>> Researching for a model with a Twin Cities setting (I want to run
Rock Island and GN as well). What CB&Q steam locomotives
would be appropriate for a mid- to late-1940's era? <<
You've picked an era of flux, since diesels were coming on property thick and
fast after 1946. Please bear in mind that the answers I will give here are
general rather than specific, but if you refine your date a little closer
and/or someone has local assignment sheets, you may get specific answers.
At the beginning of your window, steam power will be varied. With the exception
of the Twin Cities Zephyrs, your passenger trains will be powered by Pacifics,
Hudsons or (on the transcontinentals) O-5 Northerns. Heavy freights will be
handled by O-5s, with any of the Mikes (except O-4s all assigned to Lines West
and oil burning by this time). Way freights will be Mikes or possibly an R-4 or
R-5 Prairie. Since the Twin Cities had no Q branch lines, none of your smaller
road power (ten wheelers or Atlantics) will be in evidence. For switching,
you'd still have some steam . . . this is probably a good place for the P2K
USRA 0-6-0 as a G-5. One of the ex-Prairie 0-6-0s was imported quite a while
back - if you can find one, it would be appropriate.
At the end of your window, things have changed quite a bit. By 1950, the
occasional freight might have an 0-5 or a Mike, and way freights would probably
have Mikes as well. There were enough passenger diesels by 1950 that they had
even taken over most suburban service, so the only passenger steam you are
likely to see is the occasional S-4 Hudson. Although a single G-8 0-6-0 was
maintained in the TC area as late as 1952, it would mostly be in standby, as
post war switchers had taken over the majority of yard duties.
You've named the five-year span that saw the fastest change in motive power on
the Burlington. If you want steam only as a scenic token, I'd suggest moving
toward the end of your selected period. If you like it a lot, the closer you
are to V-J Day the better . . .
Marshall Thayer
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