Green Bay & Western Alco Finale - Farewell to the GB&W
Vložit
- čas přidán 14. 12. 2023
- In this video, C. Vision Productions explores the Green Bay & Western in the railroad’s final years, between East Winona, Wisconsin and the Lake Michigan port of Kewaunee, Wisconsin. The GB&W was known for its pure Alco roster, and that’s exactly what you’ll see as we tour the railroad. Alco models C420, C424, RS-27, RS-11, and RS-20 (rebuilt RS-3) kept the freight moving for the Green Bay & Western, with nearly the entire roster making appearances in this video. We’ll see mainline trains, locals, and switch jobs, as we tour the Green Bay Route from one end, to the other. As an added bonus, we’ve included coverage of the railroad car ferry SS Badger exchanging traffic with the GB&W at Kewaunee. Sit back and relax, as C. Vision Productions and videographer Dan Hadley take you back in time to view one of America’s most beloved fallen flags, the Green Bay & Western.
If you’d like to see more, C. Vision has you covered. Check out the links below to continue watching:
Minnesota Commercial Railway - 70 Year Old Locomotives Smoking Like Chimneys!
• Minnesota Commercial R...
Wisconsin Central, Vol. 1 - Featuring WC SD45, SDL39, GP35, GP40, and SW1500 Locomotives
• Wisconsin Central, Vol...
Mexico’s Mainlines in the Early 1990s - National Railways of Mexico, Part 1
• Mexico’s Mainlines in ...
Southern Pacific’s Desert Raceway - The Sunset Route in 1995
• Southern Pacific’s Des...
Tennessee Pass - The Historic Final Days
• Tennessee Pass - The H...
Saluda Grade - The Final Months of America’s Steepest Mainline Route
• Saluda Grade - The Fin...
Smoky U28Bs on Coal Trains! - Transkentucky Transportation Railroad (TTI)
• Smoky U28Bs on Coal Tr...
Kansas City Southern - C. Vision’s Tribute to the Mighty KCS
• Kansas City Southern -... - Zábava
Awesome! I think Dan Hadley did an excellent job on catching the Green Bay & Western in action in the final years of its existence.
Thank you, Andrew! Mr. Hadley put in some tremendous effort to produce these videos. We are very grateful for that. As always, we appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment.
@@CVisionProductions1 You're welcome.
A great complement video to Pentrex's Green Bay Route dvd. Can't thank Mr. Hadley enough for recording the GBW.
We’re happy to hear that you are enjoying Mr. Hadley’s work! He appreciates these nice comments. Thank you very much.
Diesel locomotives that are more photogenic than Burlington Northern SD40-2 units! Anything ALCo makes me smile!
Alcos really do capture the imagination! They are right up there with other classics, such as the BN SD40-2s that you mentioned. The GB&W must have taken good care of their Alcos, as they didn’t seem to smoke like others that we’ve seen. Although, the RS-27s really did put on some impressive smoke shows… Thank you for the comment, MJ!
Nothing like a smoke after a meal....thank you ALCO👍🏻
Yep, they were good for that! Thank you for watching and commenting.
9:41 My home town. My dad was a signal maintainer here for 30 years on the C&NW. I spent 40 years in the Twin Cities on the Milwaukee Road and Burlington Northern.
Merrillan is a beautiful small town. It sounds like both you and your father had long and fulfilling railroad careers. That’s what we love to hear. Thank you for sharing a little of your story with us.
Love it. I used to love watching the GBW either at crossings or switching in their Green Bay yard.
Those sound like some great memories. The GB&W was quite the interesting operation. Thank you for checking out the video.
Excellent tribute to the memory of the GB&W. Well done and thank you! Mike
Thank you so much, Mike! And you’re very welcome.
Just watched this today. Excellent documentary of the GBW!!
Thank you very much! We’re glad that you enjoyed the video. The GB&W really was a neat railroad.
Awesome video so cool of you to share all these amazing videos.I have truly enjoyed each one.
That is great to hear! Thank you for watching our videos. There will be plenty more on the way for you. Stay tuned!
