Today in Railroad history.....last updated ..... March 22nd...on page 19..

[Murphy Siding]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GN-Rick

"Sick, twisted people with access to Shays?" Not true. The Mount Rainier
Scenic Railroad, as part of a 1998 railfan excursion, held "Geared Steam
Locomotive Races". They included Pacific Coast Shay Pickering 11, Mt.
Rainier Heisler 91, and Hillcrest Lumber Co. Climax 10, racing up a 3
track yard at Mineral, Washington. What a show!!! The Heisler won, of course.
But I still prefer Climaxes.[:D][swg]

Oh my gosh! There's a whole subculture of these type railfans![:O] Too funny![(-D]

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 1st, in railroad history.....

<<<Cascade Green[;)]

I'm a couple time zones ahead of GN-Rick[:)]: 1970: CBQ, GN, NP and SP&S merge to form Burlington Northen Railroad.

Anybody else?

[GN-Rick]

1910. After being trapped by heavy snow and slides for a week, Great Northern
Railway trains 25 (Spokane to Seattle local) and 27 (The Fast Mail) are destroyed
by an avalanche at 1:45 am at the small railroad town of Wellington, Washington.
This results in the loss of 96 lives. Also wrecked in the disaster are the four 3-
phase electric locomotives of the then-current Cascade electrification, 3 steam
locomotives, Rotary plow X807, a business car, several shop buildings and
crew shanties. Wreckage of the trains is still visible at the site today.

[Jim Wrinn]

And our Editor Jim Wrinn (Shay1925) took the 1925 to Railfair in Sacramento and had Shay drag races with it.

[nanaimo73]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding

QUOTE: Originally posted by fastrains

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding
February 29th:
1980: Milwaukee Road ends revenue service west of Miles City, Montana.

MIlwaukee Road ended service west of MIles City on March 15th

I'll buy that. A lot of events seem to have been tagged with ambiguous dates, probably written down years after the event?

They stopped accepting business in February and pulled out on March 15. Both dates are right.

March 1, 1975 Amtrak’s Bay State cancelled. This route was between New York and Boston through Springfield MA.

March 1, 1978 Amtrak‘s Midway station opens in the Twin Cities.

[espeefoamer]

I thought Shay drag racing ment the engineer had to dress funny[}:)]!

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 2nd, in railroad history...

Well..nothing that I can find. Today is thr 15th birthday of our house's resident computer trouble-shooter, that allows dad to read things on fine websites such as this. (Geeze Dad! what did you screw up on the computer this time???[D)])

Anybody else?

[Anonymous]

Hey how could we forget about The BN Merger on this day in 1970.

[Anonymous]

How could we forget about The BN Merger on this day in 1970.

[Murphy Siding]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AMTK200

How could we forget about The BN Merger on this day in 1970.

Pssst....(look at the post about 8 before this one[;)]) This seems to be one of those ambiguous dates also. I've seen the date listed as both March1, and March 2.[:)]


.

[locomutt]

On March 3rd, 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was adopted as the national anthem of the United States.
It may not be "totally railroad" related,but..............................................................
It's something we should think about.

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 3rd, in railroad history...

1986: Maine Central and Potland Terminal strike leads to the lines coming under control by Guilford strike later in the year.

1931: See post above. (At tail end of last page).

Anybody else?

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 4th, in railroad history...

Nothing that I could find, but sometime in March 1976, Amtrak got it's first EMD F40ph locomotives.

Anybody else?

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 5th, in railroad history

1950: Louisville & Nashville 100 years old.

Anybody else?

[GN-Rick]

1927. The Great Northern Railway begins operations using its new, extended
11,000 volt electrification system between Skykomish and Wenatchee, Wa.
However, at this time, there is a 4- mile gap in the electrification between Cascade
Tunnel Station and Berne, due to the just-begun construction of the new
8-mile long Cascade Tunnel. For the next 3 years, the GN will bridge this
gap by using Steam locomotives to pull trains, including the electric motors.
This system renders obsolete the original 3-phase system that was in use
between Tye (Wellington) and Cascade Tunnel Station (old Cascade Tunnel)
beginning in 1909.

[Murphy Siding]

Rick: Am I reading that correctly? This *gap* was between two sections of electrified line? It seems like it would have been easier and cheaper to run 4 more miles of wires,and then move them 3 years later.

[GN-Rick]

Yes, you're reading it correctly. Strange, isn't it? There are a couple of reasons
the GN didn't close the gap. First, that 4 miles was, for the Cascades, a very easy
stretch of line to operate-limited gradient. Second, GN's ultra-frugal nature, And
actually, the GN wouldn't have moved the catenary-that portion of the line was
eliminated by the new tunnel. But, they did make the decision to run the overhead
up the 2.2% from Scenic to Tye-because of the 7 miles of snowsheds on that
9 mile line, plus the grades and curvature. That catenary was also not moved.
But, GN only did a "temporary installation" at this location. I agree, though, GN
was rather inconsistent on this.

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 6th, in railroad history...

