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Hi I might being going on a trip to Wisconsin to stay at the inn on the river. I was wondering whats in the area. I am taking the amtrak from MI to La crosse. Then I am going to rent a car. BNSF St Croix sub has about 60-70 trains a day correct? How many does the Canadian Pacific River sub have. I heard about Grand Junction. But where in La Crosse is it? What other railroads go through that area besides CP and BNSF? What are some good vantage points on the BNSF and CP. I know we are super close to the BNSF main line but where in town is a good place to set up a 72 inch tripod. At Rileys railhouse I was totally fine nothing bad happened there at all. Also I am headed to WI for a few reasons one: I Am going to meet a friend from railstream two: I heard that BNSF is very busy three: there are plenty of things to do in La crosse right? Also when are the trains busy late in the week or early in the week? By the way what times are the trains busy?

Thanks Graeme Case


ps I know this is a lot but i have never heard of inn on the river until a friend told me about but he does not know anything about trains He just told me I may like it

One more thing I am also going to durand as well with my grandparents and I am headed to WI if its busy and neat there

A couple years ago I was making trips to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) once a year or more. My favorite route took me across I90 between Tomah, Wisconsin and Rochester, Minnesota, right through the La Crosse/Onalaska area. On one of the trips I decided to poke around town a little. Unfortunately, I was "flying blind" and not only didn't really know where to go, all I managed to see was a pair of tied down BNSF SD40-2s (an H1 and a patched blue bonnet) through a chainlink fence. I'm curious to see what, if anything, this thread turns up...

To attempt to kick things off, a Google search for something like 'la crosse wi railfan' might turn up some helpful, if somewhat dated, material, like this:http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/hotspots/2014/09/la-crosse-wisconsin. There's a map that might help. Another site that may or may not be helpful is http://www.gregariousrailfan.com/LaCrossemain.html. And on the second page of search results, there's a Flickr group with photos taken in the area https://www.flickr.com/groups/2165433@N21/pool/.

A word of advice though- taking Amtrak to La Crosse might be more hassle than it's worth. I found that the trip to St. Paul was about 12 hours (I was living in the Thumb at the time). La Crosse would be about 9 to 10 hours into the trip, which is a considerable amount of time to spend in the car, BUT I suspect you'd be at least an hour closer than where I was leaving from, and if you take I80 to I39, you'll go right by the infamous town of Rochelle, which is coincidentally a great layover point. And there's plenty of room east of the diamonds for your 72" tripod.

In LaCrescent, MN, which is right across the river, you can get a decent shot of the CP bridge across the river.

Just north of the I-90/US-61 Junction, the Lock and Dam 7 offers a great parking area right next to the CP main, as well as barge traffic on the river, up close and personal.

20 miles up the river on the Minnesota side is Winona, which has several industries that get switched, and a small yard. There is a crossing over the river to Wisconsin located there as well.

3 more miles past Winona is Minnesota City, which is where the old DME line to Rochester and points west splits off the CP main.

Just across from Winona is an interchange between the CN and the BNSF, but not much to see there.

The diamonds in LaCrosse cannot be accessed without trespassing, or without jaywalking on a bridge with no sidewalk, but there are several spots to view either line. A scanner might come in handy, allowing you to bounce back and forth.

BNSF train count is closer to 35-45, and CP is about 20 in a day.

Is it better chance that the southern transcon is busier than WI

CSXBOY wrote:Is it better chance that the southern transcon is busier than WI

The BNSF southern transcon, by way of Galesburg and across Southern Iowa, is busier than the line paralleling WI-35, by about a factor of 3 to 2.

Instead of Wisconsin I am headed to La Plata Missouri because I heard how busy it was. Also I have a friend who may be coming along and He is a huge fan of Norfolk Southern. Is there an NS line even nearby. Tell me if there is one and how many trains a day does it have



Thanks Graeme Case

For about a third of the way across Missouri, the BNSF Transcon joins with the NS former Wabash mainline. They're parallel roads that operate as one line...so plenty of trains, both BNSF and NS, plus the UP trackage rights trains on the BNSF.

What about Moberly how busy is it there?