I finished watching the rest of this today and have one thing to mention. If you're narration is locked it won't matter. The ex-LS&I RSD-15s were bought for parts in 1989 and weren't really intended to be run. They were too long for some of the GB&W's tight curvature in spots (reason the GB&W never owned a six-axle locomotive). When sister Itel road Fox River Valley found itself in a deep deficit for horsepower hours owed to the C&NW, it would "borrow" one of the RSD-15s. When that happened, one would be pulled from the line, relettered "FRV," load boxed and then sent up to the FRV at North Green Bay, where it stayed in service until the the deficit was balanced. So, the only stretch of the GB&W that saw an RSD-15 was between Norwood and McDonald yard as they were ferried back and forth.
I also notice several employees that I knew back in the day working 1-2 and the local jobs in Wis. Rapids and Green Bay.
Thank you, Andrew! We appreciate those additional details. It appeared that 2404, 2405, 2406, and 2407 were all operating at various points during 1990. We also discovered a photograph of 2406 operating in June of 1991 on what looks to be a work train. Another interesting story is that the CNW banned these units from their trackage after numerous failures. We assume that these failures occurred during trips to Chicago on CNW trains. Quite a fascinating history for such a brief period in Midwest railroading. Also, it’s great to hear that you recognize some old friends. Thanks again.
Very amazing video thank you!!!!!🤩🤩🤩 The old Alcoa made a Smokey mess, but was cool to watch and listen to as they were rolling by😎😎
Thank you very much! And yes, those Alcos could really smoke it up! They were quite entertaining to watch roll by. We appreciate the comment.
Awesome video of the GBW. I grew up just west of the old Milw Road diamond between both RR as a kid in the 70’s. Remember those black belching Alcos and the Milw F units and Fairbanks Mirae switchers
What a great era that was! We’re glad that you got to witness the railroads of Green Bay back in those days. By the way, we love your CZcams handle. Long live the Milwaukee Road! Thank you for watching and commenting.
Thanks for posting. I love the sound of the Alco prime movers. Great video.
Thank you, Carl! Those Alcos really do have a neat sound to them. We appreciate you watching and commenting.
I remember GBW when I lived near green bay. I watched them go thur all the time. Then WC bought them and watched them go thur. Sure do miss them trains!!!!! The last I heard is all the track west of green bay has been removed. The old GBW depot still sits in Seymour wi. Thank u for bringing back memories!!!
You’re welcome! And yes, Green Bay to Plover is gone, with the exception of New London to Manawa, and a very short segment in Amherst Junction. Thank you very much for watching.
Ur welcome!!!! And keep up the great work ur doing!!! I love all the videos u post.
We appreciate hearing that. Thanks again!
Dan Hadley has done it again. Even showing BONUS footage of GB&W'S BOAT TRAIN operations.
Hey there, Colin! Yes, Mr. Hadley has come through for us yet again. We were hoping that everyone would enjoy seeing that Kewaunee run. The old KGB&W east of Green Bay was a neat piece of railroad. Today, all trackage east of Luxemburg is gone. Thank you for watching and commenting, as always.
@@CVisionProductions1 You're welcome as always. Out of curiosity, we're you able to view links I sent to you in the last video?
Negative on the links, Colin. The comment or comments that contained them didn’t come through either. The addition of links in your comments may be why they are being kicked out.
@@CVisionProductions1They were devices I found to help substitute for the VHS duplication device you folks had a while back.
Oh, gotcha. Thank you for thinking of us!
Good video! Good-bye, Green Bay Western for final years and tribute train!!!!!!
Thank you so much, Derrick! We appreciate you watching the video.
@@CVisionProductions1 You're welcome 🤗
You took me back to my childhood in the early 80s. Summer railfan trips through wisconsin and UP. Gbw, ls&i E&ls and the best was C&nw Alcos. What a great video❤
We’re happy that we could do that for you! Early 80s railfanning in Wisconsin sounds pretty awesome, if you ask us. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Good stuff! I had a Pentrex documentary that talked about the GBW and showed the 323 hauling a train to the SS Badger circa 1990.
I have that one too. Absolutely love it.
Thank you very much! Mr. Hadley was indeed the videographer for Pentrex’s Green Bay & Western videos.
iffy tracks be damned. its throttle up on the GBW. love it
Yes, sir! Hiball. It wasn’t long before this that sections of the GB&W were still 49 mph. The top speed had been dropped to 40 mph by the time this footage was captured. We appreciate the comment.
Great memories,thanx!
