| CN local crosses Millview Dr. and takes the east leg of the wye at the north end of the former SOO yard at Neenah, WI on 17 Apr. '16. The corporate headquarters of Plexus and Affinity clinic on Main St. are background right. Both are part of the site of the former P. H. Glatfelter Co. paper mill, which stood here for 135 years, the oldest part of the original mill was constructed in 1874. Glatfelter purchased the mill from Bergstrom Paper Co. in 1979. Bergstrom had purchased the mill, originally Winnebago Paper, in 1904. Glatfelter moved the jobs to Ohio in June 2006, the mill stood idle for about two years until it was torn down, demolition was completed in May 2009. The steel columns and beam framing the train are the last significant remnant of the defunct Fox Valley Energy Center (formerly Minergy Fox Valley Glass Aggregate Plant). It supported steam pipes that ran from the energy center to the paper mill. Opened in Jan. '98, it has stood idle since 15 Jun. '13. Demolition is nearly complete, after several delays. A large pile of broken concrete is about all that remains and will soon be removed and recycled. Much of these tracks, other than the east leg, were originally built on a trestle in the south end of Little Lake Butte des Morts. All of the earth under and to the left (north) of these rails is landfill, deposited in the south end of the lake by the paper mills starting in the 1950s. That former landfill is now Arrowhead Park. The white building partially visible on the right is Progressive Paper Storage, Inc. (formerly Kimberly-Clark Warehouse), 135 Millview Dr. It does not receive rail service, but it looks like there may have been a spur on the northwest side of the building in the past. |