Friday, May 17, 2024

Golden, CO: Colorado Railroad Museum

(Satellite, 11,385 photos!)

This is close to the Coors brewery. I hope Coors still offers their tours.

I remember when we visited there a few decades ago that it had a lot of narrow-gauge equipment.

Their website indicates that they offer train rides.

Street View, May 2021

Railroad Glory Days posted
D&RGW C-19 class 2-8-0 No.346 (Baldwin 1881) riding the turntable at the Colorado Railroad Museum. More about the museum here: HTTP://RailroadGloryDays.com/CRRM/index2.html
[This page has more photos of the equipment.]
 
Railroad Glory Days posted
Preparing for another workday. At the Colorado Railroad Museum.
http://railroadglorydays.com/CRRM/index2.html
Jim Arc shared

Bryan Burton Photography posted
Rio Grande Southern 20 during the 2023 Colorado Crossings event at the Colorado Railroad Museum. This weekend was a celebration of railroading in southwest Colorado with a spotlight on Beebe and Clegg. 5/23
Raymond Storey shared

Richard Crabtree posted
Here we see a view southwest over Golden, Colorado
You can see the Colorado Central Railroad Roundhouse and Freight Depot, Adolph Coors Brewery and Residence, old 1878 Jefferson County Courthouse with the Castle Rock, South Table Mountain and foothills in the distance.
Photo taken in 1883
Photograph by Alexander Martin

Crandall, IL: Lost/(Sante Fe & LE&W) Depot

(Satellite, there is still a connection and a small interchange yard. But nothing left of a town.)

Reichard Fiedler posted
LE&W (NKP, now NS)-Santa Fe depot at Crandall IL. Long gone.
Richard Fiedler: I got the photo from the Morton Post Office. The Crandall Post Office closed 1909 and was absorbed into Morton. I would assume the settlement withered after that.
Richard Fiedler shared

The Santa Fe route is now owned by TP&W and the NKP/LE&W route is owned by NS.
1928 Mackinaw Quad @ 62,500

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP




Spruce Creek, PA: "Spruce" Tower and Spruce Creek Tunnels

Tower: (Satellite, just as the tracks start to curve.)
Tunnels: (Satellite)

One of the tunnel portals is visible in the right background.
Darren Reynolds posted
PRRs "Spruce" tower Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania 
"Spruce" tower Controlled movements in and out of Spruce Creek tunnels.
PC Eng-2319 Passing "Spruce " tower on June 21, 1974.
The odd thing about this tower is there's no windows up front ? 
Photo by: David P. Oroszi
Bill Decker: I spent time in that tower. It wasn’t really large in size and the ctc board and the “strongarms” were on that side of the tower inside. Pretty much reverse of the others inside.

This topo map quickly taught me where the tunnels were. (Lower-right corner)
1972 Spruce Creek Quad @ 24,000

It is obvious that the southern tunnel route was the original route because it avoided building two bridges. Since they have built the bridges, a satellite image shows that the straighter northern route is the one that is currently used.
Apr 21, 1962 @ 27,000; AR1VAKF00010076



Thursday, May 16, 2024

Leaf River, IL: Lost/Milwaukee Depot

(Satellite, according to the 1939 aerial, it was probably the building between the mainline and the siding.)

Larry Foht posted
Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Depot and Train 
Left River Illinois
Larry Foht collection :

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

The topo map is rather inaccurate.
1924 Oregon Quad @ 62,500

I think we can still see the foundation of the wood grain elevator.
Satellite

The tank truck is probably for liquid fertilizer.
Street View, Jul 2023

I noticed in a 2012 view, there was something behind the left-most bin.
Street View, Sep 2012

They were a bunch of tall tanks. The next available image is just a month later, and they are gone.
Google Earth, Jun 2022

Adam Christman posted
Canadian Pacific [Empress] #2816 rolls through the small town of Leaf River, Illinois past one of many grain elevators which are commonplace in the Midwest. My friend and I were actually thanked for visiting, even if it was only for about 20 minutes.
Roger Riblett shared
Adam Christman posted again with the same comment

Erie, PA: 1900s Coal Shipping Dock

(Satellite, my guess. This area was a lot different back then.)

