Laona and Northern

Company History: A former freight railroad, it was incorporated in 1902 for the R. Connor Company of Marshfield, Wisconsin, to haul lumber to its mill in Laona and then transport it to the Soo Line interchange 8 miles north in Laona Junction.
When the railway converted to diesel in the mid-1950s, the company held on to only one steam locomotive, No. 4 or 4 Spot, for reserve power and burning weeds from the rail line. From Wikipedia

Successor/Parent History: The NBN began operation in January of 1984 on the 38 mile former Chicago & North Western branch from Wabeno, Wisconsin north to Tipler. C&NW had abandoned the line in 1979 and the state of Wisconsin took possession. NBN was the designated operator. They also ran on a short segment of the former Laona & Northern in Laona. The diesel fleet included a Baldwin RS12, an EMD NW2 and a 65-ton Whitcomb switcher. Traffic consisted of pulpwood and woodchips (not much of either.) Traffic remained weak and in 1989, Great Lakes Central stepped in to assume operations. There was little outward evidence of the change. By 1994 traffic had declined to a pittance and the last train ran in the last week of the year. Today it is a hiking trail.

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