| A FV&LS (or FOXY) train crosses Hwy. MM as it prepares to switch Shawano Specialty Papers (div. of Little Rapids Corp.) via former CN, historically C&NW, rails at West Shawano, WI, on 31 Jan. '25. Founded as the Wolf River Paper & Fiber Co. on 7 Feb. 1894, the name was changed to Shawano Paper Mills ca. Nov. ‘49. The facility was leased to Little Rapids Pulp Co. (later Little Rapids Corp.) in Feb. ’50, they purchased the facility on 25 Jun. ’55. The name changed to Little Rapids Corp.-Shawano Mill in ‘93, but it was still commonly referred to as Shawano Paper Mill. The area around the mill, which includes some former company houses, used to be referred to as West Shawano. It was labelled as such in the '11 county atlas (Upham & Russell Cos. Plat and Riverview Addition), the '20 township map, and the name still appears on some official property records. The paper mill stands along an approximately 2-mile scrap of the former C&NW mainline which once ran 83 miles from Green Bay to Wausau (this is the only active remnant outside of those two cities). That former main line is now the Mountain-Bay State Trail. It is an awesome bicycle ride, but I (obviously) would prefer to see trains running on it. |