Does anyone out there know about when the C&NW dieselized the Dakota Division? This would have been the line from Winona to Rapid City which later became known as the Alco Line.
Also, were the Alcos the first diesels on that line or did they first arrive after being replaced in Chicago suburban service by EMD F units? If they didn't replace steam, was it EMD units? Or maybe Baldwins?
I've lived next to the Alco line most of my life but they were already there when I started paying attention to trains in the early 1960's.
Tom Edwards
There's a wonderful book on the Alco Line by Eric Hirsimaki that goes into a lot of this. As far was when the alco's showed up, I don't remember off the top of my head. What I do remember is that they were consolidated there from other places. The C425's came off road freights, the RSD's out of suburban commuter trains, and RS's off various other places. When the RS3/2's and RSD's began dying, the CNW bought 10 NYC/PC/CR RS32's as a replacement.
There's also the leasers: LASCO RSD12s and Chrome RS32s.
One note, not many switchers were kept there as the flexibility of the roadswitchers was much more valuable.
https://www.amazon.com/Alco-Line-Eric-Hirsimaki/dp/0929886062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485962895&sr=8-1&keywords=the+alco+line
Modeling whatever I can make out of that stash of kits that takes up half my apartment's spare bedroom.
I can't answer the original question, but I would suggest that the first step is to contact the Chicago & North Western Historical Society. Join and support the organization. When I lived in the Chicago area many years ago I knew some of the members, and was impressed by the group. I'm sure they have the answer to this question, and many more questions you may have.
In general, the smartest thing is to go to the people who are most likely to have the answers you need. That is true for just about everything --- not just C&NW history. The railroad historical societies are often underutilized resources, and they deserve more respect and support than they get.
Tom
IIRC from the Hirsimaki book, CNW didn't group it's Alcos together onto the "Alco Line" until the mid-late 1960's (then later, in the 1970's-80's, in upper Michigan). Before that, CNW was pretty ecumenical about diesels, buying GM, Alco, Baldwin, and FM diesels to replace steam. I don't know that there's one source that can tell you which engines were assigned to where, or when. Sometimes you just have to piece it together from books, websites, photos, etc.
p.s. One thing to keep in mind that before 1957 the C&NW and the Omaha (CMO) were separate but affiliated railroads. So if a line was operated by the CNW proper, you wouldn't be likely to see Omaha Road engines assigned there. The engines were lettered for either one or the other, usually in small lettering but you can spot it in pictures if you look closely.
I have the Hirsimaki book somewhere. I'll have to dig through my storage totes. I'm hoping it will have the answers. If it does, that means that I've already read the answer and have forgotten it.
LOL
I also have all the Rick Mills books but he doesn't mention any of this either so the next time that I'm in Hill City SD I will have to stop in and see what he knows.
The time period that I'm researching is the early 50's to early 60's. The RS3's and RSD4/5's were all built in the early 1950's, same with the GP7s. Many of the CNW's F units were built prior to this, in the late 1940s.
The photos that I've been able to find show the F units replacing the Alcos in suburban service in the early 60's, what were they using out west prior to that?
Hmmm...
Yup - I've been a member of the CNWHS off and on but I haven't found anything there either. Odds are the answer will probably be in all of the C&NW historical documents that they inherited from the company. I might just have to take a trip down there one of these days.
I remember that the Alcos must have used there in the late 50's, and for sure by the early 60's when F units were assigned to the Chicago commuter service.
There was a derailment in my home town (New Ulm) in 1959 that wrecked two of the Alcos. They are they two that were rebuilt with RS11-style long hoods. I have photos somewhere of that wreck.
The earliest photo of a diesel on the Dakota Division that I can find is in Rick Mills' book "Making the Grade" and that is of Baldwin #1500 stuck in a snow drift. That photo is from the blizzard of 1949 so I know that they had diesels in the area at least around that time.
Since railroads liked to keep diesels segregated by manufacturer for ease of maintenance and stockage of spare parts, does this mean that Huron would have been the home base for a fleet of Baldwins?