Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
QUOTE: Originally posted by gacuster CN main line runs by the depot and is pretty busy so you may get lucky and see a freight to go with your beer.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Lord Atmo Zito honestly doesnt look too bad. i like the look of it on the HO scale CNW locomotives.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Lord Atmo shame there arent any classics of CNW left like steam locomotives or carbody diesels. are there any passenger cars still around that are displayed or used in excursion trains? i'd SO ride in one of those any day
QUOTE: Originally posted by cr6479 Hey Lord Atmo. I had posted CONRAIL THREAD FOR EVERYBODY, but i going to take down this week or next week.
Dan
I remember that the CNW painted a few locos in the same " yellow" as used on some fire trucks, it was called high impact yellow, allmost a lime color.
The joke was they were "Slime Lime and Green"
Toasty
I saw some old CNW junk today. A snow plow and caboose so rusty you couldn't read the numbers. Spotted at Butler Yard, WI. Also saw a CNW caboose at Yardcenter Dolton, IL number 11111.
zardoz wrote:And if I can help anyone with questions about the Wisconsin Division (Proviso to Madison, Proviso to Adams, Proviso to Fond du Lac), or the suburban operations, just let me know.
Atmo,
I now live in Texas- but I grew up in Papillion, NE (Omaha suburb) and Edwardsville, IL (St.Louis suburb) while my dad worked for UP. My mom and dad are both from Wisconsin (Stevens Point area) and live there now that my dad is retired from UP- all my relatives are also spread across WI.
Not to be picky- but a neon sign is a marquee- and if you look closely at it the locomotive's headlight glows rings of neon at night. I've been going to Altoona for 20 years and every time I'm there I look for the 400 club sign to make sure it still exists. That sign is a CNW landmark that's been in Altoona since the days the "400" actually called on the depot across the street.
As for the trains- MSSPR shows up around 0900 to 1100 AM normally- the MPRVP usually shows up in the dead of night like the ZCHEM (0100-0400). The only other freight action besides the locals you'd see is a MDMPR reroute or one of the Roseport trains- and for that you'll need a scanner because they are extras that don't run on a set daily schedule. The coal train reroutes also only show up when the main line across IL-IA gets congested. It's kind of wishful thinking to always know exactly when every train is coming- like I said railfanning is a hobby that at times takes almost infinite patience- and unfortunately it is not possible for me to post exact train arrival times- schedules are not as concrete as they were in the days of the streamliners.
While I did not ever work for the CNW I did favor them with my companies business. They were most helpful in assiting me with my career. They also gave me many CNW items as thank you's for the business I favored them with. Check out the below link & see the hat I am wearing, The pix was shot in the Cajon Pass
http://vgalleries.com/members/railfan1/The+Trainfan.vrg
Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub
Has anybody out there recently seen former Rock Island covered hoppers with speed lettering, but sporting CNW reporting marks? It seems that the few still running have had fresh spots of paint applied over the Rock Island lettering, which makes them easy to spot, but also makes it a bit of a letdown. The North Western must have jumped at the chance to pick up extra covered hoppers from the RI when that road shut down.
nordique72 wrote:Atmo, I now live in Texas- but I grew up in Papillion, NE (Omaha suburb) and Edwardsville, IL (St.Louis suburb) while my dad worked for UP. My mom and dad are both from Wisconsin (Stevens Point area) and live there now that my dad is retired from UP- all my relatives are also spread across WI. Not to be picky- but a neon sign is a marquee- and if you look closely at it the locomotive's headlight glows rings of neon at night. I've been going to Altoona for 20 years and every time I'm there I look for the 400 club sign to make sure it still exists. That sign is a CNW landmark that's been in Altoona since the days the "400" actually called on the depot across the street. As for the trains- MSSPR shows up around 0900 to 1100 AM normally- the MPRVP usually shows up in the dead of night like the ZCHEM (0100-0400). The only other freight action besides the locals you'd see is a MDMPR reroute or one of the Roseport trains- and for that you'll need a scanner because they are extras that don't run on a set daily schedule. The coal train reroutes also only show up when the main line across IL-IA gets congested. It's kind of wishful thinking to always know exactly when every train is coming- like I said railfanning is a hobby that at times takes almost infinite patience- and unfortunately it is not possible for me to post exact train arrival times- schedules are not as concrete as they were in the days of the streamliners.
Cris_261 wrote:Has anybody out there recently seen former Rock Island covered hoppers with speed lettering, but sporting CNW reporting marks?
Cris,
Those ex-RI hoppers are still running around on UP's vast system, we still get quite a few of them on the grain shuttles that come down to the Gulf ports via Houston.
