Russell Strodtz wrote:
George,
1930 was very early in the hopper car game. At that time most
coal would still be moving in gondolas. Those giant fleets of
hoppers were not built up until the 40's and 50's. The CB&Q
stuck with a fairly standard design of outside braced 55 ton
hopper. During WWII this roster was filled out with another
2000 cars in the 188000-189999 series that are of similar
construction and 1500 composite cars in series 193500-194999.
There were also 1200 more prewar cars in series 192000-193199.
Do not know if they were the same number series, but I well recall
Q hoppers used to deliver Iowa coal to the then Iowa State
Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, during the 1957-58 school
year. I recall them as outside braced with a wood body. Wabash
hoppers also made an appearance. The coal was delivered via the
Waterloo RR Company, successor to the WCF&N which used its
electric engines for decades to perform the same duty. It was
common to be awakened at 2 a.m. to the sound of crashing couplings.
One morning, I looked out the window and noted a gang rerailing
hoppers. I cannot recall if a broken rail or if a "picked point"
was the cause. I well recall the former RI switch engine and the
number of men on the job - 18 counting the four person T&E crew.
The next year the line to the campus was history. The coal was
unloaded downtown in the CGW yard and trucked to the campus.
I always speculated the routing was Wabash and Q delivery to Des
Moines, then CGW to Waterloo and transferred to the Waterloo RR
Company, who handled the final delivery.
This occurred in the bygone era when "preference must be given to
products raised or mined in the State of Iowa" or words to that
effect that was often part of the language of most contracts
involving Iowa state, county, and local governmental purchases.
LWA
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