Went out everywhere west (at least in Iowa) over Labor Day weekend to follow
the Burlington. I'd been to Ottumwa a couple times in the past few years but
had never been west of there. In Monmouth I noticed that the center track
siding has been pulled up recently. West of Burlington near Middletown I
caught
myself daydreaming about pacing a Hudson powered Exposition Flyer or Denver
Zephyr.
One of the goals of the trip was to see the split mainlines that begin out
past Ottumwa. I spent some time around the area known as CTC Halpin and caught
two coal trains here. Albia, IA was interesting and definitely a place I want
to get back too. The biggest surprise of the trip was finding an Alco HH660
in brand new "Q" Blackbird paint and a "Q" painted waycar on display near
downtown. I don't think Burlington ever had an HH-660 and the waycar may
actually
be a GN waycar but the display is spectacular. The 660 is numbered RE-602
which gave me a hint that it came from RELCO, a locomotive leasing company (the
MT Zephyr is stored there in Minooka, IL). Anyway, they've been donating some
of their older switchers.
Stops were also made in Creston, Osceola, and Red Oak. Creston was a
highlite as well. I'd wanted to see their monster Victorian station for a long
time.
It's beautifully restored and looks to have a really nice layout inside. I
also went to the historical society's park on the east side of town and they
have the crossing shanty, Brooks depot, and a waycar on display. A real treat
was them having O5 #5620's headlight on display. The station in Red Oak has
been restored as well and in an interesting location. The railroad is on a
fill and the station has a unique driveway leading up to it. I tried to find
the
location Bernard Corbin used to shoot the photo of the #5601 on #61 that
appears the "Power for the Grade" section of Lucius Beebe's "Highball" but had
no
luck. I did find a nice cut just west of town that Mr. Corbin probably shot
from. I didn't take "Highball" with me but it turns out the caption says the
location is two miles west of Red Oak.
Mike Martin / Peoria Heights, IL
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/8ZCslB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|