeville. There was no way that car was going to get unloaded sitting there, as there was No Unloading Ramp at Spokeville to effect this!

The Car was dragged back to Marshfield the next week after the car had sat in Spokeville for naught for 7 days, and the Loyal Implement Dealer was forced to unload the car in Marshfield over the TOFC Ramp to the East of the Marshfield Depot and truck his wares back to Loyal. He was so upset by this fiasco, he terminated his business with the Soo on the Spot. The Implement Dealer was never happy he had had to Repair the Unloading Ramp in Loyal with his own Money to start off with. Soo Line had refused to do anything with that ramp!

United Building Centers went into Tough Times as Housing Starts/New Construction ebbed in the mid-1970's. The Greenwood UBC got no more carloads in after 1973. Thereafter, the UBC's in Spencer, Marshfield, Loyal & Greenwood, all owned by the same franchise holder, operated on a strict cost control, where by each UBC mentioned above would get a Share of a Carload no matter where the car had been spotted. In this Vein, the Spencer UBC became a sort of "Central Receiving Point" for the whole operation. The Loyal UBC still got in cars at Loyal, but it fell to 12 cars of Lumber per year.

Of those 4 UBC Lumber Yards, only Greenwood's remains in business, as of this writing.

Grassland Butter first infomed the Soo that One Day Per Week service just wasn't going to cut it. In addition, the Soo Line INSISTED that cars that came out on the Greenwood Line be UNLOADED by the Consignee OR LOADED by the Shipper 24 HOURS after arrival, lest the Customers be liable for Excessive Demurrage Charges! That statement made less sense than anything; it was stupid! The Train wasn't coming back for a week; to insist the cars be Loaded/Unloaded within 24 hours after their arrival was ludicrous!

Grassland instead, thought the way to go to still use Rail AND get their Product to market was Trailer On Flatcar---TOFC. Soo at this point was quite "Big" on the TOFC idea. Soo had developed a respectable TOFC Trailer Fleet of it's own, and had access to Trailers far exceeeding their own fleet. Soo was just as "Persnickety" about WHAT got loaded on their TOFC Trailers as they were about WHAT got loaded in their Box Cars! Grassland got alllll the Promotional Literature Crap the Soo sent out, and, apparently, was intrigued by the Idea of Shipping their Butter TOFC in a Refrigerated Trailer.

Soo made big Noises about a *Clot* of Great Dane Horizontal Ribbed Refrigerated Trailers it had leased and caused the Photo Image of those Trailers to FESTOON every Promotional Brochure they had out. These trailers were Decorated in an all-white Body, with a Green Swath at the Rear of the Trailer on each side, resembling the way the Soo Line was painting their Covered Hoppers Cars at that time (1972-1973). Across the Sides the Trailers were Lettered, "SOO LINE" in 24" Black Venus Bold Extended Lettering, and underneath, in smaller Black, "INTERMODAL SERVICE". A Gold Stylized outline of an 89' ft. TOFC Flat with two Trailers atop it was in the Green Swath, complete with a Gold Checkmark next to "Refrigerated", much the same as Freight Cars carrying the "A Soo Line COLORMARK Car" with their checklist of features on the sides.

Problem was, not long after the Soo took possession of those Trailers, they became *QUITE* Suspect, even if the Public Relations Department at Minneapolis didn't know of this or care about it. These Trailers were mostly used in Hauling Potatos out of the Red River Valley in Western Minnesota/Eastern North Dakota. The Reefer Units were mostly kept running at Temperatures in the 40-to-59 degree range. It was those Thermo-King Reefer Units slung on the fronts that were Suspect.

Grassland WANTED to load four Trailers for a Test Load, bound for New Yok State (The General Marketplace for Grassland's Product outside of Wisconsin in those years) off the TOFC Ramp in Marshfield. Grassland WANTED four of those Much-ballyhooed Great Dane Trailers with the Suspect Reefer Units slung on the Fronts. Grassland had no problem with the idea of having to drive the Empty Trailers from Marshfield to Greenwood or the Loaded Trailers vice-versa. The Marshfield TOFC Ramp was close enough, costs wouldn't have been too much of a factor. Soo Line was happy; this would put more traffic over the Marshfield TOFC Ramp versus the extremely seasonal Christmas time business from Figi's Gifts, and retained a Good Soo Line Customer in Grassland Butter.