The cars in speed lettering are harder to see because they are in the as-delivered scheme from 1973-74, when the Rock reorganized in 1975 and changed their colors to the "bankruptcy" blue- older hoppers were randomly cycled through the shops for new coats of paint. After the CNW picked them up- some were grey- most were blue. CNW fully patched some, while some others only got new numbers and a little CNW herald stencil. As this paint wore of over the years- the cars were repatched with the new sans-serif CNW style numbers, and the speed lettering was blanked out as well. I would say 1 out of every 10 grey cars that I see still have the speed lettering on them, while the rest have been patched.
And yes- the CNW did jump at the trustee's offering of those hoppers, as well as several hundred boxcars (40 and 50 foot), gondolas, and airslides. The hoppers were mainly picked up to help with car supply on their newly aquired ex-RI grain lines in Iowa (and the Spine line.) Other cars and locomotives were simply returned to their financier- like the ex-UP/RI hopper Mark photographed- those were financed for RI by UP, and when they went belly-up the cars were returned to UP.
Thanks for the offer but I've got my own shots of the building and sign.
Thanks for the info nordique, and for the link to the photo fuzzybroken!
Incidently, I have a photo of one of the RI speed lettered covered hoppers w/CNW reporting marks, except that it's not one of the smooth-sided hoppers.
Glad to hear you've got an example on film- as for the smooth side centerflows, CNW only briefly leased some of the 800000 series ACF centerflow hoppers from the RI trustees before returning them. (CNW never seemed to excited about centerflow grain hoppers- only leasing a small fleet in the 172000 series, which were off the roster by 1987. Cement centerflows were a different story...) Most of the other RI centerflows were UP financed so they went straight to UP after the bankruptcy. CNW only purchased Pullman-Standard 4750 cuft and 4740 cuft ribside hoppers from RI trustees.
Matt Holman
Spring, TX
cr6479 wrote:Today i saw 2 CNW on UP pulling a piggyback train heading westbound.
2 CNW with UP heading eastbound auto rack cars.
CNW 6000 wrote:Near Proviso?
No in rochester ny.
Last time I saw a CNW unit was a C44-9W with the "patch job" renumbering, UP shield sticker for the front end, and the original number blanked out with gray primer. Aside from those aberrations, the rest of the unit looked pretty good.
Btw- is CNW's Operation Life Saver C44-9W now in a coat of UP Armour Yellow?
It is sad to see CNW become a fallen flag
Well let's see- CNW had one SW1500, the 1301. Purchased from Minnesota Transfer in 1973- it went to NRE in 1985 who then sold it to the Marinette,Tomahawk & Western Railway in 1987 (now the Tomahawk Rwy.) as their 1587. UP never had this engine on their roster- they only had the CNW's MP15DCs.
Repainted into UP yellow as 9821 in May 2001.
Lord Atmo wrote:it has always been a fallen flag since evenb before this topic was started. CNW is dead as far as UP's fleet goes with what little remains of it scattered across the US. if i ever get a terminal illness, i will be illegally slapping CNW stickers on the patched UP locomotives. because then it wouldnt matter if i went to jail as soon i will just succumb to the illness.
WELL... Conrail is a fallen flag befor i posted CONRAIL THEARD.
DMaxRR wrote:Another CNW junk sighting to report. GP-7 4160 rusting away at Janesville yard. Last week there were two CNW engines sitting in Belvidere yard. They're most likely gone now.
Does that GP-7 still have a short, high nose? The elevator at Ralston, Iowa has two ex-CNW GP-7s that had there noses chopped after being sold off. One is/was still in CNW paint, the other in a solid blue. One of the elevators at Fremont, Nebraska also has ex-CNW GP-7, still in CNW paint, nose chopped. All retain there CNW number.
Many of those 4100 series GP-7s were ex-Rock Island. Most were rebuilt by the RI in the late 70s and retained there high nose. When the CNW acquired them, they shopped them but didn't chop the noses. I myself, liked the high nose better on the early geeps.
Since this is a CNW thread and I'm a RI fan, I'll stop here.
Except, that I saw an ex-Rock blue box car that the CNW repainted into the yellow scheme. Except for the ends, still blue. Must have needed that car real bad.
Jeff
Lord Atmo wrote:8 hours and counting!!!
I'm a little pissed that UP would only allow UP employees, retirees, and family to the unveiling. We cancelled our father-son road trip after I read that here. They essentially blew off the C&NW folks. My dad wanted to see it SO bad. He retired from the C&NW in 1994 after working for them for 42 years.
