Livingston, MT: NP backshop with transfer table

(Satellite)

Tim Starr posted
The Northern Pacific had main shops on the east end of the line (Brainerd and St. Paul), the west end (Tacoma), and in the middle at Livingston, MT. This postcard of the Livingston Shops is from about 1910.

Sam Carlson posted
Northern Pacific Shops in Livingston, MT in August, 1970.

Brent Susie Wilcox Bueller commented on the above posting
Here is the Livingston transfer table today. Same table with new cab. It now operates with a power cable reel instead of the power trolley line visible to the right in the old photo.

Satellite

Satellite

Montana Rail Link Mechanical also still has the turntable.

Oelwein, IA: CGW Roundhouse, Railyard and Car Shops

Roundhouse: (Satellite)

Car Shop: (Satellite, now removed)

 

Richard Bruehahn posted
I’m originally from Oelwein Iowa. This is where most of my collection of photos are from. This is an overhead view of the repair shops of the Chicago Great Western and later Chicago Northwestern Railroad before they were torn down. The building with the brown roof on the right is still there but the long building on the left is gone. I also have photos of some of Marquette Iowa Milwaukee Railroad yards. Will do some more posts later.

Allen Troupe posted
The CGW Roundhouse in Oelwein today (taken 24 Oct 2016).

It looks like it was used until recently by Transco Railway Products. This is the first time I have seen a turntable replaced by a bunch of turnouts.

Satellite

Update:

Marty Bernard posted
Rick Burn found Chicago Great Western 63A and 63B (TR2A and TR2B -- affectionately call a Cow and a Calf) in Oelwein, IA in March 1967. Note, the Calf has stacks because it is a fully functional switcher but without a cab. A Slug on the other hand is usually a big chunk of concrete with traction motors powered by it's Mother.
Bob Davis SP had four EMD "Cow and Calf" sets. One of the "Cows", TR-6A 1100 is preserved at the Western Pacific RR Museum.
Berne Ketchum At the right is CGW R-1, the boxcar converted to a mobile classroom in which Rules Examiner D.J. Gifford conducted rules classes and examinations. Giff had earlier been a dispatcher.
James Belmont Union Pacific assigned two sets of TR5 transfer switchers to Provo, Utah in the 1970s.
https://flic.kr/p/214nPFu

Kirk Brust posted three images with the comment: "Here is the Chicago Great Western Roundhouse in Oelwein, IA. Ground photo is mine, about 2007. Aerial views Bing maps."
Sam Hill Just asking.... did originally have a turntable or was it always like this ? 
What’s the history?

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Dennis Eggert posted
Several F-units were on the ready tracks at Oelwein. They were the primary power used on the former CGW lines.
Don Heddinger: They were a bitch to use doing 'station switching', and tough to get in...with or without a grip. Warmer than geeps in the winter and hotter than hell in the summer. Walk back through the engine room and the soles of your boots were coated with oil and your ears were ringing. Worked 3 or 4 years with them but would have preferred geeps...

Marty Bernard posted four images with the comment: "Rick Burn took these Chicago Great Western scenes in Oelwein, IA in March 1962.  Rob ONeill just found the third picture.  Now I've added a fourth photo.  We have been talking about two different places!"

[Rick's photos would be of the car shop.]

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post

Evidently UP did not sell the car shop land to Iowa Northern.

USGS map: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topoexplorer/index.html

1981 Oelwein Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Holcomb, IL: CGW Depot and Interlocking Tower vs. CB&Q+Milw

(Satellite)

Ardi Carl posted
Depot at Holcomb, Illinois. The crossing is that of the CB&Q. Photographer unknown.Don Vaughn Do you guys know this was also classified as an Interlocking Tower? The extension with the windows was 18 inches higher than the rest of the depot. There was a Towerman stationed (pardon the pun) in that area. Typical CGW, why build a separate building when this will suffice? In the Deramus era, when the brick depots were built, Fort Dodge, IA, for one, had the Towerman's area 18 inches higher. Charlie Clark was the 2nd Trick Towerman, and my dad's desk was right behind his area.

The north/south CB&Q route is now operated by Illinois Railway. The depot was in the southwest quadrant. CGW had a little yard to the west of the depot.

Andy Zukowski posted
Chicago and Great Western Holcomb Station 1950

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Update:

Mark Llanuza commented on his posting

Mark Llanuza commented on his posting

Mark Llanuza posted
Photographer Mike Schafer captured this cool eastbound crossing the Milwaukee Rd tracks at Holcomb IL on the former CGW tracks.

Was Sidney, OH: Big Four Bridge over Great Miami River in Sidney, OH

Contents has been moved to the main blog, which handles the bridge topic.

Ullin, IL: IC Water Tower and 1897 Depot (First Depot was in 1854)

Paul Echols posted
Illinois Central Railroad Water Tower--Ullin, IL circa 1935. Pictured is Charlotte Holcomb Kraatz and her brother Howard Holcomb of Ullin.
Paul Echols reposted

Looking at a satellite image, the C&EI route is abandoned, but the IC depot still stands. In fact, they had preserved a caboose.

