Waupaca Webcam – Watch CN Trains Pass the Historic Depot

The Waupaca Webcam watches Canadian National’s Neenah Subdivision from beneath the eaves of the 1907 railroad depot on Oak Street in Waupaca, Wisconsin. The main camera is Virtual Railfan’s PTZ, which moves when an operator is available. Its east view follows a single main line toward Neenah, past the depot’s WAUPACA sign and a short girder bridge, with brick and metal-sided buildings beside the track and a band of trees that turns yellow and orange in October. Around 25 to 30 trains a day use the line. Two tabs add Virtual Railfan’s fixed east camera and Steel Highway’s raised view from Nelson’s Strike Zone, which looks across the bridge to the red-tiled depot.

About Waupaca and Its 1907 Depot

The depot was built in 1907 for the Wisconsin Central Railway and later leased by the Soo Line, and in the early 1900s it helped make Waupaca a center of the potato trade. It is a one-story sandstone building with a tile roof, about 8.5 by 21.3 meters (28 by 70 feet), and the camera hangs under its eaves, so the edge of the roof and the brick platform fill the left of the frame. Passenger trains stopped calling on January 15, 1965, when the Soo Line dropped the Laker between Chicago and the Twin Cities or Duluth. The Waupaca Historical Society bought the building in 2004 and restored it. It now holds railroad artifacts and a G scale model railroad, and it opens for tours and event rentals.

The line is busier than the town’s size suggests. The Neenah Subdivision is part of CN’s main route from the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior to Chicago, and Steel Highway describes its trains as running between Stevens Point, about 43 kilometers (27 miles) to the west-northwest, and Neenah, about 53 kilometers (33 miles) to the east-southeast. Virtual Railfan lists 160.590 MHz (AAR channel 32) as the railroad radio frequency here.

Waupaca had 6,282 residents at the 2020 census and covers 21.27 square kilometers (8.21 square miles). Five settlers from Vermont arrived in 1849 looking for the falls on the Waupaca River, the settlement took its name in 1852, and it became a city in 1875. The name comes from the Menominee word Wapahkoh, which means “place of tomorrow seen clearly”. The Waupaca Foundry, founded in 1871 and among the largest independent iron foundries in the world, runs three plants in the city.

Weather and Climate in Waupaca

Winters are long and cold. Under the NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals, January averages a high of -4°C (25°F) and a low of -14°C (8°F), and about 125 centimeters (49 inches) of snow falls in a typical season, most of it from December to February. Snow can cover the ballast and the platform, leaving the rails as two dark lines running east. Spring warms quickly: April reaches 13°C (55°F) by day while nights still sit near freezing at 0°C (33°F).

July highs average 28°C (82°F) with lows of 15°C (59°F), and June is the wettest month at 114 millimeters (4.5 inches), out of about 859 millimeters (33.8 inches) a year. Autumn is the most colorful season on camera. October averages 14°C (58°F) by day and 3°C (37°F) at night, and by mid-month the trees along the line are turning. Because the camera looks east, a low morning sun can sit ahead of the lens on clear days, while afternoon light falls on the scene from behind the depot.

Things to Do Near Waupaca

The depot itself is the first stop, and Virtual Railfan says railfans are welcome to visit at any time. It is one of four historic buildings the Waupaca Historical Society runs, along with the Holly Center at 321 South Main Street. Downtown, the Main Street Historic District and the Waupaca Post Office are both on the National Register of Historic Places.

Waupaca is best known for the Chain O’ Lakes, a string of spring-fed lakes southwest of town. Clear Water Harbor on County Road QQ runs cruises on the double-decker sternwheeler Chief Waupaca. Hartman Creek State Park, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) west-southwest of the depot, covers 1,417 acres (573 hectares) on the chain, with a 91-meter (300-foot) sand beach and 16 kilometers (10 miles) of hiking trails that include a section of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. About 3 kilometers (2 miles) south of the city on County Highway K, the Red Mill is an 1855 grist mill on the Crystal River, crossed by a 12-meter (40-foot) covered bridge built in 1970.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

Two more Wisconsin rail cameras and a Northwoods lake view:

• Green Bay Train Webcam
• Wauwatosa Webcam
• Three Lakes Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

What can you see on the Waupaca Webcam?

The main camera is a PTZ under the eaves of the Waupaca depot, looking east along CN’s single main line past the WAUPACA sign and a short girder bridge. The fixed east tab always holds that direction, and the Steel Highway tab looks from Nelson’s Strike Zone across the bridge to the depot, with a yellow caboose and a level crossing in the foreground.

Where is the Waupaca train cam?

At the former Wisconsin Central depot, 525 Oak Street, Waupaca, in Waupaca County in central Wisconsin. In a straight line the town is about 43 kilometers (27 miles) east-southeast of Stevens Point, 54 kilometers (34 miles) west-northwest of Appleton and 175 kilometers (109 miles) north-northwest of Milwaukee.

How many trains pass through Waupaca a day?

Virtual Railfan counts 25 to 30 trains a day on this part of the Neenah Subdivision. They include CN through freights between the Twin Ports and Chicago at up to 97 km/h (60 mph), and a local that switches coke cars at the Waupaca Foundry in the mid-afternoon. Freight trains keep no public timetable, so gaps between trains are normal.

Do passenger trains still stop at the Waupaca train station?

No. Passenger service ended on January 15, 1965, when the Soo Line dropped the Laker between Chicago and the Twin Cities or Duluth. The line now carries CN freight, and the depot is a museum owned by the Waupaca Historical Society.

Does the Waupaca Webcam show the Waupaca Foundry?

The cameras are aimed at the railroad rather than the foundry’s plants, but the foundry’s rail traffic does appear: a daily local switches coke cars there in the mid-afternoon. The company dates from 1871 and runs three plants in Waupaca.

Does the webcam show the Chain O’ Lakes?

No. The cameras are at the depot near downtown, and the Chain O’ Lakes lies southwest of the city, around Hartman Creek State Park about 11 kilometers (7 miles) away.

What is the weather like in Waupaca?

Cold and snowy in winter, warm in summer. January averages -4°C (25°F) by day and -14°C (8°F) at night, and July 28°C (82°F) by day and 15°C (59°F) at night, with about 125 centimeters (49 inches) of snow a season.

Source: Virtual Railfan and Steel Highway Railcams