WSOR in Janesville, WI Updated

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

I am planning on heading out towards Janesville, WI to check out the Wisconsin & Southern action. Just wondering where would be some good spots to catch some WSOR action. Also what kind of action might I catch on a weekday. Hoping to catch the "Anniversary" unit. Any help would be appreciated.

Keith

[Anonymous]

Head to the west side of mid-town - 5 Pts. WS has a hub-turntable-yards-sheds. I get to see the anniversary unit almost everyday - heading north towards Milton.

[eolafan]

Yep, my favorite spot is the yard/roundhouse area just west of downtown. Usually some clean power around and some switching goes on in the yard behind the roundhouse. If you drive behind the roundhouse you can go through their parking area and can see through the big picuture windows in the back and see power inside being serviced.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Keith, I think the JH(Janesville to Horicon) leaves for Horicon about 1500 everyday excpet for Saturday, although they've been changing there schedual so that I'm not sure anymore. The Monroe line Job leaves sometime in the afternoon/evening too. The HJ(the oppoiste of the JH) comes in usually in the early morning(6-11AM) sometime, although that depends on how long it has to wait to get onto the CN at Slinger. This turns in to the CJ, which goes out not to much later. I don't get down to Janesville much, I know more about the Madison side of the operations, this may not be entirely accurate anymore.

The Anniversary unit "seems" to stay around Janesville, maybe going out an back on the JH-HJ or the Monroe job(which I think is the JLPM, but I don't know.)

Also, a scanner tuned to 160.575 (WSOR channel 1) and 161.145(WSOR channel 2) will help. Channel 1 is used for the most part, and two is used when there is interference in a town or for MoW work. I hope things go good on your trip, and please share a few photos from the trip.

Noah

[kschmidt]

Thanks for all the help. The trip was successful. Caught the 25th Anniversary unit at Milton, WI running long hood forward. However the train was tied-up with no crew. Also caught a pair of WSOR SD40-2's with another train outside of Milton, WI also tied-up with no crew. Eventually that train was moved to Milton.

So Noah here you are, some photos from a great day on the WSOR and a perfect weather day.


WSOR #4002 sits at Wickerham Road east of Milton, WI


WSOR #4002/#4001 at Wickerham Road






WSOR #4025 25th Anniversary Unit at Milton Jct, WI


WSOR power at Janesville, WI


WSOR Roundhouse at Janesville, WI

And a special surprise caught the Model Railroader 70th Anniversary Boxcar


Keith

[Noah Hofrichter]

Wow! Keith, that is some great photography. You don't see SD40-2's running backwards much on the WSOR, that's neat to see. Thanks alot for shareing the photos.

Noah

[SP4449]

I couldn't open the boxcar link??? Help.

[eolafan]

I work for a company whose headquarters is in Hartford, WI and the WSOR has a line that runs through Hartford and is about a quarter mile from our offices. I spend many nights in Hartford while visiting the factory and hear/see the (minimum) two trains a day on the line (one at about 7:30 a.m. eastbound and the other at about 5:45 westbound). There are also a number of locals during the day moving cars around industries in the area. As previously posted I saw the executive train eastbound a week ago yesterday with their two E9's and five cars....WHAT A SIGHT TO SEE! Even though my home is in Aurora, IL and I have the BNSF triple track line about three miles from my home, the WSOR is fast becoming one of my favorite railroads due to the wide variety of very clean and good looking power and the "family" feel of the company.

[locomutt]

Nice shots Keith,especially liked the one of the round house area.

[Anonymous]

Saw 7 W&S SD40's pulling a train into Janesville today while I was mowing the lawn. The train had a Pan Am car? It was short box car like and Pan Am blue of course.

[JoeKoh]

wow great shots thanks for sharing.
stay safe
Joe