| CN local returns to the north end of the former SOO yard at Neenah, WI on 15 Oct. '17. Train has picked up one more boxcar since I saw it at W. Spencer St. in Appleton about 2 hours earlier. This view would have been prevented by the dominating silhouette of the original Neenah Foundry facility, later known as Plant 1, which stood here for over ¾’s of a century. Established in 1872 as Aylward Plow Works (a.k.a. Aylward & Sons) at 120 N. Lake St., they erected a new foundry at 500 W. Winneconne Ave. in 1918 “in a rural area of southwestern Neenah.” The name of Neenah Foundry was adopted in 1922. Expanded numerous times over the years, it became Plant 1 in 1960 when Plant 2 was constructed in the then rural area at the intersection of Byrd Ave. and the aptly named Aylward St. (followed by Plant 3 in 1967). Plant 1 was closed in 1994, the corporate overlords didn’t want to spend any money to update the plant. It stood abandoned for a while and was eventually demolished. Part of the fence on this side of the tracks has been temporarily removed, they were preparing to replace some of the turnouts on this end of the yard. The rainbow was more impressive with the naked eye. |