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[Anonymous]

I worked for the Milwaukee from 74 to 80 first as a communications crew lineman on lines west from Mobridge SD to Tacoma. I ended my time as the District Lineman in Avery. In my 6 years I worked almost everywhere. I started in St Maries ID. replacing poles to Avery. My first winter there was an ice storm in Seattle and they moved our work train to Black River, Wa and we put communications wire back up for 10 days straight. The work train was moved to Maple Valley and we spent the rest of the winter rebuilding the pole line and cutting brush.
The crew would spend winters in the Cedar Falls or Maple Valley area every year then with spring we would load up and move our train to Othello. the weather was good there in the spring and we would stay until it got hot. One of the years we were there we retired the line to Moses Lake. During a latter stay in the area we camped at Beverly and our job was to replace all the cross arms on the bridge at Beverly. With the Milwaukee's emphsis on safety we were luck that we wern't blown off the bridge to our deaths.
By early summer each year we would be in St Maries working on replacing poles along the St Joe River. This is some exceptionally beautiful country. By late summer we would pack up and head to either Missoula or Butte. The crew always loved their time in Montana because the railroad would put us up in motels for some reason. The camp cars were the pits.
When I had worked for the Milwaukee for 3 years I had the opportunity to relieve a district lineman in Lemmon SD. His territory was from Baker Mt to Mobridge SD. This too was a fun time meeting new people and seeing new country.
In 1977 the Milwaukee combined the electric crews and the communications crews and I had my first taste of working with power lines. When the railroad laid me off and after a short stay with the BN, I ended up being an electric utility lineman in Idaho. My first experience with being on a fixed location crew was in Superior Mt with our territory being from Missoula to St Maries.
In 1978 I was able to get the district linemans job in Avery and work between St Maries and Alberton. I spent two winters on St Paul Pass in snow that got as deep as 20' at East Portal.
I loved working for the Milwaukee, they gave me an incredable amount of freedom to do my job, even if I was very young. I was 26 when operations ceased on lines west.

[Anonymous]

I worked for the Milwaukee from 74 to 80 first as a communications crew lineman on lines west from Mobridge SD to Tacoma. I ended my time as the District Lineman in Avery. In my 6 years I worked almost everywhere. I started in St Maries ID. replacing poles to Avery. My first winter there was an ice storm in Seattle and they moved our work train to Black River, Wa and we put communications wire back up for 10 days straight. The work train was moved to Maple Valley and we spent the rest of the winter rebuilding the pole line and cutting brush.
The crew would spend winters in the Cedar Falls or Maple Valley area every year then with spring we would load up and move our train to Othello. the weather was good there in the spring and we would stay until it got hot. One of the years we were there we retired the line to Moses Lake. During a latter stay in the area we camped at Beverly and our job was to replace all the cross arms on the bridge at Beverly. With the Milwaukee's emphsis on safety we were luck that we wern't blown off the bridge to our deaths.
By early summer each year we would be in St Maries working on replacing poles along the St Joe River. This is some exceptionally beautiful country. By late summer we would pack up and head to either Missoula or Butte. The crew always loved their time in Montana because the railroad would put us up in motels for some reason. The camp cars were the pits.
When I had worked for the Milwaukee for 3 years I had the opportunity to relieve a district lineman in Lemmon SD. His territory was from Baker Mt to Mobridge SD. This too was a fun time meeting new people and seeing new country.
In 1977 the Milwaukee combined the electric crews and the communications crews and I had my first taste of working with power lines. When the railroad laid me off and after a short stay with the BN, I ended up being an electric utility lineman in Idaho. My first experience with being on a fixed location crew was in Superior Mt with our territory being from Missoula to St Maries.
In 1978 I was able to get the district linemans job in Avery and work between St Maries and Alberton. I spent two winters on St Paul Pass in snow that got as deep as 20' at East Portal.
I loved working for the Milwaukee, they gave me an incredable amount of freedom to do my job, even if I was very young. I was 26 when operations ceased on lines west.

[mersenne6]

You might want to check out the book

Woman Operator on the Milwaukee Railroad - a first person account by a female op during WWII.

[mersenne6]

You might want to check out the book

Woman Operator on the Milwaukee Railroad - a first person account by a female op during WWII.

[Anonymous]

I will look and see if I can find it. do you know the ISBN?

[Anonymous]

I will look and see if I can find it. do you know the ISBN?