Note the masts for sails.
Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted
The freighter Charles A. Eddy at the coal trestle and car dumping plant at Erie, Pa., circa 1900 (Image Source: Library of Congress – Detroit Publishing Co. Collection). The name of the photographer is not included in the notes for the image, which was created from a dry plate negative.
[The description continues with a history of the freighter.]

Steve Vanden Bosch posted three photos with the comment:
Images of the Charles A. Eddy at the coal trestle and car dumping plant at Erie, Pa. I believe this photo was taken after August of 1900. In the last image in the background, are 10 vessels laid up from Bessemer Fleet, which from newspaper accounts were laid up in August 1900. 
This photo is from the Detroit Publishing Collection.
Dale Pohto: What looks to be a large tarp has been rigged up on the aft side of the forward cabins: ostensibly to protect the foc'sle area from coal dust).
1

2

3

I'm guessing it was on the eastern dock of the three on the left side of this excerpt.
1900 Erie Quad @ 62,500

If it was there, it was gone by 1956. Since it was probably shipping anthracite coal to Duluth+Superior for home heating, I'm not surprised it was obsolete by then.
Oct 29, 1956 @ 60,000; ARA550340080738

Ewan, WA: Wood Grain Elevator and Northern Lights

(Satellite)

In this case, the label "weather" is for solar weather. There was a big coronal mass ejection and even the Chicago area could see the Northern Lights.
Dave Stromberger posted
Ewan, WA, USA. 5/10/24 - Aurora Borealis visible in the night sky.
Wesley Peters: Elevator History- Farmers Grain & Elevator Co. Headhouse (right) built in 1918. 50,000-bushel capacity. Annex (left) built in an unknown year.

And the above is just one of the two wooden grain elevators in this town.
Street View, Jun 2023

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Plainville, MA: New York, New Haven & Hartford Roundhouse

(Satellite)

Tim Starr posted three images with the comment: "Four-stall New Haven roundhouse in Plainville, MA. Still standing today. B&W photo from Fiske Public Library."
1
[Note the water tower in the left background.]

2

3

Once again, the trees in the East Coast preclude getting a street view.

1945 Wrentham and 1949 Attleboro Quads @ 24,000

Willow Springs, IL: Lost/Santa Fe Depot

(Satellite, the tracks have been elevated since this 1970s photo.)

Gregory Russell posted
Willow Springs Santa Fe depot. I recall taking picture late 1970s.
Dennis DeBruler: Do you recall where it was in Willow Springs? I see the town stretches between IL-83 and US-45 and that the downtown is on the other side of the river and canal.
Gregory Russell: Dennis, recall just west of willow springs road on north side of river.
Richard Fiedler: Dennis DeBruler just one or two hundred feet west of Willow Springs Rd on the North side of the tracks. I passed it frequently on the way home from work and around 1981 or so one day it was gone like it never was there. It was painted in fading and peeling yellow paint then.
Dennis DeBruler: Richard Fiedler I noticed a wider embankment, https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y3EqBFcVveHEdqZJ6. Although in Gregory's photo it looks like Willow Springs Road was a grade crossing rather than an underpass.
Richard Fiedler: Dennis DeBruler the time frame I went by was 1980-83 and it looks like everything there changed. If I got my directions right its was in the clearing near the trees in the NW quadrant. There was no yard there then either.
Richard Fiedler: Back in the early 80’s it was at grade.
Dennis DeBruler: Richard Fiedler I remember reading an article about the new intermodal yard that BNSF built for UPS. An employee that was interviewed said that they shipped in a lot of rock to elevate the yard so that they did not have to worry about flooding. Now I understand that it was indeed an immense amount of rock.
Mark Bilecki Sr.: Dennis DeBruler on the west side of the tracks south of Willow Springs road.
Ron Rodriguez: There was a Santa Fe employee who lived just south of tracks in early 80’s his name was Bingo I think?
Richard Fiedler shared


Breckenridge, CO: Aban/UP/Colorado & Southern/Denver & South Park & Pacific Depot

(Satellite, it is now a parking lot.)

I've been skipping depots in Colorado, but when I saw Denver, South Park & Pacific in the description, I went for it. See Como, CO, as to why DSP&P is of interest to me.