Soo Line, at first, BALKED at the Idea of using those Great Dane Trailers for Butter Loading, trying to steer Grassland away from using those trailers, and offered some other Lease Company Trailer instead. ( That, most likely, had a better, more reliable Reefer Unit on it than the Great Dane Trailers the Soo had) Grassland used an angle in pitching their Idea to the Soo Line the Soo could not resist: Think of the PUBLICITY the Soo Line will get when Four Trailer Loads of Our Product Arrive in New York City to be unloaded there in those SOO LINE REFRIGERATED TRAILERS.

That did it.

Two Flats arrived in Marshfield with Four Soo Line Refrigerated Trailers, were unloaded and Driven Off to Greenwood to be Loaded. The Next Day, all four Trailers came back to Marshfield Loaded with Butter, Thermostats set at 34 to 38 degrees, ready to be put back on the Same Flats they came in on. The Trailers were loaded that same afternoon, and the Second Trick Yard Engine pulled the cars away from the Marshfield Ramp, into the Yard and Switched them into a Chicago-bound cut of cars.

That should be the end of a Happy Story.

Unfortunately, It Weren't. On the way to New York, on one of the Four Trailers, the Reefer Unit, either By Itself, or with Outside Help, managed to, somehow, get kicked UP to EIGHTY (80!!!) DEGREES!!!! By the time that Trailer was unloaded in New York, the Shipping Lot of Butter in that one trailer was literally running out the Clean-out plugs in the floor at the back of the Trailer. That was THE END of the Soo Line ever shipping Grassland Butter Product by TOFC, or by Rail, period.

In each case, each time Business left the Greenwood Line, these people Apologized PROFUSELY to DAD, as if he had some personal stake in all of it and their leaving the Railroad might have been construed as some sort of personal Insult to Dad. There were no apologies to the Soo Line; there was little one could say that wasn't tainted with extremely BLUE language, and well it was so.

And that's the way everything stayed until Dad was Removed from the Greenwood Line in March of 1978 and his Traveling Agency restructured to Marshfield-Rocky Run, Custer & Stockton. The Greenwood Line became part of Bob Goldamer's Traveling Agency No. 9 territory, and Bob was emphatic about NOT wanting it. Bob had Spencer Foisted on him when the Soo closed up the Depot there in 1974. That added 4 extra miles to his Agency, and a Busy Station to boot, to add to his already busy Midland Spur to Stetsonville portion!

I always found it Ironic that Dad had openly fretted about getting Spencer tacked on to his Traveling Agency when word came down that Spencer was to close as an Open Agency. Dad literally Sweated over that prospect! At the time Spencer closed in 1974, there was a lot of Local Business there: 3 Mobile Home Plants (Artcraft, Trailblazer, and Wick---there had been FIVE, Dickman Homes & Pathfinder, Inc., had gone out of Business before 1974), 20th Century Chemical, Land O' Lakes, Spencer Farm Supply, Spencer Cooperative, Spencer UBC, Abby Ag Lime, USS Fertilizer Plant, Spencer Coop's LP Gas facility...all of these firms were Steady, BUSY Customers of the Soo Line! Dad once made the comment that, "Spencer is a lot of 'Leg Work' ". When Spencer was appended to Bob Goldamer, Dad was hardly hurt by that news!

Bob simply didn't have the extra time to make a side trip to Loyal & Greenwood, not with having to Drive Abbotsford-Stetsonville-Marshfield (In that Order) everyday and the subsequent work associated with that Territory. The lack of his prescence out on the Greenwood Line didn't help----really not Bob's fault, he really was too busy with what territory he had---even when service had been reduced to one day per week, Dad still doggedly called on every one of his Customers EACH day. This was in a period where the "Face-to-Face" between Customers and the Railroad really COUNTED yet. Telephone contacts were still looked at as Impersonal. People appreciated someone that called on them even if there was little reason to.