Thanks a lot, UP.
Mark
Lord Atmo wrote:UP never said it was closed to the public. they just said that it was open to employees. but nowhere did it say "employees only". do that trip. i have a feeling you wont be let down. spend some quality time with your father. i kow you'll se that locomotive whether it's at the ceremony or not
It's too late. I live 50 miles west of you. In the up to unveil cnw heritage locomotive sd70ace...... thread, it was mentioned that you need a UP employee ID to get in.
jeffhergert wrote: Does that GP-7 still have a short, high nose?
Does that GP-7 still have a short, high nose?
It's a high nose.
Lord Atmo wrote:yeah i think there's a few high hoods out there too and maybe a SW1500 which i would LOVE to find. a transportation museum in IL has a GP& on display, as i have said before. and i hope it's a high hood. wasnt EMD's very first geep ever made a GP& purchased by CNW? i think that one's actually still around in full CNW paint tooand how bout that Alton and Southern?
Illinois Railway Museum has CNW 1518 the first GP7 on hand. It is currently undergoing restoration. They also have CNW F7 411 which is getting repainted right now and should be back on the property in the next week.
Bert
An "expensive model collector"
yeah i think there's a few high hoods out there too and maybe a SW1500 which i would LOVE to find. a transportation museum in IL has a GP& on display, as i have said before. and i hope it's a high hood. wasnt EMD's very first geep ever made a GP& purchased by CNW? i think that one's actually still around in full CNW paint too and how bout that Alton and Southern?
Atmo- please see my previous post regarding CNW's SW1500. There may be some MP15DCs in patch paint still left as UPY units (1315-1328)- but there is no CNW SW1500 around in green and yellow. There are quite a few CNW GP7s floating around still- had CNW 4130 come through Houston in February, bound to a new contract switching assignment by it's new owner.
GP7 1518 is kind of a "born again" high hood unit- the CNW rebuilt it at Oelwein, IA and renumbered it the 4311 and chopped it's nose. In 1987 the unit was retired and IRM aquired it from CNW- as part of the deal CNW sent it back to Oelwein, rebuilt the high nose and repainted it as the 1518 (not a perfect reproduction of the original scheme- but good enough!). It is now at IRM being fully backdated to it's original appearance in their shop (pics are on the IRM site.) The 1518 is the first production GP7- a main reason why IRM got it.
Alton and Southern was once a joint venture owned by CNW and MP- the paint scheme was a combination of CNW's and MP's (using CNW yellow and MP blue) as was the logo (a CNW bar over an MP buzzsaw). The CNW sold it's interest in A&S to the SP in the early 70's- but still utilized them as their main St. Louis connection.
Ah, the legendary ex-CGW Oelwein shops. CNW rebuilt so many GP7s & GP9s there.
The south end of the "running repair" shop
North end
South side of the main shop
I've got a few more pics, but that's enough for now.
Here are a couple of links to what they have in Oelwein.
http://www.cgwo.org
and
http://www.oelwein.com/railroad.php
If you want to see a patched CNW SW (Now ADM 1218) go to the ADM plant in Des Moines, IA
Here are some CNW units I've seen recently
No, the mueseum is on the opposite side of the tracks
The yard tower was restored a few years ago and the mueseum is the brick building behind the tower.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Brian, a good time to see the mueseum will be August 19-20 9am-5pm. Oelwein's annual RR days.
LA, I take you mean FP7?
Lord Atmo wrote:me neither. i want to see that GP7 though. really badly
I miss those CNW GP7 engines.
dingoix wrote:Brian, a good time to see the mueseum will be August 19-20 9am-5pm. Oelwein's annual RR days.
Lord Atmo wrote:uhhh BOTH! the carbody moreso however because that's just old school CNW. but a STEAMER would make my day.
After watching this thread for a week or so I have been inspired to start a new photo gallery showcasing the Remnants of the Chicago & Northwestern System.
In this gallery you will find bridges, buildings and those pieces of equipment that have managed to retain some form of their Chicago and Northwestern identity.
All of the photos have been taken since May 2005, eventually i will enter the dates and locations
Your comments are appreciated, as I am no Expert
http://www.pbase.com/trailryder/cnw
Later Bill
Lord Atmo wrote:you are? are you patching UP locomotives?oh man. i might end up missing UP and hating CNW if that happened. ARRRGH! well the point is i miss CNW. but yeah show us the HO stuff when you have it complete
CNW 6000 wrote: Lord Atmo wrote:you are? are you patching UP locomotives?oh man. i might end up missing UP and hating CNW if that happened. ARRRGH! well the point is i miss CNW. but yeah show us the HO stuff when you have it completeYes I am doing this as though CNW bought UP. I have already purchased a "Centennial" diesel in full UP livery that'll be the first repaint. I have two -9's, and a -8 (and I know you LOVE them) spartan cab that will be patched. Ball and Bar on green background under the cab window....should be fun! I'll post pics when I have them.
