The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad operates a historic train line centered in

Trego, Wisconsin Trego is a town in Washburn County, Wisconsin. The population was 885 at the time of the 2000 census. The census-designated place of Trego is located in the town. Trego is located at the junction of U.S. Highway 53 and U.S. Highway 63, at no ...

on 26 miles of track, between

Spooner, Wisconsin Spooner is a city in Washburn County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,573 at the 2020 census. The city is located mostly within the southwest corner of the Town of Spooner, with a small portion extending into the Town of Beaver ...

and Springbrook, Wisconsin. It was founded on April 1, 1997. The line runs dinner trains, bed and breakfast trains, and scenic sight seeing tours.

Locomotives

* LS&M #41 - GE 50-Ton Diesel Locomotive (likely built in 1941) * WGN #314 - Former Green Bay & Western Alco C424 Diesel Locomotive (privately owned) * WGN #423 - Former Chicago & North Western

EMD F7 The EMD F7 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD). Although originally promoted by EMD as a freight-h ...

* WGN #600 - Former B&OCTRR

EMD SW1 The EMD SW1 is a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation (later Division) between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at LaGrange ( McCook) Illinois. The SW1 wa ...

* WGN #862 - Former Milwaukee Road

* WGN #891 - Former Milwaukee Road or Erie Railroad

* WGN #1280 - Former American Can/Marathon Southern

EMD SW600 The EMD SW600 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between February 1954 and January 1962. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 6-cylinder engine, which generated 600 horsepower (450 kW). Origin ...

* WGN #1386 - Former TP EMD GP35M * WGN #1387 - Former MP EMD GP35M * WGN #1388 - Former TP EMD GP35M * WGN #1950 - Former Great Northern

* WGN #1951 - Former Great Northern

* WGN #6006 - Former Algoma Central Railway SD40-2, used for freight * WGN #8760 - Rebuilt 1949 Alco S2M * CB&Q #9903 ''“Injun Joe''” - Acquired along with the rest of the ''Mark Twain Zephyr'' consist in July 2020.

