The Stevens Point branch was a very important part of the Green Bay Route for over 100 years, serving the Consolidated Papers mill.
The six mile long Stevens Point branch was constructed in 1881 by the Green Bay, Stevens Point & Northern Railroad to serve the Consolidated Papers mill at Whiting, just south of Stevens Point. The GBSP&N was leased by the Green Bay, Winona, & Saint Paul Railroad immediate upon completion and was completely merged into the newly-formed Green Bay & Western in 1896.
The Stevens Point branch also served a fuel dealer, the Stevens Point Brewery, and interchanged with the Soo Line (Wisconsin Central, pre-1960) at Whiting, just south of Stevens Point. The Soo and GB&W jointly served the paper mill although the tracks were owned by the Soo Line. The mill produced high-quality glossy paper used for magazines and the like.
The stations and mileposts on the Stevens Point branch are:
| 81.4 |
Plover |
Junction with GB&W mainline |
| 84.1 | Whiting | Soo Line Crossing |
| 87.4 |
Stevens Point |
Typical operations at the Whiting mill were as follows:
The Soo Line would arrive from their nearby yard in Stevens Point about 9 am and spend about three hours servicing the mill. In late morning the GB&W local would arrive from Wisconsin Rapids and work the industries at the north end of the Stevens Point branch, working the Whiting mill around 1 or 2 pm on its was back to the mainline connection at Plover. It would arrive back at the mainline junction about 3 pm.
Soon afterwards the Soo would dispatch a train from Stevens Point to GB&W's Plover yard for interchange, using the tracks on the far west end of the yard for set-outs and pick-ups. The GB&W would prepare the interchange cars along with their own freight for the arrival of eastbound #2, which would arrive in Plover between 4 and 5 pm.
After departure of #2, the local crew would typically head back to Wisconsin Rapids and end the day.
Thanks is due to Darin Umlauft, Stuart Pate, Dale Konkol and Kevin White for providing the basis of this information.
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