Bob didn't endear himself to folks at the Businesses that Dad took him to to introduce Bob to the people he would be dealing with on the Greenwood Line, Bob said brusquely, "You won't see me around". At Northside Elevator, after Bob told the Brussows not to expect to see him that much, Steve Brussow turned to Dad and said, right in front of Bob, "Well, Neil, that's the end of Rail Service out here." 4 short years later Steve Brussow's words turned out to be quite prophetic.

In May of 1978, two months after Dad was pulled off the Greenwood Line, the Soo Line infomed the Customers out on the Greenwood Line that, due to Costs "Escalating Out Of Control", the Soo could not justify operating a train on the line if there were less than 6 cars coming out on the Line. There was a period of One Month where the Train did not go out to pick up the Empties/Loads standing out at Loyal or Greenwood, because there weren't enough cars to take out to Loyal or Greenwood. This was worse than the Plowing Fiasco in the Winter of 1971-1972. The Soo's option to the Customers left on the Greenwood Line at this point was: Either come to Marshfield or Spencer and unload it, or wait until there is enough traffic to justify our running a train out there.

That did it. Considering the People on the Greenwood Line had fought Tooth & Nail to try to retain their Rail Line, had done everything in their Power to Keep it intact, brought Business to the Line to convince the Soo they were serious to keep the Line intact, only to have the Soo give extremely sloppy---nay, HAPHAZARD, even Lacksidaisical---Service, became convinced the Soo Line was playing a Nasty Game, and the Ultimate Outcome was Total Abandonment. All the Rehab of the Greenwood Line was was a rotten attempt to show Costs were out of line and the Greenwood Line had to come off. By the time the Final Hearing on the Soo's last Abandonment Application came about, the Spirit of the Folks on the Greenwood Line had been broken, and literally NO ONE showed up to protest. No one wanted to fight anymore; the Soo Line had played the "Waiting Game", instituted a little nasty persuasion here & there, and got their way. The folks on the Greenwood Line simply gave up. It did no good to fight the Soo.

Why Hadn't these same folks---so adamant about keeping their Rail Service---tried to Buy & Operate the Greenwood Line themselves? That is a question I have been asked quite often over the years. There had been a Movement, of sorts, spearheaded by Bill Trindal around 1974 or so. I really do not know for sure if Bill had ideas of buying the Greenwood Line & operating it as the Shortline owner himself, or if Bill was trying to rouse up interest in buying it. So long as Bill, "Talked The Big Talk" and, "Walked The Big Walk" there were those that were very much in favor of the idea.

But when it came to Grass Roots Financing, it wasn't there, esp. to Bill Trindal who was very heavily mortgaged by that time. It was well known to everyone that the Greenwood Line would have been an Expensive acquistion considering what the Soo Line had---and HAD NOT---done with/to the Property. In 1970's inflated dollars, anyone looking at Performing the Rehab was loking at at least 15 to 20 MILLION dollars to make it into Class 2 trackage---a Maximum Speed Limit of 25 mph. That kind of Money in those Turbulent times just wasn't there.

Also: There was some confusion created by Vague Legalistic wording in connection with the Deeds for the Greenwood Line ROW lands that, interpeted as written (and I must tell you here I have, not ever, read, or seen, any of these documents, I'm only going by what I have been told by no less than 20 different people---more supposition on my part), basically said that, "....if the Owning & Operating Company chooses the option to Sell the Greenwood Line (not the exact way it was worded; in place of "Greenwood Line" I believe it is worded as, "Railroad Right Of Way Running From Section 7, such-and-such Township to Section 10, etc.), the Property MUST first be given the Right of First Refusal to the Landowners that Adjoin the said Right-of-Way..." or some such legalistic, tangled wording. That was enough to jerk even the most optimistic of people into the thinking that once the Soo Line filed for Abandonment and it was granted, there was no way anyone was going to buy it, nor did it seem possible that anyone could buy the line outright from the Soo whether there was an abandonment application pending or not, because of that wording, which was taken to mean that the Right-Of-Way AUTOMATICALLY reverted to the Lineside Property Owners if the Greenwood Line had been put up for outright sale. That interpetation was what ended any true attempt to purchase the Greenwood Line and operate it as an Independant Short Line Operation. There were several Landowners along the Greenwood Line that had expressed their opposition to any other Operating Company trying to buy the Line from the Soo no matter what circumstances were involved, Abandonment or outright Sale.

