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[CBQ] RE: Last Q revenue steam & BRHS mbrship

To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CBQ] RE: Last Q revenue steam & BRHS mbrship
From: "gaedgar66" <vje68@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 18:48:14 -0000
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Certain questions seem to pop up peridically but that's a good thing 
as means someone new to Q fandom has joined the crowd.  Hope all are 
joining BRHS!  Still a real BARGAIN @ $30 a yr; send payment to Box 
456, LaGrange, IL 60525-0456 for a yr's worth of Bulletins, Zephyrs, 
Calendar, etc.
And speaking of Burlington Bulletins: #35 by John Mitchell (The Q in 
the Coalfields) covers #4997 as the last Q steam loco in revenue 
service on the Q. (with a nice photo taken 4 weeks before).  4997 is 
also cited in other Q books/articles over the yrs.
The question of 'last' always has to be qualified: CB&Q vs. C&S or 
FtW&D; vs. leased; vs. excursion; vs. urban legend.  This is true no 
matter what the issue is.  But over the yrs #4997 has been cited as 
the last use of steam in REVENUE service on CB&Q.  The Beardstown Div 
was a hold-out due to most revenue being rcvd from coal. This was 
also true of other RR's (think N&W) and similar areas of other RR's 
(IC served the coalfields in S. Illinois also & it was their last 
steam powered area). 
It is fair to say though that in the entire Burlington system from 
Chicago to the Gulf Coast, except for the isolated C&S Climax branch, 
4997 in Jan. of "59 was the last revenue run.  Excursion service ran 
several 6 yrs beyond but from a modeling & a historic perspective, 
Jan. "59 was the end (except again for that C&S Climax run also 
covered in earlier Bulletins).  Bulletins have also cited last steam 
runs on passenger & commuter runs, last gas-electric use, etc.  
Suffice it to say that the Q, on average, ran some older equipment in 
certain areas after other RR's quit doing so. (Nice for us modelers!) 
>From a purely personal opinion, I often see this as evidence of 
superor Burlington management plus the good care mechanical forces 
gave equipment as well as the crews who operated it.  The Q was among 
the 1st if not the 1st to do all sorts of things: diesel-electric 
powered passenger trains, domes, bi-level commuter cars, aluminum 
hoppers, insulated box cars, etc but unlike its generally lesser 
competitors, did not make wholesale switchovers. Q mgt had the dual 
philosophy of seeking out and using the newest technology but keeping 
at least part of the old if it made economic sense to do so; i.e. why 
scrap conventional commuter cars overnight if they still had good 
miles in them?  (As opposed to C&NW that converted 100%) or scrap 
recently shopped steam (as did CGW/M&StL, etc)?  or totally convert 
to computers (as did Penn Central which at its demise had more than 
ANY entity except the Federal government).
One can argue that at times the Q was penny-wise and pound foolish or 
in other cases wasted $$$ when looking in hindsight.  However, bottom-
line, WITHOUT cooking the books, it went from 1864 (darn those 
Confederate raiders in Missouri!) to BN in 1970 without EVER missing 
a dividend much less going into bankruptcy.  It's kind of like the 
difference between being fiscally prudent and a skinflint; a question 
of degree. 
I should say too this is not just opinion - looking thru Railway Age 
issues in the 1960's and reading studies by others since, this is the 
feeling of many industry watchers: the Q, better than most, knew how 
to strike the balance between when to keeping putting money into 
something and when to replace it.  Other RR's either did not replace 
at all (or financially couldn't) or went hogwild & spent (borrowed) 
beyond their means.
The same problems exist in business today - those with good mgt and 
good employees weather the storms, the others don't.  
Stay tuned for my annual Christmas gift of some off the wall facts 
(will be steam since that is the focus on list now!)
Season's Greetings!   Gerald






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