Nelson, Wisconsin
Cedar Ridge Resort
S1376 Great River Road 35S
Nelson, WI 54756
608-685-4998
There's a BNSF line on the Wisconsin side and Canadian Pacific across the river on the Minnesota side.
The cabins are up on a hill about about 300-500 feet away from the double-track right-of-way, seperated by a road and tiny cornfield. The BNSF tracks run right next to the river so there is a small, unprotected crossing there to get to the lodge-owned motor boats. From the "River Stone" (Where we stayed), you can easily see the trains from inside. The opening in the trees to see the tracks is only about 400 feet wide, so there isn't much of an advance warning except for a rumble or a horn. If you go down by the tracks, (the lodge owns the area on either side of the tracks) you can see about a mile to the South, until a curve, and a quarter-mile or so to the north, where it curves, there are signals in both directions. There's lots of BNSF action, at least one train every hour, but it's usually more frequent than that. There are plenty of places around the area to set up your camera and shoot.
Submitted by Joe LeMay