Milwaukee & Northern Railway Historical Society – a.k.a. Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club

The Milwaukee & Northern Railway Historical Society

also known as the Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club

The Milwaukee and Northern Railway Historical Society (MNRHS) was founded in 1964, to perpetuate and share the history of one of Eastern Wisconsin’s and Upper Michigan’s historic railroads.

Housed in the Milwaukee & Northern’s 1882 Neenah, Wis., depot, it includes the Neenah-Menasha Model Railroad Club.

The Club loosely models the Milwaukee & Northern in O Scale, primarily the Menasha Branch.

The Menasha Branch, which runs from Hilbert Junction, Wis., to Menasha, Wis., was completed in 1872. The branch was extended to Appleton in 1880 and Neenah in 1881.

Neenah Depot — IC 3138 passes our depot on the M&N Neenah Branch at Neenah, Wis., on 18 November 2020.

New Holstein Depot — The M&N depot at New Holstein, Wis. Postcard from the MNRHS archives.

Vetter Sash & Door Co. at Sherwood — Wally positions a SOO switcher near the Vetter Sash & Door Co. facility at Sherwood. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Elkhart Lake Depot — The M&N depot at Elkhart Lake, Wis., on 30 May 2020. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Ontonagon Depot — The CM&StP, or MILW, depot at Ontonagon, Mich., ca. 8 November 1958. Photograph courtesy of the Daily Mining Gazette Photograph Collection - Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Open House (20211002) — Open house on 2 October 2021 for NMRA Winnebagoland Division Fall Meet. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Iron Mountain Depot — An E&LS train passes the former CM&StP, or MILW, depot at Iron Mountain, Mich., on 23 July 2021. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Channing Depot — The former M&N depot at Channing, Mich., on 26 June 2021. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

HC 101 at St. John in October 2021. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Neenah Foundry at Neenah — Neenah Foundry Co. at Neenah on 24 November 2021. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Menasha Depot — The former M&N depot at Menasha, Wis., circa the 1960s. Photograph by Larry Easton, co-founder of the MNRHS.

Appleton Depot — The M&N depot at Appleton, Wis., circa the 1960s. Photograph by Larry Easton.

Bergstrom Paper at Neenah — Bergstrom Paper Co. at Neenah on 24 November 2021. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger

Plymouth Depot — A W&S (or WSOR) train passes the former MILW and C&NW depots at Plymouth, Wis., on 13 March 2021. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Scene at St. John in October 2021. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Sherwood Depot — The circa 1899 MILW depot at Sherwood, Wis. Photograph Courtesy of the Oshkosh Public Museum.

Levenhagen at Neenah — Levenhagen Oil Corp. at Neenah on 24 November 2021. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Stiles Junction Depot — The former M&N/C&NW union depot at Stiles Junction, Wis., ca. the 1960s. Photograph by Larry Easton.

Model Railroad-Menasha — Scene near the Menasha depot on our model railroad on 9 December 2019. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Buettner Depot — Buettner depot along the Appleton Branch on 24 November 2021. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Amasa Depot — The former M&N depot at Amasa, Mich., on 24 July 2021. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Main Line – Fort Howard to Menominee River - Abrams — An E&LS train heads north via the former M&N main line at Abrams, Wis., on 23 April 2021. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Rockland Depot — The CM&StP, or MILW, depot at Rockland, Mich., ca. 1900. Photograph courtesy of the Roy Drier Collection - Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Chilton Depot — The southeast wall of the former MILW freight house at Chilton, WI, on 26 July 2015. Photograph by Richard Hopfensperger.

Pembine Depot — A CN train passes the union depot at Pembine, Wis., on 30 Sep. 2014. Photograph by Tom Bruss.

Latest News

UPDATE – Reminders of the Menasha and Neenah Branches

September 26, 2025

Five new photographs have been added to the Reminders of the Milwaukee & Northern – Menasha Branch and Reminders of the Milwaukee & Northern – Neenah Branch pages of our web site. A CN train

O-gauge Equipment For Sale

September 25, 2025

UPDATE – Reminders of the Champion Branch

September 19, 2025

Eight new photographs of Republic/Champion Grade Trail have been added to the Reminders of the Milwaukee & Northern – Champion Branch page of our web site. These photographs were captured during an “inspection of the line”

UPDATE – Appleton Branch

August 21, 2025

Five new photographs and information have been added to The Milwaukee & Northern – Appleton Branch page. Looking southwest at the upper dam of the Fox River at Appleton, Wis., in 1892. The M&N swing bridge