A WGN train at Spooner, WI in 2016.

(David Wilson, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

WISCONSIN GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD

The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad (WGN) operates a historic train line centered in Trego, Wisconsin on 26 miles of track, between Spooner, Wisconsin and Springbrook, Wisconsin. It was founded on April 1, 1997 and has been family owned and operated ever since. The line runs dinner trains, bed and breakfast trains, and scenic sight seeing tours and is home to an incredible lineup of vintage railcars and locomotives.

The Mark Twain Zephyr

The Mark Twain Zephyr was one of nine stainless steel streamlined trains built by the Budd Company for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in the 1930’s. The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad is now the home to the fourth Zephyr built which operated from St. Louis, Missouri to Burlington, Iowa. The train was christened in Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri on October 25, 1935 as part of the celebration of 100 anniversary of Twain’s birth. The train operated for 23 years on a variety of routes across the Midwest before being retired in 1958. The train had seven different owners over the next 62 years and sadly was vandalized and generally stripped before thankfully coming to Wisconsin in 2020.

Equipment Includes:

Locomotives

LS&M No. 41 - GE 50-Ton Diesel Locomotive (likely built in 1941)
WGN No. 314 - Former Green Bay & Western Alco C424 Diesel Locomotive (privately owned)
WGN No. 423 - Former Chicago & North Western EMD F7
WGN No. 600 - Former B&OCTRR EMD SW1
WGN No. 862 - Former Milwaukee Road EMD SW1
WGN No. 891 - Former Milwaukee Road or Erie Railroad EMD SW1
WGN No. 1280 - Former American Can/Marathon Southern EMD SW600
WGN No. 1386 - Former TP EMD GP35M
WGN No. 1387 - Former MP EMD GP35M
WGN No. 1388 - Former TP EMD GP35M
WGN No. 1950 - Former Great Northern EMD F7
WGN No. 1951 - Former Great Northern EMD F7
WGN No. 6006 - Former Algoma Central Railway SD40-2, used for freight
WGN No. 8760 - Rebuilt 1949 Alco S2M
CB&Q No. 9903 “Injun Joe” - Acquired along with the rest of the Mark Twain Zephyr consist in July 2020.
Duluth & Northeastern 27 - Acquired April 2024

Passenger Cars, Etc.