1942: The US Government takes over the Toledo, Peoria & Western because of labor strife.(Note exact date somewhat ambiguous). Was this a steel mill line? I haven't read of very many roads being "taken over" by Uncle Sam during the war.

1927: First GN crew at Cascade Tunnel Station mutters "Man, WHY didn't the railroad string those 4 extra miles of wire? (See yesterday's post by GNRick)[(-D]

Anybody else?

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March, 7th in railroad history....

1905: First run of McKeen gasoline-powered railcar protoype M-1 on UP's Omaha-Valley, Nebraska, and back. The "McKeen Car" is the first successful use of internal-combustion power on North American railroads. In total, some 150 McKeen railcars would bee sold to 35 railroads.
***source: "Diesel Victory" magazine.

Anybody else?


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[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 8th, in railroad history...

1925: Florida East Coast opens 25-mile Fort Pierce-Lake Okeechobee cutoff.

1968: Last run of Milwaukee's Copper Country Limited makes SooLine another of the freight only railroads in the U.S.

1982: Last steam-heated Amtrak train leaves Washington, D.C.

Source: Trains Magazine

Anybody else?

[dmoore74]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding

Today, March 7th, in railroad history...

1968: Last run of Milwaukee's Copper Country Limited makes SooLine another of the freight only railroads in the U.S.



Source: Trains Magazine

Anybody else?

Trust you meant Soo Line's Copper Country Limited. Actually Soo Line did have very limited mixed (caboose) service for a number of years beyond 1968. Schedules were inconvenient and normally only one passenger was allowed per trip.

[Murphy Siding]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dmoore74

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding

Today, March 7th, in railroad history...

1968: Last run of Milwaukee's Copper Country Limited makes SooLine another of the freight only railroads in the U.S.

Source: Trains Magazine

Trust you meant Soo Line's Copper Country Limited. Actually Soo Line did have very limited mixed (caboose) service for a number of years beyond 1968. Schedules were inconvenient and normally only one passenger was allowed per trip.

I had to do a double take too. I took the info to mean that the train originated out of Milwaukee, perhaps?

ps. I'd pay good money to ride in a caboose.[:)]

[dmoore74]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding

QUOTE: Originally posted by dmoore74

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding

Today, March 7th, in railroad history...

1968: Last run of Milwaukee's Copper Country Limited makes SooLine another of the freight only railroads in the U.S.

Source: Trains Magazine

Trust you meant Soo Line's Copper Country Limited. Actually Soo Line did have very limited mixed (caboose) service for a number of years beyond 1968. Schedules were inconvenient and normally only one passenger was allowed per trip.

I had to do a double take too. I took the info to mean that the train originated out of Milwaukee, perhaps?

ps. I'd pay good money to ride in a caboose.[:)]

Just cheked, the Copper Country Limited was a Milwaukee Road train from Milwaukee to Calumet, MI (Upper Peninsula). Will have to check with the Soo Line enthusiasts as to when the last regular passenger train ran on that line.

[Murphy Siding]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dmoore74

Just cheked, the Copper Country Limited was a Milwaukee Road train from Milwaukee to Calumet, MI (Upper Peninsula). Will have to check with the Soo Line enthusiasts as to when the last regular passenger train ran on that line.

Here is the quote as it's written, so I'm not quite certain how to interpret it? "Last run of Milwaukee's Copper Country Limited also makes Soo Line freight-only."

A related item I found says that March 24,1967" was the last run of last true Soo Line passenger train, the Winnipeger to St. Paul." -also from Trains Magazine.

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 9th, in railroad history....

1954: Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe completes dieseliztion. -source: Trains Magazine

1960-something: Mrs. Murphy Siding born. -source:Grandma[:)]

[locomutt]

From ArcaMax History & Quotes, Leland Stanford, railroad builder and founder of
California's Stanford University, born on this date in 1824.

[GN-Rick]

March 10, 1862. The St Paul and Pacific Railroad is incorporated. This is
the first Great Northern Railway ancestor.

[TheStationmaster]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dmoore74
Just cheked, the Copper Country Limited was a Milwaukee Road train from Milwaukee to Calumet, MI (Upper Peninsula). Will have to check with the Soo Line enthusiasts as to when the last regular passenger train ran on that line.

A little known and surprising bit of information, the Soo caboose mixed trains survived until 1986!!!

SEPTEMBER 20 1986 - Soo Line discontinues hauling passengers in cabooses in Wisconsin and upper Michigan

http://www.railwaystation.com/rrhistory.html

[Murphy Siding]

It's a small world. The only time I took a vacation to Upper Michigan was in 1986. I think I missed the train, though.

March, 1945, in railroad history

New York Central places first 4-8-4 Niagara in service. -Source: Trains Magazine.

March is pretty thin for railroad history.[:(]

Anybody else?

[Murphy Siding]

Today, March 13th, in railroad history....

1967: Last run of New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited
Source: Ron @ www.Railwaystation.com (thanks)

Anybody else?