Satellite

A streetview indicates the depot is now the village hall and library. Another streetview shows the caboose has been removed. Maybe it was removed to be restored because an April 2016 Google Photo shows it exists, and it looks like it has a fresh paint job.

I could not find the water tower on a 1938 aerial photo, but I did notice that the C&EI had a bridge over the IC.

Update:

Jennie Lynn Moore posted
Stumbled upon this old restored depot and caboose in Ullin, Illinois last week! I’m a local blogger and I wrote an article on its history. If you’d like to read, click https://msha.ke/jukeboxjennie and select “The Diary of Jukebox Jennie Blog”! I will be doing another article on the depot in Tamms as well soon! (Delete if not allowed)
Dennis DeBruler: I'm saving a link to the Ullin post because eventually that post will get buried by new posts in the blog.
https://thediaryofjukeboxjennie.blogspot.com/2023/11/ullin-illinois-historic-depots.html

This topo map does not include the depot.

1923 Dongola Quad @ 62,500

Street View, Jul 2019

I tried the other available view to avoid a rainy day, but the caboose didn't exist.

Street View, Oct 2013

Jennie references this detailed history of the town.

historic-structures

Lowell, MA: "The cradle of the industrial revolution in America"

I came across the quote about Lowell, MA, being "the cradle of the industrial revolution in America" in a history of the Francis Turbine design. Lowell's need for more hydro power motivated the invention of the more efficient turbine design. When you look at a satellite image, you can see that multiple head- and tail-race canals were built around the Pawtucket Falls.

The Lowell National Historical Park has a Tsongas Industrial History Center. Their Facebook page posted two photos with the following comment:

Our #MillYardMonday posts continue with information this week about steam power. Following the Civil War, factory managers decided that a new energy source would be more efficient for running their mills. Steam power was becoming popular at the time, so many mill managers adopted it. By 1880 the amount of steam power being used in Lowell had surpassed the amount of waterpower. In the 1910s and ‘20s hydroelectricity would replace steam power, proving that water was still a viable energy source well into the 20th century. Click the photos for more information about steam power in Lowell.

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Source

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This Skinner Steam Engine was first manufactured around 1890. It is a Single piston reciprocating high pressure mill steam engine (Corliss type).The Skinner is a small steam engine that powered a small mill not the size and scope of the mill operations in Lowell. This steam engine was recently restored by Lowell National Historical Park  staff and is now on display as part of the Suffolk Mill/River Transformed Exhibit.

Their cover picture shows how line shafts and belts were used to power all of the machines from a single power source. Originally the power source was water, then it was a large stationary steam engine.

Tsongas Industrial History Center

Another posting shows some of the "guts" of a mill with the comment:

Here's another #MillYardMonday post and today's theme is flywheels - another important invention to the manufacturing system in Lowell. Flywheels transfer the energy that turbines create into the mill. At the top of a turbine is a rod holding a horizontal gear that fits into a vertical gear at a right angle. The vertical gear is also attached to a rod, on the other side of which is a huge flywheel. The turning of the turbine makes the interlocking gears work together to turn the flywheel. The flywheel acts as a pulley because as it turns, a large belt that is wrapped around it turns with it. The belt then travels through the floors of the mill and attaches to horizontal rods (called line shafts) on each floor, causing them to rotate and turn smaller belts attached to the machines. The flywheel was an important part of running the mill because of its role in transferring the turbine’s power to the machines. You can see flywheels on exhibit throughout Lowell National Historical Park today.

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A view of how large a flywheel actually is, this one can be seen at the Suffolk Mill at the River Transformed Exhibit at Lowell National Historical Park.

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In this view of a working weave room, located at the Boott Mill, you can see all of the individual belts that run down from the ceiling and connect to the machines. These were the belts that were connected to the fly shaft that the flywheel spun.

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An image of a moving flywheel at the Suffolk Mill as part of the River Transformed Exhibit at Lowell National Historical Park.

Was Gilman, IL: Cargill Grain Elevator

I wrote this post before I decided to document grain elevators and depots in this blog. Scroll down to the second elevator described in the post.

Kouts, IN: Junction Tower: Erie vs. PRR

(see satellite below)

Matt Lasayko posted
PRR Panhandle Kouts IN crossing the Erie
Wayne Hudak All ALCO's!
Josh Lemier also posted

Both are long gone. The scar of the diagonal route was easy to spot on current satellite images. But I had to find an old topo map to determine it was the Erie and that the east/west route was the Pennsy.

Satellite pluse Paint

Matt Ditton posted "then and now" photos with the comment:

A sad before and after of the Erie Lackawanna/ PRR at Kouts Indiana. The first photo is looking west down the PRR in the early 70's. The second was taken by me in the same general area today looking the same direction. You can see the elevator is present in both pics. I'm not sure who took the first picture but as you can see, all tracks are long gone. The E-L was lifted in 1981 and I believe the PRR tracks were all gone by 1984.

1970s

It is interesting that the PRR Panhandle double tracks have the wide spacing I normally see only for the Erie, and the Erie appears to have the narrow spacing that other railroads use.

