Frienship Trail over Little Lake Butte Des Morts

One of the smaller, but nonetheless quite picturesque rail trails we have visited over the course of our journey to trace the abandoned railroads of the world is the Friendship Trail, also sometimes known as the Trestle Trail, which spans across the Little Lake Buttes des Morts between Fox Crossing and Menasha, WI. The trail is further part of a 3.5 mile system one can use to bike or walk around the lake, known by the tongue twister of "Loop the Little Lake", which also allows one to connect to Neenah.


Starting from Fritse Park in Fox Crossing, its somewhat hard to imagine this as anything but a walkway through a park.

In its railroad days, it was part of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, and unofficially known as the "Mile" Bridge, despite the fact that it is quite a bit shorter than that. Our visit came on a foggy and wet December afternoon which made the relatively short journey over the lake somewhat otherworldly, as I was unable to see land from the middle of it!


On our map of Abandoned-and-Out-of-Service Railroad Lines Map with the USA Topo Maps Basemap, you can see how short of a rail spur this actually was!

The line was a short spur over the lake built to serve manufacturing interests in Menasha and Neehah, and the land immediately beyond the lake maintains this commercial development. 

Our visit made the middle of Little Lake Butte des Morts look like a Silent Hill 2 setpiece.

This pavilion and comfort station named "Miron Junction" in Fox Crossing is quite obviously inspired by the C&NW stations of old nearby, but it wasn't a station itself. The name Miron comes from a local construction contractor, who probably helped convert the railroad to a trail.


So what did the bridge look like when trains ran through it? Quite amazing, if I do say so myself.

"C&NW train on bridge at Neenah WI on 10/15/77" (Larry Irvin via Flickr). This appears to be shot from the boat launch at Fritse Park.

The CNW sold the line to the short line known as the Fox River Valley Railroad in 1988, who would run it until they became the Fox Valley and Western in 1993. Following that, the line continued service until 2005. It became a rail trail two years later.

"A Fox River Valley freight cross the long bridge over Little Lake Butte Des Morts at Menasha, WI, on May 13, 1990." (Mike Danneman via Flickr)


The area is still served by rail traffic, however, as the current rail traffic is served by a wye at the bottom of the lake, meaning that there's been no dropoff in rail activity, and this wonderful bridge is able to be enjoyed by pedestrians and parkgoers alike, and connect either side of the lake much easier than before!

Granted, you'd probably want to pick a nicer day to do so!

The trail is open year round, although I imagine the bridge can get incredibly icy in the winter. The temperature on our visit was around 35 degrees, and the relatively warm weather preceding it meant ice wasn't a concern, at least for us.


Some of the best things about the bridge are being able to see other bridges along the lake from the center.


Just over a mile from the Trestle Trail is the US-10 Bridge over the lake, but it looked a lot farther away in the fog!

At either end of the trail, the signs welcome you to the municipality, Menasha in the East and Fox Crossing in the West.

The west end of the trail at Fox Crossing.

Friendship Trail's east end over the lake at Menasha.


In addition to Trestle Trail, Friendship Trail and Loop the Little Lake, I guess "Fox Cities Trestle" is another name for the path.


Art on the railroad piers is also a component of the design of the trail, and numerous piers are decorated, particularly in the center of the bridge.


Hello, Olivia!


Adding to the somewhat creepy nature of the weather were the presence of railroad tracks on the east side of the bridge. The westernmost segment is probably abandoned, but the line is in service quite close to the bridge.

Where the Friendship Trail ends, active rail begins, as only the bridge itself was abandoned. While I'm guessing this siding isn't used very often, it could be used for railcar storage, if nothing else.


In a few places between either side of the lake are rest points where people can get a nice relaxing view of the water.




Remnants of the former rail bridge are used for the current rail trail. 



"Saved by Grace"



"End of the Line" for the current operations. Beyond here lies abandoned railroad tracks and the bridge approach.

Thanks as always for reading, and do visit the Friendship Trail at some point, ideally in nicer weather!


Location: Trestle Trail, Friendship Trail, Neenah, WI 54956, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Abandoned Route 66 in McCook, IL

Image
Route 66, the iconic "Main Street of America," weaves through the heart of the United States, connecting communities and embodying the spirit of adventure. However, not all sections of this historic highway have stood the test of time. While much of the former US 66 is drivable in one way or another, especially in Illinois, there are some parts are not.  One of the first such roadblocks for would-be travelers heading from Chicago to Los Angeles via the Mother Road, now known as Joliet Road, comes just outside of Chicago in McCook, IL, where the former highway is closed between 55th St and East Ave, and has been for over two decades. (Link to the location on our Ghost Towns Map ) Image: Google Maps at 55th and Joliet Rd in McCook, IL The land that the quarry would eventually take over was part of Stinson Airport in the early days of Route 66, dating back to before 1930. ( Abandoned Airports map ). 1938 USGS Aerial Imagery The quarrying on the south side of the road would...
Read more

The Underwater Water Slide: Fly Over at Durinrell TikiBad

Image
Have you ever wished to experience being transferred from one pool of liquid to another via a pipe? Had you visited the Dutch water park known as Durinrell , also known as Tikibad before 2010, you would have had the chance. Half water slide, half war crime, this was a unique water slide that was filled to the brim with water, leaving riders completely submerged throughout the journey. Image:  XtremeRidesNL Known as the Fly Over was an underwater water slide, which is exactly how it sounds, and transported riders from one pool to another using the water as propulsion. Built in 1994, riders dove underwater to access the slide, using gravity to transport them upwards via the Communicating Vessels Principle . Riders would be completely underwater for about 15-20 seconds. This is how I imagine those 15-20 seconds felt like while riding the slide. The slide was built to drain water in five seconds or less in case a rider got stuck in the slide or had a medical emergency, but the threat...
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i...
Read more