Richard Crabtree posted three images with the comment:
Here we are at the Colorado & Southern Depot in Breckenridge, Colorado
The Denver & South Park & Pacific came to Breckenridge, Colorado in August of 1882. Over the course of several years the name of line changed from the DSP&P to the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison and finally to the Colorado & Southern. It would be the the C&S that would end service here in 1937.
Photo 1) Colorado & Southern Depot in Breckenridge, Colorado around 1910.
Photo 2) 1914 Sanborn Map of Breckenridge, Colorado L.O.C.
Photo 3) Current view ~ google maps
Terri Reid: I wondered where the acreage for the parking lots came from..
1

2

3

1989 Leadville Quad @ 125,000

I knew that the DSP&P went over the mountain from Como into the Colorado River drainage basin. Now I better understand how it did that. (The Como area is drained by the Tarryall Creek, which joins the South Platte River. But that is a very circuitous route. The DSP&P used Turkey Creek to get from Denver to South Park.)
1938 Mount Lincoln and 1937 Como Quad @ 62,500

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

New England, ND: Old Grain Elevator Row

(Satellite)

Wesley Peters posted
Elevator Row, New England, ND, c. 1914.
At the time there were seven grain elevators in the city.
Identification- Right to Left.
Western Grian Co.- Headhouse built before 1912. An annex was built sometime before the 1930's on the NW side of the headhouse. Extant.
Columbia Elevator Co.- Built before 1912. Replaced with a new headhouse by the 1930's built by T. E. Ibberson Co. The second headhouse has a later built annex on the NW side.
E. J. Freeman Elevator- Built before 1912. Demolished/destroyed.
New England Equity Exchange- Built in 1912. Had a headhouse built on the east side of the original house by the 1930's. Demolished sometime after 2008.
Unidentified Elevator- Mansard roof. Early history unknown. Demolished/destroyed.
Unidentified Elevator- Early history unknown. Demolished destroyed before the 1930's.
Regent Grain Co.- Built in 1913. Demolished/destroyed.
Today just the former Western Grain Co. elevator is still standing from this photograph. The first Columbia Elevator Co. house was either destroyed or dismantled and replaced with a new elevated headhouse by the 1930's. The second elevator for that company is still standing today.
Photo courtesy of Worthpoint.
Randy Ahrens shared

All but two of the seven old elevators have been replaced.
Street View, Sep 2021

I included the tank as a reminder that supplying fertilizer, as well as storing grain, is important for the economy of a rural town.
Street View, Sep 2021

Five of the old elevators are gone because the facilities have been upgraded.
Street View, Sep 2021

It looks like they supply "cides" (herbicide, pesticide and insecticide) and feed supplements as well as dry, liquid and gaseous fertilizer.
Street View, Sep 2021

I wonder if this town was always at the end of a Milwaukee branch.
1953 Dickinson Quad @ 250,000





Homestead, MT: Old Grain Elevator Row

(Satellite)

Jan Normandale posted
Homestead MT: 2013 08
digital bw
Wesley Peters: The furthest house is a former Victoria brand elevator that likely dates from the 1960's. It replaced an earlier structure that was standing in 1939. the two elevators in the foreground were both standing in 1939.

Talk about being in the boondocks, no street view driver has been to this town. At least the northern elevator is being used because of the spilled grain. This railroad route used to be the Great Northern. According to a USGS map, it is now Yellowstone Valley.

Chapin, IL: Wabash + CB&Q Union Depot and Wood Grain Elevator

Depot: (Satellite, the land is now occupied by the fire department building.)
Grain Elevator: (Satellite)

Wabash is the east/west route, and CB&Q was the north/south route.

Andy Zukowski posted
Union Depot Chapin, Illinois. 1908
Richard Fiedler shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post
Since the CB&Q crossed the Wabash at an angle, the depot was a rectangle that was equidistant from each route. 1941 aerial photo

Larry Candilas commented on Richard's share
1950s - from the internet

In 1902, this was the only CB&Q route that went south in Illinois. In 1917, CB&Q completed their route that went to the bridge at Metropolis that they built with the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad. This St. Louis route has since been abandoned.
 https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/knx_rail/id/298

1948 Quincy Quad @ 250,000