| A CN local approaches the Winneconne Ave. overpass, and the remnants of the former Winneconne Ave. grade crossing, as it heads north through the former SOO yard at Neenah, WI, on 5 Feb. '22. The front door of the original Neenah Foundry facility, later known as Plant 1, which stood here for over ¾’s of a century, was out-of-frame to the right. Established in 1872 as Aylward Plow Works (a.k.a. Aylward & Sons) at 120 N. Lake St., they erected a new foundry at 500 W. Winneconne Ave. in 1918 “in a rural area of southwestern Neenah.” The name of Neenah Foundry was adopted in 1922. Expanded numerous times over the years, it became Plant 1 in 1960 when Plant 2 was constructed in the then rural area at the intersection of Byrd Ave. and the aptly named Aylward St. (followed by Plant 3 in 1967). Plant 1 was closed in 1994, the corporate overlords didn’t want to spend any money to update the plant. It stood abandoned for a while and was eventually demolished. The iconic crossing tower which, until 1991, would have been visible above the locomotive now resides at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum: https://www.midcontinent.org/about-us/tour-of-grounds/the-crossing-tower/. |