2024 Open House 'West Wisconsin Quiz'

  Question  Answer 
1What cities have ethanol manufacturing plants?  Boyceville, Stanley Learn More
2What city is close to what U.S. Army installation?  Tomah, Fort McCoy Learn More
3How many sand mines are there?  About 50 Learn More
4What 2 cities have intermodal yards? (Container handling facilities)  Arcadia, Chippwa Falls Learn More
5How many RR grade crossing are in West Wisconsin?  About 600 Learn More
6What are the uses of much of the rural land?  Farms, forests, fields, lakes Learn More
7Which city has the closest Amtrak station?  Tomah Learn More
8Are there any RR tunnels still in use?  Yes, CP tunnel at Tunnel City Learn More
9What cities have paper mills?  Cornell, Eau Claire, Ladysmith Learn More
10Where is there a cold storage facility?  Owen Learn More
11What cities have active railroad freight yards?  Altoona, Chippewa Falls Learn More
12What cities had round houses in their freight yards?  Altoona, Chippewa Falls, Spooner Learn More

1 Ethanol plants
Boyceville: Big River Resources, LLC
Cannot make the trip to Boyceville to see it? Check this out:
Link to the Google Satellite view of the site.
Stanley: Ace Ethanol
Cannot make the trip to Stanley to see it? Check this out:
Link to the Google Satellite view of the site.

2 Military installation
Tomah, WI
U.S. Army Fort McCoy, Total Force Training Center

3 Sand mines
[Wi Sand Mine Map]
This website has lots of info on WI sand mines including the above map. There are several options for the data that can be displayed on the map. Worth checking out.
WI DNR - Industrial Sand Mining Overview
Of the 64 sand mines in the state about 50 are in West Wisconsin

4 Intermodal yard
Arcadia: Near the Ashley Furniture factory
Chippewa Falls: On the east end of the CN freight yard

5 Grade crossing
There are about 4500 public grade crossing in Wisconsin. Every one is a place where you might meet a train. Stay out of their way. They always have the right of way. Always be prepared to stop when you the round, yellow RXR advance warning sign. A train may come at any time and from either direction.
There are about 600 grade crossings in the 13 counties that make up most of West Wisconsin.

6 Rural lands
Take a ride into the country. You will see lots of farms and fields. Appreciate them, you do like to eat,right? Farming is everyone's bread and butter. There are also lots of trees. Small stands, woods, and forests abound. Many lakes are in West Wisconsin for your boating and fishing pleasure. Is there a more beautiful state? I think not.

7 Amtrak
The closest Amtrak station station by distance is actually in Red Wing but that is Minnesota. The only Amtrak station is West Wisconsin is in Tomah so that is the closest as it relates to this question. There is another at Union Depot in St Paul, MN.
Take a ride to somewhere on Amtrak. A fun experience.

8 Tunnels
Tunnels in Wisconsin - a forum post on the topic. Scroll down part way to find this post:
There are/were about a dozen railroad tunnels in the state. Some no longer exist, and others are on bike paths and a few are on private property and only one is still used by a railroad.
You will find a list with details and links to photos for some. Other posts are worth browsing to see their comments.

9 Paper mills
Cornell: Mule-hide Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Eau Claire: Cascades Tissue Group - Wisconsin Inc.
Ladysmith: Dunn Paper - Ladysmith, LLC

10 Cold storage facility
Owen: Nor-Am Cold Storage. Northeast side of town with rail service.
Cannot make the trip to Owen to see it? Check this out:
Link to the Google Satellite view of the site.

11 Freight yards
Altoona: Union Pacific
Chippewa Falls: Canadian National Railway

12 Roundhouses
Altoona: Was used by the Chicago and Northwestern RR. It was torn down after the CNW merged with the Union Pacific RR.
Chippewa Falls: Was used by the Wisconsin Central and Soo Line. Now CNR property. Roundhouse outline visible on Google Maps satellite view.
Spooner: This round house still exists and is part of the Spooner Railroad Park