Well I personally know the owner of the Wisconsin Great Northern, the railroad you speak of. It is worth the drive just for the equipment! All the coaches have been lovingly restored to better than original conditions, gleaming mahogany interiors are common in these cars actually they are all in 1920's apparel, being heavy weights from the DM&IR Railroad, the power is an ex. CNW F7 and an old MILW SW1 both in WGNS (GN) paint. Not bad for one man and the group of his friends. I am not going to lie to you, never ridden the dinner run, always in the cab, but if it as nice as their wedding trains are, it should be wonderful!
in fact they also have a pure CNW F7 sitting around. its condition, however.....well.....it's definitely seen better days. CNW passenger cars can be found there too. personally i love and greatly respect this road. when the CNW mainline was removed in '92, this small bit of it remained only because the WGN stepped up and bought it. they saved some real history here.
with any luck, i might get a chance to ride one of their excursions in july sometime around when the last train out of spooner, as well as the last signifficant freight train to use that track in Eau Claire ran. july 9, 1992 was that date. i want to do something on that day. riding the WGN is the most ideal choice to me
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
Lord Atmo wrote: in fact they also have a pure CNW F7 sitting around. its condition, however.....well.....it's definitely seen better days. CNW passenger cars can be found there too. personally i love and greatly respect this road. when the CNW mainline was removed in '92, this small bit of it remained only because the WGN stepped up and bought it. they saved some real history here.with any luck, i might get a chance to ride one of their excursions in july sometime around when the last train out of spooner, as well as the last signifficant freight train to use that track in Eau Claire ran. july 9, 1992 was that date. i want to do something on that day. riding the WGN is the most ideal choice to me
It is CNW 400 the pure F7 you speak of, the WGNS doesn't own the locomotive a parts dealer does, its main purpose was to provide the parts for the WGNS F7# 423. The radiator section of the Locomotive is gone and is being put in SOO LINE 2500 at the Duluth RR museum. I wouldn't be surprised if it is scrapped soon, the nose is nothing but bondo and the prime mover was when it came to the property was missing power assemblies, to much of a money pit, at one time it was hoped to restore it looks wise, with it dead, and use it as a control cab with 423 but it looks like that has fallen trough.
Lord Atmo wrote:well if it will at least stick around till the end of summer, i'll be able to get a shot of it
My hope as well.....
Having volunteered at the WGN for about 5 years, I never rode any of the dinner trains. However, they were not as often back then as they are now.
The 423 and the 400 were owned by Clint Jones, and were sold to the WGN. The 423 was the operable engine...the 400 a parts source.
The SW-1 had numerous mechanical problems during my stay there...it was eventually placed back in service, and is the primary power of all trains. According to my last visit with the owner, Mr. Vreeland, if you want the 423 to run on your train, you can pay $200. Why? It's too expensive and large to run every day.
I can't say I'm a big fan of "safety orange" on the passenger cars, though. I enjoied the Pullman Green better. They did badly need a new coat of paint, though.
There are only 2 true C&NW passenger cars there...a Baggage Car, and a sleeper named the Humbird. The other car next to that one is a ex-MST&L doodlebug.
According to the WGN website, the RI plow, a ex-C&NW caboose, VIA sleeper, and a few other oddballs are for sale.
Just 2 weeks ago, 2 seperate standing stalls of the ex-Omaha roundhouse were demolished due to poor shape, and need for large timber beams to repair the remaining 5-6 stalls of the roundhouse. The WGN had plans on building into it, however, CN still owns (or at least owned) all the area that the yard is on, making track laying into the roundhouse near to impossible.
The 400 and the ex-SP/Nekoosa Paper/Chicago Madison & Northern (repowered with a Cat prime mover) are due to be moved to the old Tower Automotive building in Milwaukee, to join the old GB&W RS-3. Clint Jones owns them all.
Other pieces on the site are owned by a private investor in Minneapolis, of whom the owner could have lived without (but that's a different story, don't ya see??)
Phil
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