Passenger

* WGN #1 "Allen L. Vreeland" - Originally a Pullman 1914 business car built for the Santa Fe, now a sleeper on the Bed & Breakfast Train * Former Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway crane X-7 & Boom Car #W6331. * WGN #8 Budd RDC-1 Diesel Rail Car - Originally an RDC for the New York Central Railroad, currently out of service * WGN #9 "Namekagon Dreams" - Originally a double bedroom buffet car for the Atlantic Coast Line, now a sleeper on the Bed & Breakfast Train * WGN #10 "Pine Cavern" - Originally a Budd-built sleeping car for the Santa Fe, under renovation as a future sleeper on the Bed & Breakfast Train * WGN #12 "Sleepy Hollow" - Originally a sleeper/lounge car for the Union Pacific, currently out of service * WGN #13 "Royal Palm" - Originally an 11-bedroom sleeping car for the CNO&TP, currently out of service * WGN #14 Chapel Car - Originally a Long Island Railroad coach car, currently out of service * WGN #15 "Cascade Falls" - Originally a Budd-built 50-seat coach for the CB&Q, used on the Dinner Train through March 2020/currently out of service * WGN #24 Santa Car - Originally a railroad post office car for the Milwaukee Road, now used on the Santa Pizza Train * WGN #26 "East Lexington" - Originally a 12-section and one drawing room car for Pullman, currently out of service * WGN #27 - Originally a wide vision cupola caboose, currently out of service * WGN #32 "Apostle Isle" - Originally an 80-seat coach for the Duluth and Northern Minnesota Railway, now a 64-seat diner, currently out of service * WGN #34 "Presque Isle" - Originally an 80-seat coach that was formerly used on Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway on Maintenance-of-way trains, now a 56-seat diner, currently out of service * WGN #100 "Amnicon Falls" & "Manitou Falls" - Originally an articulated coach car on the Southern Pacific Railroad, currently contains 7 private dining rooms and is used on the Dinner Train * WGN #112 "Richard F. Gilberg" - Originally a mail and express car for the Duluth & Iron Range Railway (D&IR), rebuilt by the WGNRR as a club car, currently out of regular service * WGN #143 DM&IR Caboose - Originally Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Caboose #C-143, currently being resorted by the railroad and on display next to the Trego Depot * WGN #200 Kitchen Car - Originally a Havelock CB&Q Baggage Car, converted to a kitchen car by the Columbia Star Dinner Train, currently out of service * WGN #300 "Copper Falls" & "Morgan Falls" - Originally an articulated coach car on the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, currently contains 7 private dining rooms and is used on the Dinner Train * WGN #316 "Madeline" - St. Louis Car Company designed this as Southern Traction Car #315 in 1913, occasionally used for Sightseeing trains, currently out of service * WGN #421 "Bear's Den" - Originally a 14-section Touralux sleeping car for the Milwaukee Road, was used by the WGNRR as a crew car, currently out of service * WGN #432 - Originally a Milwaukee Road RPO-Express car for the Olympian Hiawatha in early 1947, currently out of service * WGN #500 - "Effie Dean" - Tavern-Lounge in the ''Mark Twain Zephyr'' consist. * WGN #506 "Becky Thatcher" - "Becky Thatcher" - Baggage Car in the ''Mark Twain Zephyr'' consist. * WGN #551 "Huckleberry Finn" - Dining Car in the ''Mark Twain Zephyr'' consist. * Ex-#551 - Former Roseville Crossing Car - Originally a coach car constructed in 1948 for the Milwaukee Road, acquired by the WGNRR in 2021 and currently out of service * WGN #573 "Tom Sawyer" - Observation-Lounge Car in the ''Mark Twain Zephyr'' consist. * WGN #1114 Power Car - Originally a baggage car for the Milwaukee Road, currently used as a power car for most passenger trains at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad * WGN #1341 "Willow Falls" - Originally a dining car for the Canadian National, now a new kitchen/dining car that debuted in 2022 on the Bed & Breakfast and Dinner Train * WGN #2000 Namekagon Coach - Car built as part of the Namekagon Train which ran between the Twin Cities and Ashland, currently out of service and parked in the Spooner, Wisconsin yards * WGN #2004 - Originally a 24-section car built in 1954 for the Canadian National, currently out of service * WGN #3003 "Aristocrat" - Originally a tavern lounge for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, used on the Bed & Breakfast and Dinner Trains * WGN #6226 - Originally a 52-seat coach built for the Seaboard Air Line, moved to the Wisconsin Great Northern in 2021, currently out of service * WGN #10674 - Originally a Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Coach car, featured in the movie "In the Heat of the Night", currently out of service awaiting restoration * WGN #39972 - Originally a Santa Fe Hi-Level Lounge and Amtrak Pacific Parlour Car, currently used on the railroad's Wine & Cheese Train * Flat Car WGN #250578 * Flat Car WGN #985353 * Former Pearl Lake Engine & 2 Cabooses (acquired February 2021 and awaiting restoration) * "Winette" / "Captain Hook" - Originally a Pullman business car built in 1930 built for W.R. Reynolds of the Reading Transit & Light Company, currently out of service awaiting restoration * Former C&NW Baggage Car - constructed in the 1920s or 1930s and used for many decades along the various lines of the C&NW in the central United States * Former M&StL Doodlebug * Former C&NW Snow Plow #935 (parked at the railroad's Spooner yard)

Midwest Rail Rangers Partnership (2019-2022)

The

Midwest Rail Rangers Midwest Rail Rangers is a non-profit organization specializing with on-board educational programs to railroad passengers in the Midwestern United States with information regarding history, ecology, and geology. Guides with Midwest Rail Rangers p ...

, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, had a partnership agreement with the Wisconsin Great Northern from July 2019 to July 2022. On select weekends, volunteers with the Midwest Rail Rangers presented on-board educational programs aboard the railroad's Sky Parlour Car. What is now called the Wisconsin Great Northern's Sky Parlour Car once served as a

Hi-Level The Hi-Level was a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never produced. Most passenger spaces were on the ...

lounge car A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a re ...

on the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

(1956-1971), See-Level lounge car on

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

(1971-1995), and most recently as a Pacific Parlour Car on Amtrak's

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...

train. The Rail Rangers presented a free program for passengers that included showing off various historical displays and artifacts about the historic railroad car."Midwest Rail Rangers - Sky Parlour "Open House" Event"
''Trainweb.com''. Retrieved 2019-09-15.

References

External links

* {{Wisconsin railroads, state=collapsed 1997 establishments in Wisconsin Heritage railroads in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Washburn County, Wisconsin