| A CN train heads south past the former SOO yard at Neenah, WI, on 18 Feb. '24. Train had two locomotives, CN 3249 pulling and CN 3970 mid-train. In the background, we can see evidence of continued expansion of Galloway Co., 601 S. Commercial St. (an active rail customer). This view would have been prevented by 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. It stood abandoned for a while and was eventually demolished. |