the year is 1900, there was a company called the Greenbay central railroad. the company started construction of a line that would connect greenbay with Milwaukee. At this point in time the railroad had little money and stocks weren't being sold that well. in 1905 the railroad merged with a company in Chicago, The Chicago and Northern Transportation company. 1907 brought the golden spike ceremony, there was now a line connecting the county with Greenbay. in 1910 the railroad bought a fleet of maritime transport. it spanned from tug boats to rail ferries to four ore ships. the railroad was on the move after only 10 years but there was a problem, a railroad that was disconnected from the rest of the country's system. The small railroad was raking in big money as over 75 percent off all traffic going between lake superior and Michigan ran over this line and The Michigan Belt wanted to expand south to Greenbay, this would destroy the G&C (the Greenbay to Chicago RR). the G&C built trackage and interchanged with the belt and did it in lighting speed.(edited)

[9:02 PM]

the Belt eventually started getting its stocks bought up by the G&C and a controlling share turned to full owner ship and that turned into a merger. its 1917, the newly formed Wisconsin and Belt line was formed and all US railroads were taken over by the government. USRA promised heavy 2-8-2s for the extreme ore drags but all but 3 had leaking cylinders and the frames were damaged, these locos were shipped back to lima and the road just exchanged them for 9 pacifics and again screwing the W&BL over, one of the pacifics had a faulty dry pipe and it collapsed while in the greenbay yard. The loco took off, split a switch and derailed, one thing the crews didn't do is drop the fire. The loco blew up 18 minutes later as the crane was pulling it up and three work men were standing right next to it. by 1921, the railroad made one decision that kinda set it up for failure. Greenbay was the hub as the railroad's port is there along with the headquarters and a belt line around the city. the railroad sold half of the belt to a trolley line and they went bust the next year and the track was ripped up. the 20's were uninteresting and the 30's didn't hit the road to much. the world war two era was a boom time as the army set up camp right on the W&BL line (in 1928 the name was changed to Wisconsin and Michigan) and soon this class 3 railroad was now a class one. W&M after the war were getting into passenger.(edited)

[9:03 PM]

the N&W 601 is a J that got into a wreck in 1948, the engine was in such bad shape the N&W was gonna throw it away. the W&M had Roanoke fix it up and by 1949, streamlined cars, new roadbed, and the 601 were ready to kick off the new train: the lakeside limited running about 60 miles per hour from Greenbay to Chicago and back, this train had style, the J was said to get up in the 90's near Chicago but that is highly unlikely. in 1950 the railroad bought 10 F3s and 20 F7s four were later traded for FP7s. in 1954 the railroad started TOFC trains with The Ore Line Rocket. an F3 on one end of the train and an F7 on the other end. (The F7s replaced the Mikados and pacifics) 1957 was a rough year as a scandal involving the Milwaukee happened and the W&M switched management. what is now called the 58 convention said steam was a good way to run trains, all the steam except the 601 was off the roster, so the management set up a group to let the 601 live and this is one of the best things to come out of the W&M. in 1959, the W&M made a decision though, they retired the 601 but made sure it stayed around for 10 years. this would be extended to 20 years, this would never happen. 1961 brought the first downfall, the Greenbay shops burned to the ground and the 601 was in there. 601 was damaged really bad but the W&M fixed her up and by 1966 the loco was displayed under cover at the harbor entrance. 1970 brought a proposal and the beginning of construction of a canal that ran right beside the W&M in Michigan, the W&M drew in protesters, but it was no use.(edited)

[9:03 PM]

in 1975, the canal was finished and the W&M voted to close the line north of Greenbay. The harbor was closed, money ran dry and worse, the railroad had ordered a ton of locos before the canal and now had to deal with them. all used locos were sold off, the F units, and geeps were sent to the scrap yard. 601 was brought back to the shops in 1979 and it burned again, this time, 601 had to deal with the holes and other problems it faced one last ditch attempt in 1984 was to buy SD50s to help. the only thing that that did was cause more derailments, there were shrubs and grass growing almost to the cab door of locos, wind shields were smashed, and the locos would get damaged car bodies. it was so bad the old water tower by the yard was cut up to patch locos. the railroad pleaded with the ICC to allow a merger, five railroads started the bidding, the trunk, Soo, BN, CNW, and CN. GTW dropped out along with CN while CNW, BN, and Soo battled it out until the BN's bid for 100, 000 dollars was the highest bid, yes, the W&M was rated at 100, 000 when it ran over 75 miles and had 12 locos. BN scrapped most of the line and fixed up the rest. 601, after 3 years being owned by BN ended up in a small town on the old W&M grade. track was re-laid and the 601 ran again from 1987 to 1991. BNSF sold the remaining track to shortlines in 2011 and today. there are 5 locos remaining and no original track left (BNSF regraded in 2000 and the relaid track, well was re-laid. two GP9s an F3, 601, and a year ago BN paint started fading off of a former GN loco, and it was the W&M scheme). only one GP9 is running today.

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