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Discussion related to commuter rail and rapid transit operations in the Chicago area including the South Shore Line, Metra Rail, and Chicago Transit Authority.

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 #74317  by MikeF
 
Is anybody here a Milwaukee Road expert? I'm trying to gather some information about pre-bilevel MILW commuter trains, and I have a few specific questions:

When were steam locomotives last used on commuter trains?

What kind of locomotives were used after the steamers were retired? I've seen pictures of GP9's pulling heavyweight cars. Were any other types used, such as E6's or E7's?

When the bilevels arrived, were they ever pulled by Geeps or anything other than the FP7's and E9's?

Anybody have any pictures of MILW heavyweight commuter trains? They seem to be rather hard to find.

Thanks!
 #89726  by Hambone
 
MikeF wrote:Is anybody here a Milwaukee Road expert? I'm trying to gather some information about pre-bilevel MILW commuter trains, and I have a few specific questions:

When were steam locomotives last used on commuter trains?

What kind of locomotives were used after the steamers were retired? I've seen pictures of GP9's pulling heavyweight cars. Were any other types used, such as E6's or E7's?

When the bilevels arrived, were they ever pulled by Geeps or anything other than the FP7's and E9's?

Anybody have any pictures of MILW heavyweight commuter trains? They seem to be rather hard to find.

Thanks!
Hi Mike! I grew up in Wooddale myself, now live in Portland. Spent many days at the commuter station, even have one of the original white signs still! My uncle also grew up in Wooddale in the late 60s early 70s, and I have a bunch of his slides from the area, when the commuter station was just a shed next to wooddale road. The parking lot was the site of a burned down lumber mill.
Get the book Milwaukee Road East, tons of good pics. See it on ebay all the time. They used lots of demoted passenger equipment for commuters, starting with big mainline steam in the early 50s, then E6s, E7s with the orange heavyweights.
In the 60s on, they used a single level Hiawatha yellow coach in front of the bilevels, right behind the engine. I think they also used f9s for commuter service, but I'm not sure.
Tell me about your current experiences there! I've not hung out in Wooddale since the late 80s. Still feels like home.

 #90061  by MikeF
 
Thanks for the information! I don't suppose you'd be able to share any of your uncle's pictures?

Where was the lumber yard/parking lot in relation to the old Wood Dale station? It's hard to picture it anywhere in that area today, except perhaps just north of the station on Wood Dale Road, where the (recently closed) 7-Eleven store now stands.

I've seen a few pictures with the Hiawatha coaches at the front end of the bilevel trains. Was this just to provide extra seating before more bilevel coaches arrived in the '70s?

There's still plenty of action to be seen in Wood Dale today. In addition to a full Metra schedule, Canadian Pacific runs a daily way freight between Bensenville and Elgin, and Iowa Chicago & Eastern runs one or two daily through freight trains each way between Chicago, Bensenville and points west. Bensenville Yard was drastically downsized in the 1990s but is still a huge facility with lots of equipment to see. Unfortunately the old engine house is gone, as is the parade of power from faraway railroads that used to appear alongside Green Street. I was just old enough (i'm 21 now) to see and remember the Bensenville engine house in its last years.

 #91367  by Hambone
 
MikeF wrote:Thanks for the information! I don't suppose you'd be able to share any of your uncle's pictures?

Where was the lumber yard/parking lot in relation to the old Wood Dale station? It's hard to picture it anywhere in that area today, except perhaps just north of the station on Wood Dale Road, where the (recently closed) 7-Eleven store now stands.

I've seen a few pictures with the Hiawatha coaches at the front end of the bilevel trains. Was this just to provide extra seating before more bilevel coaches arrived in the '70s?

There's still plenty of action to be seen in Wood Dale today. In addition to a full Metra schedule, Canadian Pacific runs a daily way freight between Bensenville and Elgin, and Iowa Chicago & Eastern runs one or two daily through freight trains each way between Chicago, Bensenville and points west. Bensenville Yard was drastically downsized in the 1990s but is still a huge facility with lots of equipment to see. Unfortunately the old engine house is gone, as is the parade of power from faraway railroads that used to appear alongside Green Street. I was just old enough (i'm 21 now) to see and remember the Bensenville engine house in its last years.
Hi, sorry the pics are all slides, stored away....it would be a major pain in the ass to coordinate such an endeavour.
The lumber yard was basically the entire commuter lot south of the station(not the new part, that was all forest. All forest behind the RR tracks too, now it's ugly houses). It extended all the way to where that strip mall is now, by Irving Park. After it burned down in the 60s (I THINK), it was basically a big dirt patch, until they built the commuter station in the early 70s and parking lot. Man, I've spent a lot of time at that parking lot, we used to play baseball down there at night, watch trains during the day.
The hiawatha coaches were just used until they got more bilevels, then they were scrapped. I was told that the airconditioning in those things was freezing.
Too bad they tore down the diesel house, that was a really cool place to go. In the early 80s, Milwaukee stored hundreds of dead power there, FP7s, GP9s, FP45s, SD9s. And strings of old cabooses, and a few old passenger cars. We used to sneak in, spend the day exploring. Those Fs were BEAT.
What's the Iowa Chicago & Eastern like? One or 2 trains, wow that's not many. Have you been west of Elgin? Wonder what the track is like.
I'll see if I can find any pics for ya, not sure what I have. Do you have an email address?

