What's left of the GB&W in Winona, Minnesota.

Dan Grossell shared these photos of how things look in Winona today.  Much of the property is now owned by Winona River & Rail, a fertilizer company that makes and sells fertilizer blends; and coal, salt and fertilizer that arrives via the Mississippi River. The rail yard is still in place and is used by Canadian Pacific Railway.

The Green Bay & Western abandoned their Minnesota trackage in 1985 after structural problems made their Mississippi River bridge unusable.  While it is sad that red Alcos no longer roam the rails here, at least nature has not reclaimed this former GB&W track.

Click on any photo to see an enlarged image.

This is the south side of the Green Bay & Western's engine house -- now used by Winona River & Rail, current owner of the property. The yellow GB&W siding has been replaced with white and clear, and trucks now load here.

The approach to where the Mississippi River bridge had been.  This view is looking north/northeast towards Wisconsin. The track was dead-ended in 1990 when the approach trestle was removed, leaving just enough room for a locomotive to run around via the "hi-line."

The east end of the yard still has the same switch stands used by GB&W, but the square yellow targets disappeared in the late 1980's -- probably to some collector's basement! The yard was dormant from 1985 through 1989/1990; now it is used by Canadian Pacific to store cars and load coal one or two times a year for points on the Wisconsin Central / 6th Division of the Canadian National.

This is the east end of GB&W's Winona yard. The hi-line can be seen to the left, track 1 is next, the covered hoppers are on Track 2, Track 3 is after that, and a car is unloading on Track 4.

This is the southeast corner of the GB&W engine house. River & Rail removed the agent's office when the siding was replaced. As of a few years ago both tracks were still in place inside the building -- buried in the concrete floor -- but the lead to the enginehouse was removed in 1993.

This is the southwest corner of the engine house, where the overhead doors were. The current owner has covered them over with new siding.  GB&W engines #310 & #314 were stored here from 1983 until mid-1986 (after the Mississippi River bridge was embargoed!). The Soo Line removed the units and transported them back to home rails by an unknown route.

Here is another picture of the hi-line, taken at the corner of Fourth and Adams Streets, looking east/northeast. The Chicago Great Western depot would have been off to the right, approximately on the street right-of-way; their track (now used by Union Pacific) is at the bottom of the hi-line. The spur coming off the hi-line going to the right is ex CB&Q / BN, used to serve Armour Fertilizer / USS Agri-Chem. The track going left is GB&W / CB&Q / BN to the Mississippi River bridge. The cars to the left are on Track 2 of the GBW's Winona yard.

This is looking east/southeast at the GB&W / CB&Q / BN "main," just east of the East Third Street crossing. The track going to the right is the former CGW / CNW (now Union Pacific). The track going straight is the hi-line to the Mississippi River bridge and the east yard lead. Tracks to the left are the GB&W Winona yard. UP and CP currently use the old CGW and hi-line to interchange their Winona traffic. The engine house lead switch would have been near the stack of pallets by the large white building. This track was removed in 1993 when the building was constructed.

Looking at the hi-line, again east/southeast, now west of the East Third Street crossing. This offers a good view of the west yard lead, and all four tracks in it.

Our last picture, this again on the hi-line main to Wisconsin. The track to the left led to the CB&Q / BN yard, removed in 1986. The hi-line goes straight, the GBW yard is in the distance to the left. The CB&Q / BN yard was parallel and to the left of the GB&W yard, East Third Street divided the two yards.

Dan Grossell photos, March 2004.
These photos may not be reproduced without permission.

[ Top of This Page ]   The Green Bay Route is maintained by Mark Mathu. Visit the Guest Book or send comments to mark@mathu.com. Updated August 11, 2009

[ Top of This Page ]   The Green Bay Route is maintained by Mark Mathu. Visit the Guest Book or send comments to mark@mathu.com. Updated July 11, 2015