Thank you, Ross! And you’re very welcome. We’re glad that you enjoyed the video.
A great video on an awesome railroad that once operated in Wisconsin.
Thank you very much, Ben! The GB&W was definitely a fan favorite.
Interesting operation. Well-maintained 100-pound (?) jointed rail, all Alco and good mix of traffic.
The Green Bay & Western really had a neat operation, right up to the end. Although traffic had dropped considerably following the discontinuance of railroad car ferry operations across Lake Michigan, the GB&W still had plenty of business in their later years. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Thanks for the Hartford shoutout!
You’re welcome! Hartford looks like a neat place. We hope to see the 850 restored and operational at some point in the future. We appreciate the comment.
In the late 80s early 90s I served on board an lst that had alco power they're really good at putting up a smoke screen and at night you could see a slight flame coming from the stack and I bet it was 10-12 feet.
Alcos are impressive locomotives! They could really perform if maintained properly. Thank you for sharing your story, Scott. We always appreciate a little railroad knowledge.
@@CVisionProductions1the ALCO's we had were marine application v16 configuration 3 per shaft and two of them ran clockwise I believe 1&3 engine rooms ran counterclockwise 3 per main reduction gear if I recall not sure what model but they had a huge turbo on them.
Oh! Now we’re gettin’ it… Alco was more than just a locomotive builder, that’s for sure. Thanks again, Scott.
Thanks!
Thank you so much, Bryce! Your support is very much appreciated.
Sad most of the GBW is a Hiking Trail and I think Watco Operates some of the Ex Green Bay & Western in Wisconsin
Sad the Green Bay & Western isn't Running Anymore
Rest in Peace
Green Bay & Western Railroad
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Thank you for watching the video, Alex! It’s unfortunate that so much of the former Green Bay & Western has been abandoned. Their mainline provided a great shortcut across Wisconsin for traffic to and from Green Bay. The WC was focused on route consolidation and competition elimination back in those days. And that’s exactly what they did with the GB&W.
Yep. It’s the Ahnapee State Trail from Luxemburg to Kewaunee and then the FOXY (Fox Valley and Lake Superior) now operate on the branch line from Green Bay to Luxemburg.
One of my funnest days at work, taking cars out to Luxembourg on a cold, cold snowy winters night. The engine purring, prolly the GTW4912, fresh snow and it was about 70 degrees in the cab. We got out there, I pulled the empties and right before spotting the new cars up, I looked around took a breath and thought, what a beautiful night! Then back to GB. Over the bridge. How awesome. I was a conductor then. The engineers name was Ritchie. I’ll never forget that.
Beautiful Pontiac in the thumbnail
Gotta love those “classic” cars! Thank you for noticing that detail.
Great Productions C Vision!!!😊😮
Thank you very much, Matt! We’re glad that you enjoyed it.
@@CVisionProductions1 No problem sir, keep making great content!
We’ll try our best! Thanks again.
What a great video!
Thank you so much! We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
Very Nice Video, lots of great catches
Thank you kindly, AMP Productions!
I heavily documented the GB&W during this era, including many, many chases on the "West End." Did you use two cameras during the chase of #2 out of East Winona. Based on what you caught and track speed at that time, plus travel time, you either were driving very fast between locations, or had the luxury of two cameras alternating at locations during your chase.
We appreciate you asking. There was only one camera used. It was a lot of fast driving, combined with varying train speeds. He barely made it for that shot west of Independence. Thanks to the train slowing at Blair, Mr. Hadley was able to get the shot west of Taylor. He didn’t film the entire train at Blair, which also helped. Believe it or not, there were four additional scenes from this chase that weren’t used. One between Dodge and Arcadia, Hixton, Pray, and Wisconsin Rapids. Thank you for watching the video.
Some of those Alcos had bigger radiators like the GE b series locomotives back in the day. Who knows. If they were still around today then they probably would have huge “flared lats” style rear radiators today too lol
Yes! If only Alco had survived as a locomotive manufacturer a little longer. We’d love to see what they’d be producing today. Thank you for the comment. It definitely got us thinking about what could have been…
Awesome video!! Now who took over at Green Bay & Western?
Thank you very much!!! Wisconsin Central took over the Green Bay & Western in 1993. Wisconsin Central was subsequently purchased by the Canadian National in 2001.
