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Fox Valley Corridor - North Fond du Lac to Menasha

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*** THIS ROUTE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND IS NOT CONSIDERED FINAL ***

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Workshop Scenarios for This Route The Fox Valley Corridor is the unofficial name of the railroad corridor between Milwaukee, WI and Green Bay, WI via the Fox Cities. This TSC route covers approximately 30 miles of the relatively parallel north/south main lines of the Soo Line (SOO) and the Chicago & North Western (CNW) between their rail yards in North Fond du Lac to northwest of Neenah and Menasha. It also includes CNW's branch through Oshkosh from Tower CF to its interchange with the Soo Line near the UW Oshkosh campus, as well as Soo Line's Neenah Branch that was co-owned with the Milwaukee Road (MILW) between SOO's Neenah Yard and SOO's Menasha Yard and MILW's Menasha Yard. The route is based around 1980, but the track alignments remained mostly unchanged from the 1970s until the early 1990s. Route Map [earth.google.com]The route uses the following TSC DLC:

• CSX Hanover Subdivision: Hanover - Hagerstown Route Add-On
• Clinchfield Railroad: Elkhorn City - St. Paul Route Add-On
• The Racetrack: Aurora - Chicago Route Add-On
• Stevens Pass Route Add-On
• Springfield Line: Springfield - New Haven Route Add-On
• Sacramento Northern: Suisun Bay - San Francisco Route Add-On
• US Loco & Asset Pack
• TS Rewards - Flat Car (Battle For Sherman Hill Collection?)
• Long Island Rail Road: New York - Hicksville Route Add-On

Oshkosh, WI was built upon its lumber industry in the 19th century. Being at the mouth of the Fox River, lumber shipments could easily travel by boat to various destinations, including the twin cities of Neenah and Menasha, which were home to some of the largest paper mills in the United States. Due to the large number of paper mills, Neenah and Menasha, along with other Fox Cities such as Appleton, Kimberly, and Kaukauna, became a part of what many call the "Paper Valley".The transportation of lumber and paper products were primarily done via maritime transport in the first half of the 19th century. However, the industry was mostly converted to using the railroads by the end of the century. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway (CNW) was the first railroad to reach the Fox Valley, building north from Fond du Lac to Oshkosh in 1858 and north to Neenah and Menasha by 1861. In 1871, the original Wisconsin Central Railroad started in West Menasha and extended west to Stevens Point. In 1872, the Milwaukee & Northern Railway (M&N) entered Menasha from the east. Also in 1872, the Milwaukee Road (MILW) acquired the Oshkosh & Mississippi Railroad and entered Oshkosh from the southwest. This section of MILW track was the northeastern terminus of the Northern Division. The old Wisconsin Central extended its line from Menasha to Milwaukee via Neenah and Oshkosh in 1873. The M&N expanded north to Appleton in 1880 and south into Neenah in 1881. The Milwaukee Road took over the M&N in 1893, making the Menasha, Appleton, and Neenah Branches a part of its Superior Division.The original Wisconsin Central Railroad was leased to the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (aka the 'old' Soo Line) in 1909. These two railroads were eventually fully consolidated in 1961 to form the 'new' Soo Line Railroad. Shortly after acquiring the Milwaukee Road in 1985, Soo Line attempted to create a new division called Lake States that would operate the Soo Line tracks in northern Wisconsin, including its physical plant along the Fox Valley Corridor. After several months, the Soo Line put the Lake States plant up for sale. In 1987, the new Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL) was formed, and it purchased the Lake States trackage and buildings from the Soo Line in October 1987. For the first several years, WCL used the same main lines as the Soo Line had used for decades. In the mid-1990s, some main line realignments occurred after WCL acquired several former CNW lines with their purchase of the Fox River Valley Railroad (FRVR) and the Green Bay and Western (GBW) in 1993. Within 5 years of the merger, WCL moved its mainline from the ex-SOO to the ex-CNW/FRVR main line between North Fond du Lac and Tower CF, just north of Oshkosh. WCL was acquired by Canadian National (CN) in 2001. CN continues to utilize most of the main lines they acquired from WCL, including the Neenah Subdivision that is featured in this route.CNW operated their main line through Oshkosh into the 1980s. CNW's mainline between Milwaukee and Green Bay via the Fox Cities paralleled their mainline along Lake Michigan. As the lumber industry dried up around Oshkosh, the CNW used the Fox Cities only as a secondary line. By the late 1980s, CNW had all but abandoned its main line between North Fond du Lac and Neenah. In 1988 CNW sold most of its north-central Wisconsin trackage to Itel, which created the FRVR. Itel also owned GBW, but the two railroads operated independently. FRVR struggled financially due to big debt, little revenue, and an aging plant. After only 5 years, FRVR was sold along with GBW to WCL in August 1993. Within a decade much of the FRVR and GBW trackage was placed out of service or abandoned.By the mid-1970s, the Milwaukee Road was in considerable financial hardship. To reduce costs, the Milwaukee Road sold off or abandoned large amounts of trackage in 1980, including selling its Northern Division in south-central Wisconsin to the state of Wisconsin. The state of Wisconsin has leased all remaining Northern Division trackage to the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR). WSOR has operated and greatly improved much of the trackage that it acquired in 1980. WSOR's northern terminus continues to be at Oshkosh, but the rails were severed west of Highway 41 in 1992. The Milwaukee Road held on to its Superior Division, and it was included in the sale of the company to the Soo Line in 1985. After the sale, the portion of the Milwaukee Road in the Fox Valley became part of the Lake States Division and was included in the sale to the Wisconsin Central in 1987.