| A CN local traverses the remnants of the small former C&NW yard while servicing the east side of the Midwest Paper Group mill at Combined Locks, WI on 27 Apr. '19. Founded in 1889 (some references state 1892) as the Combined Locks Paper Co., it became Combined Paper Mills, Inc. in ‘46 after it purchased a paper mill in PA. Acquired by the National Cash Register Co. in ‘69, it was merged with Appleton Coated Paper Co. in ‘71 to form Appleton Papers, Inc. Commonly known as Appleton Papers Locks Mill, it has been controlled by several different domestic and foreign owners over the years. It was separated from Appleton Papers in ‘00 and became Appleton Coated, LLC. Ten members of the mill’s management purchased the facility from France-based Sequana SA on 19 Dec. ’14. Forced into receivership, it was purchased by scrap dealers, Industrial Assets Corp. and Maynards Industries USA, in Oct. ’17. They bought it to shut it down and gut it. By some miracle, they changed their mind and restarted the paper machines. The facility was re-named Midwest Paper Group ca. 19 Apr. ’18. Some of the rails were pulled up from this small yard in '13. All that remains is a runaround to access a pair of spurs for this side of the mill (out-of-frame to left) and a spur for the warehouse at right (that spur does not appear to be used much, if at all, currently). The mill's water treatment plant is partially visible at left. Until recently, the 6x6 post in the foreground (with the small, rusty arrow sign) used to support the Combine Locks station sign, the last time I saw it was 31 Mar. '18. |