The Wisconsin Valley Railroad
Tomah to Heafford Junction, Wisconsin
SooLineHistory Group Index and Map Part 1 Part 2
Part 3 - Pix Part 4 - Pix Part 5 - Pix Part 6 - Pix
Part 7 - Pix Part 8 - Pix Part 9 - Pix Part 10 - Pix
Previous Page To see the pictures full-size, right-click and select "View Image."
Coal Emp 3.jpg (below, 1024 x 768, 10-1)
Photo by Dan Kwarciany: A shot looking at the south end of the receiver yard south of the coal dumper at the Wisconsin Public Service Weston 3 facility. The Valley Line itself isn't in the photo; it's off to the right out of sight, because the power seen here is facing south-southeast on the lead.
Dan's own words:
"I spotted a BLE unit leading a coal train south out of Weston last week. The clouds parted for a nice sunny shot of the power. The train was waiting for a late A407 before they could leave. Notice off to the left, a new building, of some sort. Maybe a repair shop...I don't know. Off in the distance, about six cranes stand where the main construction is happening."
Keith again:
The 6 construction cranes mark where the Weston 4 generator set is going in. The new steel building off to the left is the new enginehouse/shop. It replaces the enginehouse/shop located farther north, which is to be removed shortly for the Weston 4 construction. All this entails much removal and relaying of trackage around the power plant going up. The only thing being left where it is, is the dumper."
Once Weston 4 is up and operating, it will require a coal train per day to keep it, Weston 3 and Weston 1 & 2 fluid with black diamonds. Traffic the old Milwaukee Road never envisioned...
MT&W at Kings.jpg (below, 1184 x 763, 10-2)
Milwaukee's most important interchange connection was the Marinette, Tomahawk & Western RR at Tomahawk, Wisconsin. MT&W started life as a logging line that stretched from Tomahawk to near Rib Lake, Wis., on it's western end, and eastwards to Grundy, Wis., and another connection with the Wisconsin Valley/Milwaukee Road branchline that left the Valley at Irma, Wis., and wended it's way to Gleason, where the line split, the northern line going to Grundy and the southern line to a point eqidistant from Brokaw, Wis, but some 10 or so miles farther east.
The only reminant left of either road's logging lines to Grundy was the MT&W line to the Tomahawk Power & Paper pulp mill at a point just outside of Tomahawk's corporate city limit known as "Kings". This line crossed the Valley inside Tomahawk itself, near the Milwaukee Road Wisconsin River bridge in the same city, then wound it's way north-northwestwards around Tomahawk's east side, before turning east and ending at the Tomahawk Power & Paper pulp mill, a total distance by rail of about 5 miles, the way the MT&W got there.
There were only two rail-served customers on the line to Kings that I know of, the pulp mill and a ready mix concrete plant.
At the time of this Bob Welke photograph, MT&W was owned as a part of the Owens-Illinois Paper Mill property at Wisconsin Dam. Before O-I sold off the Paper Mill and the MT&W, they abandoned the line east of the diamond with the Milwaukee Road to Kings, much to the unhappiness of the Tomahawk Power & Paper Co., which shipped about 2-to-5 cars of paper pulp per week. The Pulp Mill succumbed shortly thereafter, but most likely would have anyway since they were only producing a specialty paper used for some obscure application.
Bob Welke Photograph.
MT&W on Wisc. River bridge.jpg (below, 764 x 520, 10-3)
Another Bob Welke photo, used with permission.
Bob lists this as an Marinette, Tomahawk & Western train on the WISCONSIN River Bridge north of Tomahawk? This might be near a point on the MT&W called "Jersey City" where the MT&W had a wye that led their track off westwards, then curved gently south-southeast to run to the Owens-Illinois paper mill at Wisconsin Dam. Technically, this train is on the line to the Soo Line connection at Bradley, engine pointing towards Tomahawk.
