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WN GP15-1 1500 works slowly east at MP 93 (2 miles east of Barron, WI) on the morning of August 5, 2010. The 93 is obviously not a speed board and I was aware of the warning on the bulkhead flats as this train wobbled along on what once was the Soo Line's Minneapolis to Sault St. Marie mainline. The 1500 East had 11 cars on this part of their morning run from Barron to Cameron.
This is what the Barron Sub. looked like in 2010 after years of deferred maintenance by the Soo, WC, and CN. Wisconsin Northern started in 2004 and picked up this Cameron to Barron section, along with the short segment to Rice Lake from CN. They got the Barron Sub. mostly to serve Jennie-O in Barron. They also leased the former CNW line from Norma to Cameron from UP, reactivating the stretch from Chetek to Cameron to connect with the lines they picked up from CN.
In 2010, The WN based their one job out of Norma (just north of Chippewa Falls) and made the slow trip up to Rice Lake and Barron once or twice per week. Power for these WN trains was a GP15-1 on each end, except for a brief time after the road's start-up when they leased Iowa Northern Geeps.
The Wisconsin Northern and this Barron Sub. was about to change drastically though. In 2011, the first sand plant on the WN was built. Bigger power was brought in to serve what would end up being multiple plants with multiple jobs. One of the WN baby tunnel motors remains, but this 1500 was eventually shipped out to another PGR operation in California.
CN took back the east/west Barron Sub. from the Wisconsin Northern on Dec. 1, 2012, to tap into the sand themselves. They also took back the section to Rice Lake, part of the original lease. CN put the dormant stretch from Ladysmith to Cameron back into service and rebuilt Ladysmith to Poskin to mainline standards. They never put the Jennie-O switch back in and they no longer receive rail.
I did catch CN's daily local a few miles east of here this summer. Was cool to see it roll down the welded rail at 40MPH. Quite the difference on the Barron Sub. from the WN days of 2010.
WN still has one of their two original GP15-1 on the line to work the north end of their property. WN 1501 usually handles freight on the Chetek to Cameron (south of the Highway 8 bridge) section, but this 1500 was reportedly sent to another PGR operation in California.
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@ Southwest Airlines (WN/SWA) 🇺🇸
Boeing 737-3H4 ( WL )
• Production Site : Renton (RNT) WA. USA
• MSN : 26582 / 2515
• ENG : 2x CFMI CFM56-3B1
• REG : N374SW
• SEAT : config Y137
• RMK : Fleet Number "374"
@ History Aircraft :
• 30.JUL.1993 : First flight at built site Renton ( KRNT ) WA USA
• 12.AUG.1993 : Delivered to SWA with reg N374SW
• 2008 : Winglets ( WL ) fitted
• 29.JAN.2017 : Withdrawn from use ( wfu )
• 30.JAN.2017 : Stored at Tucson ( TUS ) AZ