I'll throw a hint. Let us say that the late Charles Winters was an expert on this road.
Is it the long gone Fort Smith and Western? Once you get much to the west of it there's not much along the 35th parallel that hasn't already been dismissed as the answer.
Given the Charles Winters clue I'm certain Rob is correct in naming the Ft. Smith & Western.
Mark
Rob WINS! Mr. Winters was very kind to me years ago and presented me with a copy of every FS&W photo he had.
Go , Rob!!
This company's Alco RS1, later re-engined by EMD, was originally equipped with trolley poles.
Western Pacific, for use on trackage shared by the Sacrmento Northen and/or Central California trackage, both owned by WP and both employing trolley contactor signals on certain trackage (Nachod signals).
Others would be the Pacific Electric or the Illinois Terminal, but I think WP is correct. The latter two also had diesels equipped with trolley poles, for the same reason, but I don't think they had an Alco reengined by EMD.
Well, this railroad actually interchanged with WP, but wasn't owned by it like SN. All of SN's signal installations, both on WP shared track and SN-only track, used 25 hz vane relays in otherwise normal track circuit signalling (WP And SN shared a fair amount of track in the Marysville/Yuba City area.) PE had some Baldwin switchers, and even a couple of borrowed SP steam engines that had poles for signal contactors. IT was mostly manual block, and didn't use trolley contactors. IT's diesels that had poles were dual power.
This engine was allocated by the WPB in 1943 for troop train movements, and had a train-heating boiler.
Like the WP, and the SN (and for that matter the PE) this road eventually ended up as prt of the UP.
The road in question is at the other end of the WP, and was the Bamberger. Bamberger RS1 570 was re-powered with a 567 engine while still owned by Bamberger. It later became UP 1270 when Bamberger was absorbed by UP.
Your question, CSSHegewisch !
The poles, like the ones PE used, were for Nachod signals, which counted "poles in" and "poles out" to allow use of single track segments. Lines like Illinois Terminal didin't like them because they didn't work well with dual poles. Some street systems that used them also operated MU, and used jumpers instead of the pole on the second car. SN used pans on freight engines which didn't work with the contacts.
The Nachod actuator was different from the electric switch selector, which activated power switches based on whether the passing car was drawing power or not. Key system had special overhead setups where the transbay services shared track with streetcars so that the transbay cars' pans wouldn't contact the switch selectors.
We're all fairly familiar with the fact that the Insull interests owned and operated a fair number of interurban railroads. Which steam road was part of the Insull empire?
EJ&E
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Definitely not, EJ&E was a US Steel road.
Chicago & Illinois Midland
We have a winner!! FlyingCrow, you get the next question.
Incidentally, C&IM remained under Commonwealth Edison ownership until relatively recently, when it was sold to Genessee & Wyoming and was renamed Illinois & Midland.
This railroad basically paralleled one of FRISCO's routes. While not really part of the FRISCO, eventually some of its track and alignment became the FRISCO while FRISCO trackage was abandoned.
Alabama Tennessee & Northern is the most likely possibility that comes to my mind. It parallelled the Fricso's line to Mobile and was bought by the Frisco in the late 40's IIRC and later merged into their system.
Mark, until the AT&N was pretty well dismantled, it was the Frisco's entry into Mobile, first from Aliceville until the bridge across the Tombigbee river fell in just after a southbound freight crossed it (I talked with the conductor who was on that train and watched the bridge collapse--it was a frightening thing), and then through an interchange with the AGS at Boligee and down to York, from whence the AT&N rails carried the trains down to Mobile. After this reroute, the Frisco crews wanted to take the trains to York, but the AT&N crews won out.
I regret that I never asked to ride from Aliceville to Mobile; I think permission would have been granted, had I asked before the AT&N was wholly absorbed by the Frisco.
My guess is the MKT, between KC and Dallas-Fort Worth.
I came back home this past Saturday, after 13 weeks in a hospital and a skilled nursing facility.
Johnny
Welcome home, Johnny. Wow. You'll feel better with your "stuff" about you.
Nice narrative on the AT&N but.....nope on all accounts so far.
Kansas Oklahoma & Gulf - just a SWAG.
And a swag it is, Mark! Far be it from me to wear out my welcome; however. Therefore it is:
HINT O'CLOCK
"Kansas City" appears in the RR name.
So.. Reading from west to east.. Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis ?
The KC, FS & M, or the Memphis Route, was the predecessor of FRISCO's "Northern" Division...but NOT what I'm looking for.
Kansas City Clinton & Springfield. At 12:01 (am) O'clock on Dec.1, 1924 the KCC&S was absorbed into the Frisco System and lost it's identity.
Mark...you are IT!!!! Proceed.
The Plainsman was the name of the only passenger train operated by a certain shortline railroad. What railroad ran this train and between what cities or towns did it run?
Was this the all-Texas Quanah Acme and Pacific's train from Quanah TX (SLSF) to Floydada TX (ATSF)?
The Rock Island named the Twin Cities- KC stub of the Twin Star Rocket the Plainsman in the late 1960s, but that's not a short line and less than 50 years ago.
Good call Rob. I thought this would be a toughie but you've got both the RR, QA&P, and the route right so the next question is yours.
This public transit operator had a streetcar line with a switchback in the middle, that was replaced by a trackless trolley. In a twist, some trackless trolley operations of a succesor were replaced (in the less than 50 year past) with streetcars (from the more than 50 year past) furnished in the name of the original operator. Name the city, the operator, and at least one of the streets.
rcdrye This public transit operator had a streetcar line with a switchback in the middle, that was replaced by a trackless trolley. In a twist, some trackless trolley operations of a succesor were replaced (in the less than 50 year past) with streetcars (from the more than 50 year past) furnished in the name of the original operator. Name the city, the operator, and at least one of the streets.
I do not remember a switchback operation though. But considering some of San Francisco's eclectic operations I would not be surprised about a switchback.
Rgds IGN
The line with the switchback was the 33 (18th and Park) which was converted under Market St Railway ownership (I believe it was the first T-bus line in SF). Muni 33 buses still negotiate the tricky curve. MSRy kept a series of "bowling alley" cars just for this line unitl around 1933.
Your question.
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