 #92145  by MikeF
 
Thanks for the information about the parking lot and the coaches.

The IC&E is a relatively new railroad that is owned by the same company as the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern and shares the DM&E's blue and yellow image. The IC&E was formed to take over the assets of the I&M Rail Link when that railroad went out of business a few years ago. Most of the trackage is ex-Milwaukee Road, including, as I mentioned, the "D&I" line across Illinois west of Pingree Grove. I try to get out west of Elgin to take pictures fairly often. The track is in good shape and there's a decent number of trains to see.

 #92159  by Hambone
 
I can't believe how many times that line has changed ownership in the past few years. Does the CP run west of Elgin?
Did the I&M parent company (out in Montana I think...) go out of business too? They had semaphores on their main line, cool.
You ever make it out as far as Savanna? I used to like goin out there.

 #92167  by MikeF
 
Indeed, the IC&E is the fifth owner of that line in 20 years. Canadian Pacific does not run west of Elgin. The CP local switches all the industries east of Elgin, while the IC&E freights interchange with the EJ&E at Spaulding, the CP at Bensenville, the IHB at Norpaul (Franklin Park) and the BRC at Clearing (Chicago).

Montana Rail Link and its parent, the Washington Companies are still in business. I don't remember exactly why Washington divested itself of the IMRL.

I followed the Milwaukee to Savanna once a few years ago, but the farthest west I've been lately is Davis Junction. It's a nice line with some interesting sights along the way. If gas weren't so pricey I'd try to get out west more often.

 #92452  by Hambone
 
Davis Junction is a spooky place! The old station was there for years, abandoned, weathered and boarded up. It was sad when they finally tore it down.
Thanks for all the info, amazing what changes in just a few years.
Is there much SOO power left anymore? What about former Milwaukee Road MP15s (or anything left from the Milwaukee, tho I tend to doubt it)?
Yeah, gas is crazy! I bike everywhere, only time I really drive anymore is to go camping. At least you can hop on Metra, go pretty much anywhere.
Are you in the MRHA? I was a member a long time ago, and they have some good information, as well as a yearly meeting, lots of fun.

 #92630  by MikeF
 
There are still a lot of Soo Line locomotives based at Bensenville, although they are slowly all being repainted for Canadian Pacific. As for Milwaukee Road remnants, orange and black "bandit" Soo Line patch jobs can still be seen, but they are few and far between these days. A few of the ex-MILW MP15AC's are still in orange and black, such as this one I shot alongside Green Street a few months ago:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=86471

 #92642  by Hambone
 
Wow man, that's a sight for sore eyes, thanks. Incredible to say the least. I'm going to try to scan some Wooddale area pics this weekend for ya, if you can send me an email to robertkoscikAThotmail.com, I'll send ya a few.
Thanks for all yer great info! Really enjoy getting up to date with things.
 #1183142  by andrethebusman
 
In the late 50's when MILW commuter trains were still all old cars (except club 4570, which was painted orange/maroon like the coaches!) power was GP9's, Erie-builts, and FP7's. When the first bilevels came, they were pulled by E9's built for the purpose, along with some FP7's. The Eries were retired at this time. Old trains were still pulled by GP9's and some FP7's. When 2nd batch of bi-levels came, this ended the old cars. The FP7's (and four freight FP9's) had HEP installed, two of the GP9's became Western Av passenger switchers, rest of GP9's into freight service.
 #1183609  by dinwitty
 
when did they get the bi-levels? I am modeling the area and 50's era (chicago) for my layout.
Now it makes sense how they treated their passenger fleet. When did steam end and diesels start on commuter runs?
 #1183691  by larry84988
 
CP Rail took over the IC&E and parent DM&E in 2008, so they do in fact own the line west of Elgin. Freight traffic is fairly moderate on the line most days with CP 470 (Manifest freight from Huron South Dakota to BRC Clearing Yard) running east after rush hour, CP 272 (Manifest freight from Davenport Iowa to Bensenville Yard) running east sometime after that, follwed by 273 (Manifest freight from Bensenville Yard to Davenport Iowa) westbound. After those 3 run, the line quiets down somewhat unless there are ethanol trains to run to which there can be a few on any given day. Then in the later afternoon hours, CP G35 (local to Spaulding Illinois) runs west and CP 471 (Manifest Freight from BRC Clearing Yard to Huron South Dakota) runs west somewhere around sunset.
 #1193429  by GWoodle
 
dinwitty wrote:when did they get the bi-levels? I am modeling the area and 50's era (chicago) for my layout.
Now it makes sense how they treated their passenger fleet. When did steam end and diesels start on commuter runs?
In the color guide, MILW bought 3 sets of Budd built cars, 1961-1964-1974. Unlike C&NW, too late to be pulled by steam. May have had HEP from separate generator in rebuilt F/E units. 1974 sounds right for the F40C to appear? All Budd cars sold to suburban transit/Metra.

Many "specials" used E's or F's for trips by scouts to Dells & other summer camp sites.

Older commuter fleet came from rebuilt heavy coach/sleeper cars, all in old MILW colors, no UP yellow.