I don't think this to be the Wisconsin River, however. The Wisconsin crossed under the Valley south of Tomahawk; two smaller rivers (names of which escape me) flowed in to the Wisconsin from the west and northwest. Their confluence created Lake Mohawksin in Tomahawk.
Details, details, eh?
Mosinee GE 44T 4-20-84 Mosinee,WI.jpg (below, 944 x 633, 10-4)
For many years, the plant switcher at Mosinee Papers mill in Mosinee was this yellow GE 44-ton switcher, agile enough to move carloads around inside the plant grounds. Oft-not seen, hidden well behind the rivers bluffs surrounding the mill, this engine toiled away in relative obscurity. Not sure if it's still working in Mosinee yet or not, or if it has been replaced.
MILW 228 New Lisbon, Wis 5-30-71 JS.jpg (below, 885 x 588, 10-5)
"Just A Geep". Don't say that. This was possibly the most successful design ever built and GM has yet to counter it successfully.
Here we have it dressed in Milwaukee Toad ...er, ROAD, colors, awaiting the Great Pumpkin.
Er, power for trains 472-473 to/from New Lisbon to Junction City or farther north as needed on the Valley Line.
Can't tell you the lineage, number-wise, for the 228, or what she became when/if she entered the Milwaukee's "GP20" rebuilding program. Note that in this Joe Stauber photo, 228 still wears her "GP 9" spec plate ahead of her battery box and equipment access doors.
Milwaukee invested heavily in the GP9 and they ran practically all of them into the ground when bankruptcy hit in 1977. With a 100-and some 30-odd units on the roster, they were the back-bone of Milwaukee's freight hauling fleet.
Note that the Milwaukee used the "Mars" type headlight, an early twin-sealed beam version with a glass plate covering the headlight bulbs. C&NW and UP used this headlight as well. Later on, all three roads removed the outer casing and the headlight glass to render an ersatz late twin sealed beam headlight.
Joe Stauber Photo 5-30-71 New Lisbon, Wis.
Keith
MILW 244 4-6-76 Wis Rapids JS.jpg (below, 886 x 588, 10-6)
Milwaukee # 244 works on her tan next to the Milwaukee Road's Wisconsin Rapids Depot, 6 April 1976, by Joe Stauber, assigned to the Rapids Switch Job/Nekoosa Patrol. Still wearing her "Lines West" spark arrestors and her Mars headlight. A titillating combination.
Joe Stauber Photo 4-6-76 Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.
MILW 279 1-13-80 Wis Rapids Wis JS.jpg (below, 882 x 583, 10-7)
279 stands idle next to the Milwaukee's Rapids Depot on January 13, 1980. 279 represents one of the FEW Phase 1 type design GP9's that did not go through the Milwaukee Road's "GP20" upgrade program at Milwaukee Shops in the early-to-mid 1970's. A number of older phase 1 geeps were not rebuilt and were renumbered into the 270-279 series---Milwaukee's renumbering fetish. 228 seen previously was one of those unrebuilt oldsters.
Joe Stauber Photo 1-13-80 Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.
SooLineHistory Group Index and Map Part 1 Part 2
Part 3 - Pix Part 4 - Pix Part 5 - Pix Part 6 - Pix
Part 7 - Pix Part 8 - Pix Part 9 - Pix Part 10 - Pix
To see the pictures full-size, right-click and select "View Image."Next Page

The content in these pages were collected and/or created by Keith Meacham, and he retains the copyright.
Photographs are from the collection of Keith Meacham.
Special thanks to Dan Kwarciany for photo 10-1 on this page.
Ron Kohlin compiled Mr. Meacham's work for publication on the World Wide Web.
All rights reserved.
Created on May 30, 2005.
Last changed on July 2, 2005.

NOTE: In an effort to thwart the work of those automated "spiders" that roam
the internet harvesting e-mail addresses, to which their masters later direct mass
quantities of Spam, I have inserted the words "AT" and "DOT" in the link below.
When using the link below to contact the WebMaster, please replace those words
with the equivalent symbol, and remove any spaces, before sending the message.
It won't work unless you do. Hopefully your e-mail proggie will alert you.

Contact the WebMaster

Index to more Meacham drivel
Visit Ron's Rec Room