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Railroads & Locomotives Hot Spots La Crosse, Wisconsin

La Crosse, Wisconsin

By Angela Cotey | October 19, 2020

| Last updated on November 3, 2020

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LaCrosseMao
La Crosse, Wis., is a city of 51,000 people located about 150 miles southeast of Minneapolis, Minn. The city was once home to the G. Heileman Brewing Co., maker of Old Style beer. For a city its size, there is a remarkable variety of railroading, with scenery to boot. Train-watchers frequently see motive power of Amtrak, BNSF Railway, Canadian Pacific (and its subsidiaries), Norfolk Southern (on oil trains to and from North Dakota), and Union Pacific.

The heavy action at La Crosse comes courtesy of two busy main lines that cross there, and the growing volumes of crude oil traffic that each line handles. BNSF’s former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Chicago-Twin Cities main line crosses Canadian Pacific’s former Milwaukee Road main line at Grand Crossing. Just north of the crossing is BNSF’s North La Crosse Yard and crew change point. Across the Mississippi River in La Crescent, Minn., at River Junction, CP’s ex-Iowa, Chicago & Eastern line from Marquette, Iowa, joins the CP main line to St. Paul. Union Pacific has trackage rights over Canadian Pacific from Tunnel City, Wis., through La Crosse to Winona, Minn.

icon_railroad_45TRAIN WATCHING

Rail traffic through the city is on the increase, with both BNSF and CP handling increasing quantities of frac sand and unit oil trains. While traffic varies with fewer trains earlier in the week, about 40 to 50 general freight, grain, intermodal, and oil trains pass through La Crosse on BNSF each day. CP sees about 20 to 25 trains, including coal, frac sand, crude oil, manifests, and intermodal. UP runs a freight train as needed on trackage rights over CP. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops twice daily (eastbound train No. 8 at 10:47 a.m. and westbound train No. 7 at 7:14 p.m.) at the former Milwaukee Road station on CP, a classic two-story structure built in 1926. The depot (just off U.S. Highway 53) is an easy location to watch trains.

The CP-BNSF diamond at Grand Crossing, about a mile east of the depot, is best viewed from the Gillette Street overpass, which offers good views of eastbound BNSF and CP trains. Use caution here since the shoulders are narrow. For dramatic views of the valley, make the drive up to Granddad Bluff Park. It is well-known for its scenic overlook of La Crosse, with the added benefit of overlooking the BNSF main line. In addition to enjoying the view, you can explore several hiking trails.

tracksideicon_frequencyRADIO FREQUENCIES

BNSF: La Crosse-St. Paul, 160.695; La Crosse-Savanna, Ill., 161.100. Canadian Pacific: Milwaukee-La Crosse 161.520; River Junction-St. Paul, 160.770; former IC&E, 161.370.
tracksideicon_famFOR YOUR FAMILY

The Swarthout Museum features changing exhibits about the history of La Crosse County and explores topics ranging from the development of local business to daily life in the past. It features a large variety of objects, photographs from the museum’s permanent collection and from lenders. The museum includes recreations of a 1950s-era beauty shop and a 1940s-era doctor’s office. It is at the corner of 9th and Main streets.

Also worth a visit is the Freight House, a rail-themed restaurant in downtown La Crosse. You can still partake of La Crosse-brewed beer: the former Heileman’s flagship brewery in La Crosse is now owned and operated by the City Brewing Co.

The former Grand Crossing interlocking tower, Burlington 4-6-4 No. 4000, and Milwaukee Road caboose No. 0359 now reside at Copeland Park northeast of the Amtrak station. The nonprofit 4000 Foundation maintains the exhibit and sponsors a rail festival each July.

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2 thoughts on “La Crosse, Wisconsin”

  2. Thank you for running your story about the rail fan opportunities available in La Crosse, Wi. My father was a train dispatcher for the Milwaukee Road and spent many hours in the depot pictured above. In his years of railroading he dispatched trains from Milwaukee, Wi. to Seattle, Washington.

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