| A through freight parallels Ehlers Rd. and approaches Towmen Rd. as it heads northeast via CN, former SOO, rails at Shawano Junction, Fox Crossing, Winnebago Co., WI (formerly Town of Menasha, Winnebago Co., WI, from 1855 until 14 Apr. 2016) on 27 Mar. '21. The train is transitioning to the former C&NW rails. This spot used to be named Fox River Junction, after several segments of the original C&NW main line through Menasha and Neenah were removed and a turnout was installed here which allows the bypass of missing C&NW rails by using former SOO rails. To the right, a shiny, new, modern signal relay case stands where an awesome, old one once stood. To the right of that you can see some brand new signals. The installation commenced ca. 25 Apr. '20 and was completed ca. 3 Jul. '20. The new signals were activated and the old signals removed between 10 and 22 Aug. '21. The telephone pole to the left of center and the one to the left of the lead locomotive stand next to an abandoned portion of the C&NW right-of-way. It sure was nice of the railroad to complete some much-needed brush clearing along the tracks here so that train nuts like me can capture better views of their trains. |