[mersenne6]

No ISBN the author is Mary Byington and the publishing house is Timber Lake Topic in Timber Lake SD copyright 1998. What makes her story particularly interesting is that Mary is a Japanese American - Her father had been in prison for 6 months at the internment camp in Missoula but had been cleared and allowed to return home.
She applied for the job as a telegrapher and about half way through the training she was dismissed because of her race. She went back home, kept noticing the ads for operators and finally wrote a letter to the president of the Milwaukee pointing out her interest, their need, and the fact that she and her family had been cleared by the FBI. The railroad president responded by ordering the local railroad telegrapher school to re-hire her for training. The book is about 80 pages long and it is a good read. The book shows up from time to time over on bookfinder.com.

[mersenne6]

No ISBN the author is Mary Byington and the publishing house is Timber Lake Topic in Timber Lake SD copyright 1998. What makes her story particularly interesting is that Mary is a Japanese American - Her father had been in prison for 6 months at the internment camp in Missoula but had been cleared and allowed to return home.
She applied for the job as a telegrapher and about half way through the training she was dismissed because of her race. She went back home, kept noticing the ads for operators and finally wrote a letter to the president of the Milwaukee pointing out her interest, their need, and the fact that she and her family had been cleared by the FBI. The railroad president responded by ordering the local railroad telegrapher school to re-hire her for training. The book is about 80 pages long and it is a good read. The book shows up from time to time over on bookfinder.com.

[Randy Stahl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroadmilw1963

I can contribute to say .. I worked for the Milwaukee Raod from 1963-1985 ..
I was a Mechanical Carmen Welder ... work in the freight shop.. black smith shop..
it was a great Railroad .. Anyone else work in the Milwaukee Area Shops ..??

Yes, locomotive electricians helper, SOO Milwaukee. Do I know you?
Randy Stahl

[Randy Stahl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroadmilw1963

I can contribute to say .. I worked for the Milwaukee Raod from 1963-1985 ..
I was a Mechanical Carmen Welder ... work in the freight shop.. black smith shop..
it was a great Railroad .. Anyone else work in the Milwaukee Area Shops ..??

Yes, locomotive electricians helper, SOO Milwaukee. Do I know you?
Randy Stahl

[2nighthawks]

I'm a retired Senior Special Agent from the Union Pacific RR Police Dept., but I originally hired out with the Milwaukee Road Police Dept. in Chicago in 1968. I worked in all of the Chicago area yards as a patrolman, then as a Sgt. and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, while working a Lieutenant's job out of Bensenville Yard, I accepted a transfer to a Lieutenant's job in Deer Lodge, Montana. I remained in Deer Lodge well into 1980 until after the bankruptcy. (I went to work for the UPRR in July, '80 as a Special Agent in the UPRR Police Department in Seattle.) I guess I probably could tell a few stories about my short career as a Milwaukee Road Police Officer though:

Shortly after I got on the Deer Lodge job with the MILW Police, we had a serious vandalism case in Butte, Mt. which involved the boarded up Milwaukee Road passenger depot. With the advent of AMTRAK (which did not service Butte, Mt.) the small but modern passenger depot was a building that the Real Estate Dept. was trying to sell or rent out. It would have made a good doctor's or dentist's office for example. When one of the MILW real estate department rep's discovered on an inspection of the depot, that one of the plywood boards had been pried off of one of the windows and serious damage had been done inside the depot by vandal(s), (restroom toilets, sinks and fixtures broken, ceramic tile broken, etc.), naturally, the railroad police (me) got the "complaint".

Experience had taught me that kids in the neighborhood usually knew which of the bigger kids would be responsible for such vandalism, and my investigation developed a cute little kid about 8 or 9 yrs. old that lived near the vandalized depot. I'll never forget this little guy; he'd been wearing the whole cowboy outfit; the two holsters and cap guns, the boots, chaps, vest, red bandanna and a white cowboy hat that was several sizes too big for him. I showed him my badge and let him get a little glimpse of my shoulder holster under my jacket, and told him that it'd be worth at least a hamburger, fries and a milkshake if he could find out "who did it", and told him I appreciated having a "deputy" to help me out, and that I'd check back with him later. He was obviously pretty excited about being "deputized", and I went about some other business in Butte, thinking that, who knows (?), maybe this little guy would actually come up with something that would give me something to go on that would at least be a starting point in my investigation.