It always makes me curious, many of the employees we see just going about their jobs in the videos, where are they these days?
Good question. Most of them would be retired by now. Considering all the changes in railroading over the past 30 years, odds are that a few left the industry prior to retirement. Of course, some of these men may no longer be with us. We appreciate the comment.
319, 320, and 321 were all purchased and scrapped by the Livonia Avon & Lakeville, i know they tried to get 319 going but it never worked out
We appreciate the information. It would have been nice if they all found good homes, but sometimes things just don’t work out. The Minnesota Commercial had quite a few ex GB&W units in operation up until fairly recently. They were always neat to see. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Great video. I remember watching the GBW locomotives in Arcadia at the Ashley plants and going through Marshland. By chance did the Minnesota Commercial end up with any GBW locomotives? I believe their fleet is predominantly Alco.
Thank you very much! We’re glad that you enjoyed the video. As for what you saw on the west end of the GB&W, those sound like great memories. And you’re spot on with your assumption that a few of GB&W’s Alcos ended up on the Minnesota Commercial. Indeed they did. A good number of those units worked full careers on the MNNR before finally getting sidelined. We appreciate you taking the time to watch this video.
17:58 Looks like the Starsky and Hutch car.
Good eye! It looks very similar. We’d love to see that thing tear out of the parking lot…
Great video! Is this video available on your website?
Thank you very much! We’re happy to hear that you enjoyed it. And to answer your question, this video is currently only available on CZcams. We’ll see what the future brings. Stay tuned!
How come you guys use a lot of the Pentrex clips that they put on their GBW video?
This footage is owned by Mr. Dan Hadley, the original videographer. Mr. Hadley filmed many of Pentrex’s popular programs. We are working with him to produce these videos. Every scene in this production was sourced directly from his raw footage. All of the editing, narration, research, and writing was done by C. Vision Productions. Thank you for watching the video!
Are those Nathan M3 I hear? They sound so good.
The GB&W did have some great horns. Those would be Nathan old cast P3s. Depending on their tuning and condition, M3 horns often sound similar to the old cast P3. Thank you for watching, and for your comment.
@@CVisionProductions1 OK so that is the old cast P3, cool, thank you, great video
Yes, sir! And, thank you!
Great video!
Anyone know where I can find more GBW videos?
There's probably more GB&W footage on CZcams.
Thank you very much! Regarding your question, we uploaded a video to CZcams on July 14th of this year that included some GB&W footage. It also covered CC&P, Crandic, and early DM&E. We appreciate you watching the video.
Thanks
I probably saw the thumbnail, but most videos over 25 minutes are too long for me.
@Cinder2008 You’re welcome.
Love my smoking alcos,what happen to the line???
I think Wisconsin Central bought it?
@@jimikrentkowski4073 yes, in 1993
@@wondabizyep
What remains is now CN
The other answers were all correct. As for the track itself, Kewaunee to Luxemburg is gone. Green Bay to Plover has also been abandoned, with the exception of New London to Manawa, and a very short segment in Amherst Junction. On the west end, Plover to East Winona is still intact. However, Arcadia to East Winona is currently out of service. There are no customers west of Arcadia, and interchange with the BNSF at East Winona has ceased. Thank you for watching the video.
@@CVisionProductions1 The tracks that go from Green Bay to Luxemburg are still in use today, but now it’s the Fox Valley & Lake Superior Railroad (FOXY).
@ 10:17... hey my old employer the C&NW, nice to see and hear those SD50/60s (even though they bombed out in the coal fields, they made up for it in regular manifest freight service)... and that looks like eau claire pool condr dick curler boarding the 7032... if you press me, i just might swear to it
Wow! It’s awesome that you recognize him. We always try to include shots of railroaders in these “classic” videos, in the hopes that a crew member or other employee will be recognized by the audience. We very much appreciate the comment.
A damn shame that a smaller, independent RR gets bought out/ carved up by a bigger RR. The GBW crews were second to nobody in being well suited in switching and running trains. They deserved far better than what they got.
We agree with you there. The GB&W had a nice railroad - a direct east/west route across the state of Wisconsin. The WC didn’t waste any time severing the line and removing sections that it didn’t see fit to operate. And yes, the GB&W had some great railroaders. Definitely some top notch skill there. Thank you for the comment.