You would be very surprised, to know, however, that Young Bill Trindal was actually gathering Cost Figures in anticipation of actual purchase of the Greenwood Line. He was even so far as inquiring as to the Cost of Used Diesel Locomotives, and sources where used Locomotives could be Purchased. He was that close. I was even told Young Bill had set up Investors. I never was able to extract for sure if Bill Trindal had planned to head the Planned Shortline Operating Company or if Bill just had "All the Ideas", or was the "Front Man" for another interested party.

The State of Wisconsin was persuaded (Quite Easily, I might add) by the GRIM Traffic/Profit/Expendeniture/Future Growth prospectus presented to them by the Soo Line that the Greenwood Line was a Chronic Loser and that abandonment was the only "Solution". After all, after 1974 the Traffic WAS leaving the Greenwood Line....you make up your own mind who was responsible and why. At the time the Greenwood Line was brought up for Final Abandonment, the State of Wisconsin had it's hands FULL acquiring and trying to operate ex-Milwaukee Road property in the Madison area. As has been the case, Wisconsin's State Government has only been interested in Acquiring Rail Lines around the Milwaukee-Madison area, and has, by and large, ignored other lines, stubbornly sticking to Railroad-presented figures for lines presented as "Unprofitable". Also, that "Tangled" legal-ese involving "Right Of First Refusal" was brought up as another reason to lay off purchasing the Greenwood Line by the State.

Besides, one look at the Greenwood Line's trackage by 1979, 3 years after the Soo's "rehab", and the State or a Shortline enterpenure would have RUN in the Other direction.

One thing to add: It was never a Secret the Soo Line simply rubbed it's Corporate Hands in absolute Delight anytime something detrimental happened on the Greenwood Line, such as Derailments or the Train being Forced to Double from Marshfield to Loyal. These kinds of mishaps and assorted what-not added evidence to Soo's creedence the Line was a sink-hole for cash and a Chronic Loser. Not a terrific Money Loser, the Greenwood Line didn't bring home terrific amounts to net each year, either. It met it's fixed charges with a little to add to the Bottom Line. I guess, in all fairness, the Greenwood Line was a "Break Even" operation for the Soo Line. In 1976, when the Greenwood Line was Rehabbed, it was thought, so I've been told by persons "Higher Up" on the Soo at the time, that the Greenwood Line was supposed to turn in a TERRIFIC defecit of well over 1 million dollars. Instead, with all the work, material, man hours, etc. that had gone into rehabbing the Greenwood Line, it came in "In The Black" that year to the comfortable tune of $50K. How true that is, I really cannot say. I've always suspected it to be true, but, I never trusted the folks that told me that, either! I would believe a total of $500 to $5000.00 profit was had that year. That seems more realistic.

It is also realistic to point out that the kinds of Traffic the Soo Line had on the Greenwood Line, while this might have been "enough" to keep an independant Shortline busy & operating, none of the commodities handled could have qualified as true Profitable Business in terms of Return. Ainimal feeds and the like traditionally have always been on the low end of freight rates, and that kind of traffic was usually handled in cars that were mostly depreciated, further lowering any profits. That's why many a strictly rural operation such as the Greenwood Line expired. As rates to haul Feeds, Butter, Cheese, etc., went up, the profit margin stayed low and Railroads such as the size of the Soo Line wanted little to do with such business anymore because it began COSTING money to deliver cars like that which the Greenwood Line originated & terminated. In the end, it was cheaper to Truck it.

In line with this, knowing the Soo's accounting methods, it is still a source of Wonderment to me that in the Busy Periods of Traffic on the Greenwood Line (Late March to Mid-July) # 57 would be assigned a single GP-9 or GP-7 to Drag out trains that severely taxed the Rated Tonnage Rating of these types of Locomotives, sometimes forcing the Train to Double out of Marshfield to Loyal, but when business slacked off, # 57 routinely got a GP-30 or a GP-35 to haul a train of 6 or less cars. That disparity must have been written off as a loss charged to the Greenwood Line in Fuel Usage costs for the Larger Horsepower Locomotive.

