| CN local passes Intertape Polymer Group, IPG, 741 4th St., Menasha, WI, as it heads west via former joint MILW/SOO rails at Menasha, WI on 22 Oct. '17. Founded in Menasha in Dec. 1917 as George Banta Paper Co., an affiliate of the George Banta Publishing Co. They merged with Menasha’s Gebrick Paper Co. in ’19 and continued under the Banta name. The name was changed to Central Paper Products Co. (later shortened to Central Paper Co.) ca. Sep. ’20, about the same time they moved to their new location at 422 Manitowoc St. on the north side of the joint MILW/SOO tracks. It’s the same facility, but the address changed when a portion of Manitowoc St. was vacated to allow westward expansion ca. ’76-’80. The facility was acquired by Alco Standard Corp., based in Valley Forge, PA, ca. 29 Sep. ’69 but continued to operate as Central Paper. The name changed to Central Products Co. at some point after ’74. Spinnaker Industries, Inc. purchased Central Products Co. from Alco ca. 1 Jul. ‘95. Intertape Polymer Group, Inc., from Canada, purchased Central Products from Spinnaker ca. 12 Apr. ’99. The remnants of a spur lead to what was once an overhead door to the left of the locomotive (underneath the company's sign). The rails are still in place, but the turnout was removed quite a while ago (the facility still receives rail service (covered hoppers and tank cars) from the opposite end of the building). |