Rosendale

Rosendale – MP 11.9

Rosendale, Wisconsin sits on the intersection of Wisconsin Highways 23 & 26 and has the dubious of honor of being Wisconsin’s greatest “Speed Trap.”  It also had the distinction of one of the stops on the Marshline.

Rosendale had two industries that were rail served in the 1970’s and 1980’s FS Feed and Seed and Green Giant Canning factory (now Power Packaging).  I am lucky to get first hand knowledge of train movements in Rosendale.  My father worked for FS in the 1970’s and talked about operations.  Often the folks at FS would have to move the cars by hand using Armstrong Power and a Manual Car Mover to position the cars for loading and unloading.  The primary commodity they received at FS was Potash and Fertilizer.

The picture below shows the CNW depot in Rosendale with FS in the background.  Photo is from the CNWHS, Submitted by J. H. Yanke.

Rosendale depot photo by J.H. Yanke.

With agriculture being the main economic driver in the Rosendale area, it made sense that the second industry in Rosendale also have ties to farming.  Green Giant canning company resided in the Rosendale area and was served by the Chicago and Northwestern.  Below are some pictures where you can still see the service doors on the side of building.  Even the numbers are still visible over the openings.

Here’s a look if Rosendale was a 10′ HO Scale Free-Mo module.