I had been offered, and had the opportunity, to ride the final Train out to Greenwood but chose not to. First, I wanted to remember the Greenwood Line as it had been only 8 short years before, Second, I never thought what I had witnessed was "Right" on the Soo's part. Not when the Folks on the Greenwood Line had tried so hard to keep "Their" Rail Service. To this very day I still feel the Soo Line was Wrong in their treatment of the Greenwood Line. Only my personal opinion based on what I had heard and witnessed, most of it first hand.

Ironically, the Greenwood Line is STILL creating controversy in the year 2001. In the City Limits of Marshfield, where the Greenwood Line ran leaving town, from the Junction Switch to Lincoln Avenue, somehow the City of Marshfield now holds Title to the empty Greenwood Line ROW. There are *Quite* a few Folks along this stretch that are more than a bit miffed, because many are *Quite* aware of the Vague Wording mentioned above about the "Right Of First Refusal". The City of Marshfield, which has a "Gang Of Thieves" running it to rival Al Capone's Gang in Cicero, claims there was no such wording, and that the City acquired this Property in lieu of the Soo defaulting on the Property Taxes on the land. I recall talk that somewhere in the aforementioned wording that the "First Right Of Refusal" applied also in tax default as well, giving the adjacent landowners the first "Right of Refusal" to purchase the ROW for the assessed amount of Tax, but I cannot prove it. This short portion of the Greenwood Line within Marshfield's City Limit is slated to become a part of the City's "Wildwood Trail" which includes the Marshfield & Texas, and has property Owners in an Uproar about more lost monies from the Tax Rolls that a City the size of Marshfield can ill afford to lose.

Those at Marshfield's City Hall are, as is per usual, VERY Deaf to all these Complaints. We who live here are told, "We Desperately Need This Trail to Bring People to Marshfield". Comments like this often lead me to wonder how the Hell people are getting here to begin with. Be careful you don't slip on the "Brown Smelly Stuff" on the Floor.

The Greenwood Line still presents a Noticable Scar on the Landscape, although a large part of the ROW around Marshfield has been acquired by the Homeowners and New Homes now Occupy where spiffy Books-built Class E ex-WC ten-wheelers trod in the Steam Era and, later, GP-7's, GP-9's, GP-30's, GP-35's GP-38-2's and an Occasional GP-40 used to ROAR Westward with Trains at the Breakneck Speed of 10 mph. At MP 5, the crossing of "School House Road" (Called that by Soo Line Trainmen because of the Abandoned Brick Schoolhouse, visible from the Railroad, nearby---the road is actually named Robin Road) a Brand New Home occupies the Cut where the Greenwood Line made a short, quick, sharp ' S ' curve before heading Due West towards Veefkind.

Never more will we see a Soo Line Geep trounce through that cut, replaced by a BMW and a "Trendy" SUV. Besides, I highly doubt the Homeowner would want a GP-9 in his Living Room.

Northside Elevator STILL Remains a Railroad Customer of Today's Wisconsin Central, getting in Covered Hopper Cars of Fertilizer that are Unloaded in Spencer right where the Soo's ramshackle-looking Spencer Depot had sat. They do about 30 cars per year business with the WC today, a far cry from the end, where Northside had boosted their Business to near 80 cars of Fertilizer per year by the end. They truck the Load from Spencer to Loyal. Also, Northside gets inbound Covered Hopper Car carloads of Soy Meal, 3 to 5 cars per week, spotted at Prince Corporation just outside the Eastern Marshfield City Limits. Again, Northside Trucks the contents from Marshfield back to Loyal.

Draw your own conclusions: Survivor, or Ne'er Do Well? Never Given a Chance, or Had Used Up It's Chances? Would it have survived Staggers Act Deregulation as an Inpedendant Short Line?

To me, having witnessed the Greenwood Line on a near-Daily Basis, I still feel the Line was never wanted, and in that atmosphere, it never had a chance. It wasn't like the Folks out on the Greenwood Line had walked away from the Soo Line; the Soo Line walked away from them. Only a personal observation. I will admit to Extreme Bias in this case.

Keith Meacham