I think it's a DASH-9- look at the trucks, but I'm not sure
I've seen a lot of patched CNW stuff recently- check this stuff out.
Picture from the Lord... Atmo
Ok, I must not be very familiar with those remote devices. Is there really a button on the belt pack for rollover and play dead??? Good boy!
CC
Well, the remotes might be "job-eating horrid machines", but looking at your picture I would have to say a posistion just opened up.
Lord Atmo wrote:well i hope the RCOs will stop being used and engineers will be able to keep their jobs. i like how CNW never used these. ah they were such a great road!
The only reason the CNW never used remotes was that it was taken over by the UP before it got the chance.
Michael27 wrote:I thought that rco's are supposed to be safer, but I guess anything can happen. I also miss the CNW colors. UP yellow is kind of boring.
Well, IRM is almost done with the restoration of CNW F7 411, here are some pics of it painted, but not yet lettered.
http://www.irm.org/gallery/cnw411paintproj
It's great to see a C&NW F unit preserved.My only ride on the C&NW was on a Chicago to Harvard "scoot" in 1979. It had an F7 and four bi level coaches.
Hey, could anybody please write a nice piece on what Nelson Yard was like way back when? I have heard stories of the hotel at the yard and how it was like stepping back in time when you entered the building.
I am very curious about this as all the old timers talk about this place, and some crazy things that went on there.
Thanks,
Zane
C&NW OLS Engines
MP15DC; 1303, 1304, 1305
GP15-1; 4405, 4410
GP38-2; 4601, 4602, 4604, 4606, 4607, 4614, 4627, 4631
SD18; 6629, 6636
SD38-2; 6652
SD40-2; 6825, 6826, 6886, 6902, 6913, 6930, 6934, 6935
SD50; 7004
SD60; 8029
C42-8; 8551, 8553
C44-9W; 8659, 8717, 8727
AC4400; All 8801-8835; note-CNW 8834 after being repainted to UP 6736, retained its OLS markings
Ya I was sad to see CNW go. Of all 10-11 railroads that existed here in the Twin Cities when I was born in Nov 1958, they were the very last one still around. Seems like all the contacts I had with CNW people were positive. One guy on my block worked in the Omaha Road HQ in Minneapolis, back when I was a kid and would go out trick or treating as an engineer he always got a big kick out of it and gave me a big handfull of white CNW pencils that I used quite proudly at school the whole rest of the school year. (Wish I had kept a few now of course!!). I was happy to be able to get up to Upper Michigan and take pics of the C-628's back in 1986, not long before they were retired.
BTW someone mentioned the Packer/CNW color coincidence earlier...it's interesting that the Packers entered the NFL in 1920, but it wasn't until 1952 that it occured to someone that the GREEN Bay Packers maybe should wear GREEN jerseys. Before that they wore navy blue and gold, colors Notre Dame grad Curly Lambeau borrowed from his alma mater.
Also someone mentioned Chi Bears Blue and Orange, think the RR they were thinking of was the Chicago and Eastern Illinois that wore those colors too, though their blue was a little lighter than the Bears Navy blue...which I assume the Bears wore because George Halas was in the Navy in World War 1.
But hey, even the baseball Philadelphia/Kansas City A's wore dark blue until Charley O Finley bought them in the sixties (and moved them to Oakland).
sheesh why didnt i think to just bring this thread back. sure beats ruining other threads.
but onward to my point. there just isnt enough acknowledgement for the remaining CNW rolling stock and other various CNW equipment. but i've devoted myself to documenting these objects with photos. i'm happy to say the quest goes well. here are some of my "greatest hits":
autoracks arent as common around here. and so far, that one is the only one i have seen thus far. does anyone know if the ABEBE has a lot of these on it?
the 180000 rounded hoppers are also less common up here. however i saw a whole cut of them in altoona once. the above image was part of that cut. most of them were brown. that remains the only time i have seen those brown hoppers. hopefully it wont be the last
here's Altoona's yard office. a CNW building indeed. notice the green signs with yellow wording
oh goodness. i LOVE these hoppers. smaller 2-bays built by pullman standard. i saw a decent few in my past, but just that one so far in my new fanning life.
loved these in my past, love these to this very day. the ex-CRIP 750000 series hoppers. this one here still had its CRIP number visible, which i thought was interesting. the CRIP symbol i always thought was neat on those blue hoppers.
ahhh zito boxcars. i've seen 1 or 2. in short, not enough. that's one of my better pics.
the 175 series hoppers. add this to my list of "stuff i only saw 1 of so far". NWL did an article on these 2 issues back. so it was cool to see this one. anyone know if the green or yellow ones are still around?
check out this bridge. that really is something, isnt it? this is a bridge at West Allis, WI. possibly over 50 years old. i wish i could see a train on it.
