| The pile of rubble is what is left of the Gilbert Paper production facility in Menasha. Gilbert Paper was closed in 2001 after Mead Corporation sold it to Fox River Paper. The building standing is part of the Banta Printing facility on Doty Island, which was closed after RR Donnelly purchased Banta Corporation. The wooden trestle on the opposite side of the Fox River was the spur upon which the Milwaukee Road spotted boxcars for the Gilbert Paper Company. The cars were actually spotted over water. To get to this trestle, the MILW crossed over the Fox on a bridge from about the location of the camera. The bridge angled across the river to the left from the camera's location and had a switchback to come out onto the Gilbert Paper spur. This area of Menasha was a thriving bed of paper, printing and packaging industry, and had a myriad of rails to serve the businesses. Much of the network still exists, but enough of the industry has disappeared to take a bite out of it. Another spur came to Gilbert Paper from the CNW Neenah yard on the other side of the river. The plant received its coal and chemicals on that spur. The spur still exists, but only goes as far as the old General Chemical (Chem Trade) complex. Gilbert Paper received boxcar loads of pulp material. The pulp material would be sulfite (wood pulp) in bales, usually from Georgia Kraft Mill in Brunswick, GA. They would also receive rags from cotton mills and from the garment factories in the east for the higher grades of paper. Gilbert Paper shipped about 75% of their product by rail. The power house would go through 3 to 4 carloads of coal per day, along with 3 to 4 truck loads. The mill received about 3 tank cars of chlorine per week. The factory was switched twice per day. This information comes from a long time employee (electrical engineer) who retired in the late 1980's, so after that, things may have changed a bit. However, that is how it was for most of his career. |