Now

The treelines and land scars are still clearly visible for the Erie. The PRR Panhandle went east/west through town about 2.5 blocks south of IN-8. Once I knew where to look, it was easy to find its route. I marked it with a blue line to emphasize that the tower was on the east side of town. (Looking again at the satellite image, the PRR does seem to be closer to IN-8 on the east side than the west.)
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Satellite plus Paint

Update:

Mark Llanuza posted
Its Jan 1968 with westbound at Kouts Ind going under the classic semaphores with F-units [photo collection Mark Llanuza,]
Daniel Gless How much fun would it have been to change the light bulb in those top semaphores?Brandon Kulik Looks like 2 PA's in the trailing position

Mark Llanuza commented on a Justin Oates posting
This Kouts Ind 1975 with photo from Don Ellison and my shot last year lined up the same location.
Mark Llanuza posted again
Its 1975 with eastbound Erie Lackawanna at Kouts Ind crossing the Penn Central Panhandle line by photographer Don Ellison . I went back in the year 2017 to match the same location where at one time up to 35 trains a day would cross here with both railroads .The old water tower is still there in the before and after shot where long time friend and Erie photographer Gary Clark and i went back to match everything all back again.Gary Clark and i spent almost a whole day here on the last week of operations of the Erie.

Marty Bernard posted
2. EL 6561 (F3A, ex-DLW 656A, built Jan. 1947) at Kouts, IN in November 1966. Rick Burn photo.

Mark Llanuza posted
Its June 1975 Penn Central's Kouts Ind train station looking east .Went back again to the same location to match my older shot in 2012 and its a ice cream store .This was at one time double main line of the where it crossed the Erie just east of here.
[Satellite, Street View]

Mark Llanuza posted
Its 1975 Looking east on the Erie Lackawanna Railroad at Kouts Ind station where it crossed the Penn Central Pan Handle line .Both main lines were double track .The Erie had up 20-25 Frt's a day and the Penn Central had about 20 a day .by 1982 both the Erie Lackawanna and the Pen Central were gone ,Today there is nothing left of anything.

Jim Prrfan posted
PRR Kouts tower, Kouts In.  1970's.
Jim PRRFan photo from 35mm slide
Cass Telles: I see one of the EL diamonds out of service. The other diamond maybe removed, also. I would estimate the time frame between 1976 to 1977. I heard somewhere that the diamonds were removed for a short time before being reinstalled for the Erie Western operations.
Rick La Fever: Seems like a big tower for such a small town. Pennsy Panhandle crossed the Erie here and 20 miles further east at North Judson, they crossed again. PRR controlled both diamonds and could effectively contain Erie trains.
Chad Quick: Rick La Fever yes, even on the EL track chart it shows the track between Kouts and North Judson is controlled by the PRR. Always found that odd.
Tod Riebow shared

Michael Dye posted six images with the comment:

Kouts Interlocking Tower, 'DN'. Located at Kouts, Indiana, this was a PRR (PCC& St.L, 'Panhandle') tower, which controlled the crossing of the mainlines of the PRR (Chicago-Logansport) and the Erie/EL (Chicago-Jersey City).
After 1948, Kouts also remotely controlled the Erie's Wilders ('DR') Interlocking, where the Erie croosed the Monon's Michigan City branch. This is mentioned on Photo 5.

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Looking RR West on the PRR, 1962.

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Looking RR West on the PRR, 1973.

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The SW elevation of the tower, 1920.

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he SW elevation of the tower, 1975.

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The PRR Interlocking chart for Kouts interlocking.
The PRR Interlocking chart for Kouts interlocking. Note the information concerning Kouts' remote control of the Erie(EL) crossing of the Monon at Wilders.

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The interior of Kouts Interlocking, Kouts, IN, SEP56 (Photo by the late CL Coates, Foreman, Erie Signal Gang #33).
Philip Kulina Notice the PRR calendar ?
Michael Dye Yes. 'Course, Kouts was a PRR owned Tower.

Michael Dye The color code for the lever function was: BLACK - Switchpoints, derails and movable-point frogs.
BLUE - Locks for switchpoints, derails and movable-point frogs.
YELLOW - Approach signals.
RED - Signals.
GREY or WHITE - Unused levers.

Michael Dye commented on his post
Since the diagram states that Kouts was a Manual Interlocking (Lower left side of Photo 5), the Armstrong Levers on the top deck actuated a machine on the lower, similar to this one.

Dennis DeBruler shared
Rick Aylsworth The interlocking bed.
Daniel Herkes Did the position of the various blocks allow the eyebars to move or not?
Rick Aylsworth Daniel Herkes Yes, the bars had notches and dogs that engaged with other bars to control what could move and what was locked.
Daniel Herkes Rick Aylsworth A mechanical NAND/NOR gate. Perfect.
Rick Aylsworth Daniel Herkes Exactly! Next came relay logic, then digital hardware logic, nowadays software logic.

Michael Dye commented on his post
Which moved pipes that ran to the various appliances; signals, switches and such. NOTE: On the other hand, the remote control of the Erie's Wilders was done electrically.

Dennis DeBruler shared
[I added three photos to explain how pipelines worked.]