An hour or so later, I happened to be driving by the depot again, and here's this little "cowboy", with both hands around the neck of a cute little girl about his same age, and whom he'd shoved up against the brick wall of the depot and was shaking her. He happened to see me driving slowly by at which time he turned toward me, still with one hand around the little girl's neck, and hollered, "noth'n yet, but I'm work'n on it!" My immediate thought was, good lord, I've created an 8 year old monster! Naturally, we had a little "talk" that I hope served to "tone down" his "investigation" a little bit!

[2nighthawks]

I'm a retired Senior Special Agent from the Union Pacific RR Police Dept., but I originally hired out with the Milwaukee Road Police Dept. in Chicago in 1968. I worked in all of the Chicago area yards as a patrolman, then as a Sgt. and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, while working a Lieutenant's job out of Bensenville Yard, I accepted a transfer to a Lieutenant's job in Deer Lodge, Montana. I remained in Deer Lodge well into 1980 until after the bankruptcy. (I went to work for the UPRR in July, '80 as a Special Agent in the UPRR Police Department in Seattle.) I guess I probably could tell a few stories about my short career as a Milwaukee Road Police Officer though:

Shortly after I got on the Deer Lodge job with the MILW Police, we had a serious vandalism case in Butte, Mt. which involved the boarded up Milwaukee Road passenger depot. With the advent of AMTRAK (which did not service Butte, Mt.) the small but modern passenger depot was a building that the Real Estate Dept. was trying to sell or rent out. It would have made a good doctor's or dentist's office for example. When one of the MILW real estate department rep's discovered on an inspection of the depot, that one of the plywood boards had been pried off of one of the windows and serious damage had been done inside the depot by vandal(s), (restroom toilets, sinks and fixtures broken, ceramic tile broken, etc.), naturally, the railroad police (me) got the "complaint".

Experience had taught me that kids in the neighborhood usually knew which of the bigger kids would be responsible for such vandalism, and my investigation developed a cute little kid about 8 or 9 yrs. old that lived near the vandalized depot. I'll never forget this little guy; he'd been wearing the whole cowboy outfit; the two holsters and cap guns, the boots, chaps, vest, red bandanna and a white cowboy hat that was several sizes too big for him. I showed him my badge and let him get a little glimpse of my shoulder holster under my jacket, and told him that it'd be worth at least a hamburger, fries and a milkshake if he could find out "who did it", and told him I appreciated having a "deputy" to help me out, and that I'd check back with him later. He was obviously pretty excited about being "deputized", and I went about some other business in Butte, thinking that, who knows (?), maybe this little guy would actually come up with something that would give me something to go on that would at least be a starting point in my investigation.

An hour or so later, I happened to be driving by the depot again, and here's this little "cowboy", with both hands around the neck of a cute little girl about his same age, and whom he'd shoved up against the brick wall of the depot and was shaking her. He happened to see me driving slowly by at which time he turned toward me, still with one hand around the little girl's neck, and hollered, "noth'n yet, but I'm work'n on it!" My immediate thought was, good lord, I've created an 8 year old monster! Naturally, we had a little "talk" that I hope served to "tone down" his "investigation" a little bit!

[2nighthawks]

I'm a retired Senior Special Agent from the Union Pacific RR Police Dept., but I originally hired out with the Milwaukee Road Police Dept. in Chicago in 1968. I worked in all of the Chicago area yards as a patrolman, then as a Sgt. and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, while working a Lieutenant's job out of Bensenville Yard, I accepted a transfer to a Lieutenant's job in Deer Lodge, Montana. I remained in Deer Lodge well into 1980 until after the bankruptcy. (I went to work for the UPRR in July, '80 as a Special Agent in the UPRR Police Department in Seattle.) I guess I probably could tell a few stories about my short career as a Milwaukee Road Police Officer though:

Shortly after I got on the Deer Lodge job with the MILW Police, we had a serious vandalism case in Butte, Mt. which involved the boarded up Milwaukee Road passenger depot. With the advent of AMTRAK (which did not service Butte, Mt.) the small but modern passenger depot was a building that the Real Estate Dept. was trying to sell or rent out. It would have made a good doctor's or dentist's office for example. When one of the MILW real estate department rep's discovered on an inspection of the depot, that one of the plywood boards had been pried off of one of the windows and serious damage had been done inside the depot by vandal(s), (restroom toilets, sinks and fixtures broken, ceramic tile broken, etc.), naturally, the railroad police (me) got the "complaint".