WGN No. 1 "Allen L. Vreeland" - Originally a Pullman 1914 business car built for the Santa Fe, now a sleeper on the Bed & Breakfast Train
Former Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway crane X-7 & Boom Car No. W6331.
WGN No. 8 Budd RDC-1 Diesel Rail Car - Originally an RDC for the New York Central Railroad, currently out of service
WGN No. 9 "Namekagon Dreams" - Originally a double bedroom buffet car for the Atlantic Coast Line, now a sleeper on the Bed & Breakfast Train
WGN No. 10 "Pine Cavern" - Originally a Budd-built sleeping car for the Santa Fe, under renovation as a future sleeper on the Bed & Breakfast Train
WGN No. 12 "Sleepy Hollow" - Originally a sleeper/lounge car for the Union Pacific, currently out of service
WGN No. 13 "Royal Palm" - Originally an 11-bedroom sleeping car for the CNO&TP, currently out of service
WGN No. 14 Chapel Car - Originally a Long Island Railroad coach car, currently out of service
WGN No. 15 "Cascade Falls" - Originally a Budd-built 50-seat coach for the CB&Q, used on the Dinner Train through March 2020/currently out of service
WGN No. 24 Santa Car - Originally a railroad post office car for the Milwaukee Road, now used on the Santa Pizza Train
WGN No. 26 "East Lexington" - Originally a 12-section and one drawing room car for Pullman, currently out of service
WGN No. 27 - Originally a wide vision cupola caboose, currently out of service
WGN No. 32 "Apostle Isle" - Originally an 80-seat coach for the Duluth and Northern Minnesota Railway, now a 64-seat diner, currently out of service
WGN No. 34 "Presque Isle" - Originally an 80-seat coach that was formerly used on Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway on Maintenance-of-way trains, now a 56-seat diner, currently out of service
WGN No. 100 "Amnicon Falls" & "Manitou Falls" - Originally an articulated coach car on the Southern Pacific Railroad, currently contains 7 private dining rooms and is used on the Dinner Train
WGN No. 112 "Richard F. Gilberg" - Originally a mail and express car for the Duluth & Iron Range Railway (D&IR), rebuilt by the WGNRR as a club car, currently out of regular service
WGN No. 143 DM&IR Caboose - Originally Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Caboose No. C-143, currently being resorted by the railroad and on display next to the Trego Depot
WGN No. 200 Kitchen Car - Originally a Havelock CB&Q Baggage Car, converted to a kitchen car by the Columbia Star Dinner Train, currently out of service
WGN No. 300 "Copper Falls" & "Morgan Falls" - Originally an articulated coach car on the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, currently contains 7 private dining rooms and is used on the Dinner Train
WGN No. 316 "Madeline" - St. Louis Car Company designed this as Southern Traction Car No. 315 in 1913, occasionally used for Sightseeing trains, currently out of service
WGN No. 421 "Bear's Den" - Originally a 14-section Touralux sleeping car for the Milwaukee Road, was used by the WGNRR as a crew car, currently out of service
WGN No. 432 - Originally a Milwaukee Road RPO-Express car for the Olympian Hiawatha in early 1947, currently out of service
WGN No. 500 - "Effie Dean" - Tavern-Lounge in the Mark Twain Zephyr consist.
WGN No. 506 "Becky Thatcher" - "Becky Thatcher" - Baggage Car in the Mark Twain Zephyr consist.
WGN No. 551 "Huckleberry Finn" - Dining Car in the Mark Twain Zephyr consist.
Ex-No. 551 - Former Roseville Crossing Car - Originally a coach car constructed in 1948 for the Milwaukee Road, acquired by the WGNRR in 2021 and currently out of service
WGN No. 573 "Tom Sawyer" - Observation-Lounge Car in the Mark Twain Zephyr consist.
WGN No. 1114 Power Car - Originally a baggage car for the Milwaukee Road, currently used as a power car for most passenger trains at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad
WGN No. 1341 "Willow Falls" - Originally a dining car for the Canadian National, now a new kitchen/dining car that debuted in 2022 on the Bed & Breakfast and Dinner Train
WGN No. 2000 Namekagon Coach - Car built as part of the Namekagon Train which ran between the Twin Cities and Ashland, currently out of service and parked in the Spooner, Wisconsin yards
WGN No. 2004 - Originally a 24-section car built in 1954 for the Canadian National, currently out of service
WGN No. 3003 "Aristocrat" - Originally a tavern lounge for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, used on the Bed & Breakfast and Dinner Trains
WGN No. 6226 - Originally a 52-seat coach built for the Seaboard Air Line, moved to the Wisconsin Great Northern in 2021, currently out of service
WGN No. 10674 - Originally a Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Coach car, featured in the movie "In the Heat of the Night", currently out of service awaiting restoration
WGN No. 39972 - Originally a Santa Fe Hi-Level Lounge and Amtrak Pacific Parlour Car, currently used on the railroad's Wine & Cheese Train
Flat Car WGN No. 250578
Flat Car WGN No. 985353
Former Pearl Lake Engine & 2 Cabooses (acquired February 2021 and awaiting restoration)
"Winette" / "Captain Hook" - Originally a Pullman business car built in 1930 built for W.R. Reynolds of the Reading Transit & Light Company, currently out of service awaiting restoration
Former C&NW Baggage Car - constructed in the 1920s or 1930s and used for many decades along the various lines of the C&NW in the central United States
Former M&StL Doodlebug
Former C&NW Snow Plow No. 935 (parked at the railroad's Spooner yard)