Here is another question for WIsc and Southern

[railfan619]

Hey everyone I got to see my first Wiconsin and Southern traindo some switching this morning and to me it was really cool well because it was done by a GP38 and second it was just so cool to see one of those trains up close. But my question to all of those Wisconsin and Southern fans out there do the trains start out up in Jansville and then come south to. Milwaukee and then spends the day switching cars around then at the end of the day it pulls a train back north or how is that done [#wstupid]

[Noah Hofrichter]

It depends on which train you saw. There is a yard in North Milwaukee, and there is the ML, the Milwaukee local, which works out of the North Milwaukee yard/head quarters, and switches the local industries on one of the spurs in the area. There is also the HM, or the Horicon to Milwaukee turn, which comes down from Horicon, stops at the WSOR-UP interchange in Granville to interchange cars, but never comes in all the way to the yard(or at least not as far as I know).

There is one train that comes from Janesville up on it's way to Horicon. However, this train doesn't do any switching in the Milwaukee area other then interchanging with the CN at Ackerville.

There are a few WSOR fans that live in Milwaukee on this forum that can give you more specific details, as I'm on the opposite end of the WSOR system, but what I told you is what I've learned over the past few years.

By the Way, congrats on your first WSOR train catch!

Noah

[railfan619]

I got a question for noah do all of the Wisc and southern loco's are they numbered for their model like number 3802 is a GP38 and so on and so forth.Just wondering [:D]

[Noah Hofrichter]

Yep, you got it. All the SD20's are 205_ all the GP38's are 380_ all the SD40-2's are either 400_ or 405_. The only excpetion to that is 4025. And the two GP7's are 701 and 702.

Noah

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

Noah pretty much nailed it on the head with the WSOR trains in the Milwaukee area. The see the WSOR at work check out North Milwaukee Yard near 35th and Villard.



Here the CN and WSOR work together in North Milwaukee yard in April 2004.



Here the WSOR is preparing to interchange with the UP at Granville. Granville is on the northwest corner of Milwaukee near Good Hope road and 92nd Street.



The UP come down the interchange track at Granville. Just think they moved the "Heritage Units" on those tracks.



The UP is pulling a cut of cars.



Now its WSOR turn at Granville



And WSOR pulls its cut of cars.

Keith

[dknelson]

Nice shots from my railfanning buddy Keith, as usual. One of these days if i can crank up this scanner of mine I will try to post my early shots of the WSOR in their earlier paint scheme.

The WSOR is one railroad which has a website that actually acknowledges that there are railfans. It is filled with neat info and is well worth spending some time navigating
http://www.wsorrailroad.com/

Andrew Potts runs an unofficial website that also has good photos and info
http://www.trainweb.org/wsor/

Dave Nelson

[fuzzybroken]

Great shots Keith! Since they are undated, I must assume that they are from a couple years ago since I see 1202 switching North Milwaukee, and they don't have that engine any more.

I must disagree a bit with your locations though. North Milwaukee Yard is at 35th and Fairmount, which is about 1/4 mile south of Villard. (But you did say "near"...) Granville -- the railroad location anyways -- is located at 107th and Brown Deer Road!

Railfan619, you might do well to join the WSOR Yahoo!Group, that's where I learned lots and lots about my favorite local railroad! But to answer your question (or at least what I think it is), the WSOR runs a train from Janesville to Horicon, the "JH", and another from Horicon to Janesville, the "HJ". They also run a train from Horicon to Milwaukee and back, the "HM" -- this train is usually the one that drops off cars (and, occasionally, a locomotive) at Granville for the UP, and also swaps cars around with the Milwaukee Local, the "ML". This is the train that switches the North Milwaukee Yard, and also services industries on the "Gibson Line", the line that runs to the east/southeast of North Milwaukee, as far as N. Richards and E. Keefe. Occasionally (like last week), the ML also fills in on the OLDM that serves the line they acquired this year from CN, north of Saukville.

So, the "Readers Digest Condensed Version" of the above is, No the train runs from Janesville to Horicon, another train runs from Horicon to Granville, and yet another handles things from there.

Cheers,
-Mark
www.fuzzyworld3.com

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

Sorry about the not dating the photos. Actually all of the photos I included were from 2004. So they are just over a year old.

Keith

[fuzzybroken]

Yeah, that's right, 1202 only left last year. Shouldn't make time fly faster than it already does! [:o]

-Mark
www.fuzzyworld3.com

[Noah Hofrichter]

Keith, some more great photos! Just about everything of yours I see is good.

Noah

[railfan619]

Hey Noah I saw #702 today which is a GP7 and to me it sounded like the horn on this loco was starting to burn out or they just like to have a really cool sounding horn because it was like a 2 or 3 tone horn it started off loud went quiet and then got loud again can you explian this to me.

[Anonymous]

Hey, don't forget the Madison area!. Stop at the Chocolate Shoppe and watch W&S take to and from the Johnson street yard. Also go to Cottage Grove when the grain is moving to market. Must have been 200 cars shipped out in one week in August from the Landmark Cooperative, usually in 15 to 25 cars per trip.

[railfan619]

Oh sorry I totally forgot about the ,madison area in fact I've only been in Madison once and of coruse I did not see any trains the time I was there.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I don't know for sure, but one idea to that would be just the engineer pulling and releasing the handle on the horn. Some engineers that I've seen Jerk the horn back, hold it, and then jerk it forward again(basically just letting go and letting the handle snap back on it's own), others I've seen ease it back and forth, maybe accounting for what you heard. Just a guess though.

Madison isn't the greatest place to just "try and catch a train" with out knowing the approximent scheduales very well. Even I don't see many trains in Madison, I know the schedule's by heart.

Noah

[eolafan]

Great article on the W&S in the latest issue of TRAINS that arrived in my mailbox today and which I read while fanning this afternoon. Wi***hey had included more on motive power though.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Unfortunately mine hasn't arrived. Just about every other issue since I started my Subscription has arrived between the 30/31-2 of every month, But the one month that I really really want to issue now, it shows up late! So now I'll have to wait till at least thursday, and let's just say I'm not too happy..... I really am looking forward to the article though, I just wish it would get here!

Noah

[kschmidt]

Noah,

I just got my TRAINS today with the article on the WSOR. Some really nice photos, including a Madison shot with the UP United Way engine and a nice winter/snow shot with the #4025. All in all a very good article about the WSOR. You will enjoy it.

Keith