Experience had taught me that kids in the neighborhood usually knew which of the bigger kids would be responsible for such vandalism, and my investigation developed a cute little kid about 8 or 9 yrs. old that lived near the vandalized depot. I'll never forget this little guy; he'd been wearing the whole cowboy outfit; the two holsters and cap guns, the boots, chaps, vest, red bandanna and a white cowboy hat that was several sized too big for him. I showed him my badge and let him get a little glimpse of my shoulder holster under my jacket, and told him that it'd be worth at least a hamburger, fries and a milkshake if he could find out "who did it", and told him I appreciated having a "deputy" to help me out, and that I'd check back with him later. He was obviously pretty excited about being "deputized", and I went about some other business in Butte, thinking that, who knows (?), maybe this little guy would actually come up with something that would give me something to go on that would at least be a starting point in my investigation.

An hour or so later, I happened to be driving by the depot again, and here's this little "cowboy", with both hands around the neck of a cute little girl about his same age, and whom he'd shoved up against the brick wall of the depot and was shaking her. He happened to see me driving slowly by at which time he turned toward me, still with one hand around the little girl's neck, and hollered, "noth'n yet, but I'm work'n on it!" My immediate thought was, good lord, I've created an 8 year old monster! Naturally, we had a little "talk" that I hope served to "tone down" his "investigation" a little bit!

[2nighthawks]

I'm a retired Senior Special Agent from the Union Pacific RR Police Dept., but I originally hired out with the Milwaukee Road Police Dept. in Chicago in 1968. I worked in all of the Chicago area yards as a patrolman, then as a Sgt. and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, while working a Lieutenant's job out of Bensenville Yard, I accepted a transfer to a Lieutenant's job in Deer Lodge, Montana. I remained in Deer Lodge well into 1980 until after the bankruptcy. (I went to work for the UPRR in July, '80 as a Special Agent in the UPRR Police Department in Seattle.) I guess I probably could tell a few stories about my short career as a Milwaukee Road Police Officer though:

Shortly after I got on the Deer Lodge job with the MILW Police, we had a serious vandalism case in Butte, Mt. which involved the boarded up Milwaukee Road passenger depot. With the advent of AMTRAK (which did not service Butte, Mt.) the small but modern passenger depot was a building that the Real Estate Dept. was trying to sell or rent out. It would have made a good doctor's or dentist's office for example. When one of the MILW real estate department rep's discovered on an inspection of the depot, that one of the plywood boards had been pried off of one of the windows and serious damage had been done inside the depot by vandal(s), (restroom toilets, sinks and fixtures broken, ceramic tile broken, etc.), naturally, the railroad police (me) got the "complaint".

Experience had taught me that kids in the neighborhood usually knew which of the bigger kids would be responsible for such vandalism, and my investigation developed a cute little kid about 8 or 9 yrs. old that lived near the vandalized depot. I'll never forget this little guy; he'd been wearing the whole cowboy outfit; the two holsters and cap guns, the boots, chaps, vest, red bandanna and a white cowboy hat that was several sized too big for him. I showed him my badge and let him get a little glimpse of my shoulder holster under my jacket, and told him that it'd be worth at least a hamburger, fries and a milkshake if he could find out "who did it", and told him I appreciated having a "deputy" to help me out, and that I'd check back with him later. He was obviously pretty excited about being "deputized", and I went about some other business in Butte, thinking that, who knows (?), maybe this little guy would actually come up with something that would give me something to go on that would at least be a starting point in my investigation.

An hour or so later, I happened to be driving by the depot again, and here's this little "cowboy", with both hands around the neck of a cute little girl about his same age, and whom he'd shoved up against the brick wall of the depot and was shaking her. He happened to see me driving slowly by at which time he turned toward me, still with one hand around the little girl's neck, and hollered, "noth'n yet, but I'm work'n on it!" My immediate thought was, good lord, I've created an 8 year old monster! Naturally, we had a little "talk" that I hope served to "tone down" his "investigation" a little bit!

[passengerfan]

Remember that south of Boeing field at one time their was a covered wooden bridge that crossed the UP,NP, GN and Milwaukee Road tracks. Of course at this time the Milwaukee was still electrified on the coast division and the bridge caught fire one afternoon and according to the Seattle Fire Department it was sparks from the catenanry that destroyed the last covered bridge over the tracks in the area. Used to stand on the bridge and watch trains pass beneath. It was a great train watching spot. To bad the Milwaukee Electrics burned it down.