|
New London Junction was the location of the crossing of the Green Bay Route and the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western (later Chicago & North Western). A large two-story station served passengers and freight from both railroads. The station was built in the late 1870s after the MLS&W tracks reached New London and had to cross the Green Bay Route.. Besides serving as a passenger and freight depot for both railroads the station agent operated the interlock at the crossing, which prevented trains from both railroads attempting to use the crossing simultaneously. In 1946 the structure outlived its usefulness and was razed, replaced by an automatic interlocker which controlled train movements on the two rail lines. New London had an additional smaller station within the city limits which was abandoned and moved from the tracks at the same time. A thanks goes out to Brian Mathu and Tom Schampers for helping obtain a copy for the Green Bay Route web page. The photo also appeared in Stan Mailer’s book “Green Bay and Western.” The caption in the book reads: New London Junction in the 1880’s. GBW&StP engine No. 7 is eastbound with an MLS&W Rhode-Island-built 4-4-0 headed for Kaukauna. The large depot was a meal stop. The junction interchange was busy during Manitowoc’s ascendancy as a grain port in the 1880’s.Engine No. 7 shown in the photo was a hard-luck locomotive. It was damaged in two fires, a May 1879 fire in the Grand Rapids (Wisconsin Rapids) enginehouse that damaged No. 2 and No. 7, and then again in an early-morning fire on December 10, 1881 which damaged ten of the GBW&StP’s eighteen locomotives. Related Material:
|