CNW property in name only. this sign still stands. as well as other CNW warning signs. and yes that's my hat on it. i thought it would fit the theme.
well that's just the highlights of my CNW photo collection. anyone else documenting rolling stock or otherwise too?
Thanks for sharing the photos. I've seen a fair amount of C&NW equipment in UP's Salt Lake Yard, and passing through on trains. Used to regularly see former North Western locomotives passing through too. Mainly C44-9Ws and AC44CWs, with an occasional SD40-2, and even rarer C40-8. The last "C&NW" locomotive I've recently seen was the UP heritage unit heading north towards Ogden shortly after the "heritage photo shoot" in SLC.
Be sure to check out February's "Difference of Decades" article. There's a great picture of a C&NW coal train on the Powder River line.
The Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, MN owns a fair amount of former C&NW equipment.
C&NW Parlor/Lounge #6700 The Deerpath. C&NW 6700, formerly 6700, the Deerpath, formerly 6511, was built in 1946 for the Twin Cities 400 by Pullman Standard. It was configured as a 1 drawing room, 22 seat parlor car. In 1961 the car was modified with the removal of the drawing room and the adjacent smoking lounge. At this time the car's conventional 32-volt power system was also removed and replaced with a 480-volt system that was compatible with the C&NW bi-level commuter equipment. From then until retirement it served as a club lounge on Chicago commuter trains.
We own two former C&NW bi-levels, both of which are reapinted in full C&NW livery.
The last piece of C&NW equipment is BUDD Car #9169, which is a RDC-1, was former C&NW, and is the oldest operating Budd Car in the world.
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
nordique72 wrote: Cris,Those ex-RI hoppers are still running around on UP's vast system, we still get quite a few of them on the grain shuttles that come down to the Gulf ports via Houston. The cars in speed lettering are harder to see because they are in the as-delivered scheme from 1973-74, when the Rock reorganized in 1975 and changed their colors to the "bankruptcy" blue- older hoppers were randomly cycled through the shops for new coats of paint. After the CNW picked them up- some were grey- most were blue. CNW fully patched some, while some others only got new numbers and a little CNW herald stencil. As this paint wore of over the years- the cars were repatched with the new sans-serif CNW style numbers, and the speed lettering was blanked out as well. I would say 1 out of every 10 grey cars that I see still have the speed lettering on them, while the rest have been patched. And yes- the CNW did jump at the trustee's offering of those hoppers, as well as several hundred boxcars (40 and 50 foot), gondolas, and airslides. The hoppers were mainly picked up to help with car supply on their newly aquired ex-RI grain lines in Iowa (and the Spine line.) Other cars and locomotives were simply returned to their financier- like the ex-UP/RI hopper Mark photographed- those were financed for RI by UP, and when they went belly-up the cars were returned to UP.
To add to Nordique72's observations, at various terminals in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming I've seen old Rock Island ballast cars sporting CNW reporting marks. These cars are full of ballast and often are coupled to flatcars loaded with track panels. Together this equipment appears to be in some kind of standby service - ready at a moment's notice for movement to a derailment site.
These well-weathered, mineral red ballast cars clearly display the name "Rock Island" in white letters are their car sides. The cars also have removable canvas covers on top to keep both water and rain out of the loads. Face it, ballast mixed with ice won't dump very easily.
Lord Atmo wrote:CNW's pullman standard 3-bay grain hoppers in the 750000 number series are all ex-CRIP as well
The Pullman Standard hopper cars are in the 752000-753000 series- there are no hoppers in the 750000 series. These are the cars I was talking about in the post that Bob had quoted in his reply. The ballast cars in his post are some of my favorite ex-Rock Island hoppers the CNW acquired- they are in the 791000 series. I can remember watching them go by in the ballast trains in Wisconsin, most of them have been removed from ballast unit train service and retired. Those that survive have been reassigned into the service Bob describes. I saw and photographed 3 of them in this service this summer at Clinton, IA- it was the first time I had seen one of them in several years.
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