Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club

08/27/2026

A Canadian National (CN) train hauled twenty cars past the home of the Milwaukee & Northern Railway Historical Society (a.k.a. the Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club) in Neenah, Wis., earlier this evening. There was not enough time to get over to the sunny side of the tracks for a better video. This train snuck up on us.

Given our proximity to CN’s busy transcontinental main line, we hear numerous trains on our meeting nights. When we hear a train, we have to try to determine if it is on the main line, or if it is approaching our depot on the branch line. One, or more, of us frequently head to the door at the first sound of a distant train, foolishly optimistic that it will be passing our depot, only to realize that it is a main line train, which we can’t really see from our front door.

It is a rare treat for a train to pass our depot while we are there on a meeting night. It is great to see quite a few box cars, especially a former Wisconsin Central box car.

08/20/2026

A Canadian National local hauled eight cars past our 1882 Milwaukee & Northern depot in Neenah, Wis., earlier this afternoon.

During a bicycle ride, I thought I heard a train working on Doty Island. I pedaled over to Garfield Ave. and found this train preparing to depart the former Chicago & North Western’s Neenah-Menasha yard.

I knew it would eventually pass our depot on its way back to the former Soo Line yard in Neenah, so I pedaled over to our depot to await its arrival.

08/11/2026

A unique Canadian National train promenaded past our nearly 144-year-old Milwaukee & Northern depot in Neenah, Wis., earlier today.

It is a rare treat to see a 6-axle unit passing our depot. We cannot recall the last time (if ever) we watched a passenger car (actual or modified) rolling past here.

07/18/2026

Some unique swing bridge action along former Milwaukee & Northern rails on 28 May 2026. A CN train crosses the Fox River Navigation Canal at Menasha, Wis., on its way to Hilbert and points beyond. This awesome bridge is about half of a mile north of our depot.

07/04/2026

We have added two awesome, historic photographs of the M&N Neenah depot to our web site: https://www.mnrhs.org/update-neenah-branch/.

UPDATE – Neenah Branch Two new historic photographs of the Neenah M&N depot (our home) have been added to the Milwaukee & Northern – Neenah Branch page of our web site. We were thrilled to discover these during a recent visit to the Soo Line Historical & Technical Society Archives, and we are gr...

06/22/2026

The recent reappearance of this sign in front of our depot means it is again time for the Doty Island Historic Walking Tour. Ours is one of sixty historic buildings featured on the self-guided walking tour. Our depot is the oldest non-residential structure on the tour and only nine of the houses pre-date our building.

The tour only permits patrons to view the exterior of the buildings, but if you are walking past our depot on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings while we are there, you are welcome to pop in to see the inside.

You can find the map and additional information on the Doty Island Community Partners web site: https://www.dotyisland.net/about-5. Their page also includes additional information and photographs: https://www.facebook.com/p/Doty-Island-Development-Council-100064619444444/.

06/14/2026

An interesting CN train shoved past our depot yesterday. The video is a little shaky, partly due to the wind, partly because I had to pedal my bicycle a little harder than usual to beat the train to the depot.

05/10/2026

CN train passing our depot this afternoon.