GBW 1993 Part 2

In part 2, we begin at Wisconsin Rapids with the arrival of #2 and watch it switching out its pickup. The Plover local returns, after which #2 leaves town and heads for Plover. We follow the train to Black Creek, where it meets #1 about 10PM. The following morning we catch power being put away and serviced at Norwood, then record the departure of a passenger special headed for East Winona. We chase it as far as Taylor, then catch #2 returning led by both RS-27's.

[@MikeG42]

Another excellent video of the Green Bay & Western. Well done FMNUT

[@markthomas6436]

One of their RSD15's survives and is occasionaly operated at the Illinois Railroad Museum in Union, IL.

[@ErickC]

These videos make me both happy and sad - happy because they bring me back to my youth in Wisconsin, sad because it's all a distant memory, the Soo is gone, the FRVR is gone, the CNW is gone, I moved cross-country in 1993 and never saw any of my friends again, and, of course, some family members in the area I never saw again as they drifted away or died before I returned to the midwest. Interesting that GBW was still using the caboose in 1993. I lived in Oshkosh - FRV, Soo, WC, and CNW ran through there - and never saw a single one, save for the one FRV used in its yard to push cars around tight industrial spur curves. I think some GBW locomotives must have ended up on the FRV - I remember seeing that checkered sill and red paint at least once or twice on idling locomotives over by the Georgia Pacific building where the tracks crossed Murdoch. The adjacent Soo Line crossing across said street still had wig wag signals in the early '90s.

[@terrywitkowski9486]

I used to live in Plover. I watched them every day. A GBW is still display there.

[@casperfriendly47]

Fantastic! Perhaps THE BEST rail video I've yet seen on YT...certainly top-5 in the many hundreds I've seen here from all over the world back to the 1940s. Great trip back to being alive trackside in those very different times the early-'90s, same Midwest Great Lakes geography. Technical camerawork, editing, and above all composition are superb. And good logistics and driving on those long chases. Thanks for sharing this extraordinary view of ordinary life somewhere in time.

[@scoobycarr5558]

The late great GBW - Great Balls of Wonder

[@pkranz937]

Spring and summer of '93 was rough not only for the GBW, but also for central and western WI, as flooding created major problems for Hatfield, the Trempealeau River Valley, and the Mississippi.

[@25mfd]

Sweet vid. But man, at the 5:20 mark, I was thinking, "...he ain't gonna kick that loaded piggyback flat...nah he won't". And I be damned if he DID!!!

[@fmnut]

25mfd I thought the same thing while I was filming it.

[@iusetano]

Excellent video.

[@dfiddleb]

LOVE that bay-window caboose! (Rather a necessity with those big, modern boxcars). :)

[@mrserious55]

old style...love it

[@patricknoveski6409]

Fm, What drove them out of business? They had it all. Service areas, yards turn tables, employees ? Heartbreaking.

[@fmnut]

They were purchased by another, larger railroad (Wisconsin Central) which in turn was swallowed by an even bigger railroad (Canadian National). In a larger sense, it was difficult for them to survive as an independent on local traffic alone. Historically they were a bridge road feeding traffic to & from the Lake Michigan ferries. Once that traffic dried up in the 80's after deregulation, they were ripe for takeover by a larger road seeking access to the on line forest products plants, while not having to maintain their somewhat ancient infrastructure and motive power. Which is exactly what happened, the road was dismembered for the useful parts and the rest abandoned.

[@briansweet8904]

why do all good things have to come to an end

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

To quote the late great George Harrison...All Things Must Pass🌷🍻🎸

[@patricknoveski6409]

It sucks.

[@patricknoveski6409]

Why did all the railroads disappear in the 90's? S.P. my favorite, GONE TO THE YELLOW MONSTER U.P. I'm sick of seeing yellow.

[@fmnut]

To use an economic term, "economies of scale". The larger a railroad, the more you can reduce redundant facilities and routes, reduce overhead by consolidating staff, and offer single line service to a greater customer base without the slowdowns of interchange to other RRs. After deregulation, railroads became more attractive to investors and this freed up capital that facilitated the merger process. And SP was a financially sick railroad, even after the DRGW merger, so the UP taking it over was a financial blessing, even if a downer for us railfans.

[@markthomas6436]

Union Pacific is the Borg of railroading.

[@DRRP]

I never thought you can kick tofc cars with trailers on them?

[@Socoolds455]

+devin baker Not supposed to, but most railroads don't care until something breaks, then it's the crew's fault. lol Same with sending autoracks over the hump, not supposed to, but it happens...

[@TrainsofNortheastWisconsin]

Is that hwy 47 at 1224

[@fmnut]

Yes. Right out front of the Black Creek Cafe.

[@TrainsofNortheastWisconsin]

+fmnut do u know when this line was abandoned and ripped up

[@fmnut]

+Pj L STB approved the abandonment on 3/11/2001. Not sure when the track was removed but probably within 2 years of that date.

[@pkranz937]

Trains of Northeast Wisconsin 2004

[@patricknoveski6409]

It's such a bummer when they pull the track too. The end. 😠🤑