Great memories Pete! RR's indeed liked to use depots/rooming houses 'across
from the depot'. In Dubuque it was the Canfield (still operating & somewhat
refurbished by private party but still an independent hotel). Was right on the
IC/Milw mains & Q spur & within 1 block of Milw depot, 2 blocks from the Q's &
3 blocks from the IC's. One entire floor of the east side (trackside) was
reserved for RR'ers. We listed it as an optional lodging for the BRHS Annual
in Dbq 4 yrs ago, still has that 'feel' of the old days including the huge neon
sign in front & an old bar.
Gerald
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 20:56:14 -0400
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Official CB&Q 'hotels' and deleted stations
Here's commentary on some of the deleted stations per Gerald's list
Bethany Jct....later Togo....later Giles. This is the junction just east of
Lamoni IA where the "Dirty Side" of the Chariton Branch left the "Straight Side"
You can still see the wye at the junction from I 35. The Dirty Side of the
Chariton Branch is the line leaving the Straight side at Giles then running
west and thence south via Kellerton, Mt. Ayr, Delphos, Redding, Grant City,
Worth, Gentry and joining the Straight Side at Albany Jct. just south and west
of Albany.
If your familiar with famed railroad author Harry Bedwell, you know that he was
born at Kellerton, IA and worked at several of the stations on both sides of
the Chariton branch. I can only guess at why the name "Dirty Side"...there was
significant livestock shipments originated on that line..I've always thought
that Bedwell's tale..."When there's traffic to move" was set on the Dirty side.
Berks NE. I dont' think that there ever was a depot there. There is still a
siding and Berks still appears in the timetable. It's just east of Crete on the
Lincoln Denver line.
Bracken, NE. Named for former Q VPO E.P. Bracken...located between Auburn and
Nemaha on the Tecumseh--Neb City line. Mr. Bracken's initials stand for Edward
Payson Bracken...My GF always said the Burlington men said they stood for Every
Person Busy. Mr. Bracken is buried at Tecumseh, NE, and was a native of this
part of the state..
Monroe City, Nemaha City, Mason City. Even though these were the official names
of the towns, for whatever reason the railroad never used the "City" portion of
the town name. My GF traveled Nebraska in the early 1900's and he always
referred to "Mason"...never Mason CITY. Same with Pawnee City..always Pawnee.
Having availed myself of the "accommodations" of several of the hotels
mentioned in Gerald's list of "approved" hotels here's some comments.
Atlantic Hotel..Chicago. directly across LaSalle St. east of the LaSalle St.
Station. Whenever out of town officers visited the General Office it was pretty
much mandatory that you stay at the Atlantic. I stayed there first time in
Summer 1960. Not what you would call a 5 star facility...
Francis Hotel...LaSalle, IL. Just your average small town "downtown" hotel with
restaurant and bar. I stayed there January 1960.
Plaza Hotel...KC MO. Right across the street from the KC Union Station. Now
gone..the whole area occupied by the Crown Center facilities...This was a
"world class dump"..inhabited by winos and other assorted vagarants.
St. Joe MO. Andrews....right across the street and a bit north of the
depot...next to the Haber Hotel...NON AC and down the hall bathrooms. Jim
Christen and I stayed there..summer 1953. Roubidoux (Rube E Doo). The premier
downtown hotel in St. Joe. now demolished and long gone. I think that both the
Haber and Andrews may be still standing.
Creston, IA. Iowana..right downtown..just couple of blocks north of the depot.
Jim C and I stayed there summers 52 and 53. Get a room on the south side and
you could see everything the Q had to offer in Creston. Until recently a
"retirement home"..When I was there in April this year it was boarded up.
Omaha...Paxton...2nd rate hotel downtown Omaha...I had my first "official"
interview with the Rock Island's G.T. Gilluly Manager Personell in March 1959
in the dining room there. I drove Mr. G. over to Council Bluffs IA to the CNW
station so he could catch the CNW for Ames, IA.
Lincoln, NE Lincoln Hotel...Big 1880's or so downtown hotel just a couple of
blocks up fromt the depot. Torn down in the 60's..replaced with modern hotel
structure..Has been Holiday, INN and several other "chain operation"
hotels...Features airport service and convenient to everything downtown.
Hastings...Carter Hotel...I think it's still standing...downtown
Hastings...When they first "pooled" the waycars that was the official Q
trainmen's hotel..All you had to do was check in and register when you arrived
in Freight service.
Ravenna....West Hotel...Many not so pleasant memories from here. Old old brick
building..still standing as of last October..now apartments..Then a
hotel..First saw a "graveyard" in the hotel restaurant...If you don't know what
a "graveyard is it's an awful looking mess of soft boiled eggs, crackers and
other non descript items served in a bowl to be eaten at night...I almost threw
up the first time I saw a guy eat one. The rooms were not AC...I caught the
Ravenna Switch engine (1:00am-9:00am) two different times in 56 and 57. Try to
get sleep in 100 degree heat in the daytime in July-August Nebraska. Not place
else to stay there,
Denver...Oxford Hotel...Stayed there in 1947 with my GF enroute to Camp in
Colorado...With Jim C. summer 54 on summer railroad trips...with J.H. Gilfillan
in Rock Island freight claim days...I think it's been modernized and is located
near the revised "Larimer Street District" of Denver.
Des Moines, IA...Randolph...Just up the street from the RI Depot..Bolton and
Hay restaurant...all railroaders stayed and ate there.
St. Louis..Terminal Hotel..This was the hotel in the Union Station....Now it's
Drury...I think...Never stayed there
Wymore---Hildreth---Schubert...Enginemen's bunk room in depot...Summer 58 on
the Fairmont-Hildreth local...Train crew stayed in the Waycar just outside the
depot..Engine crew had a couple of bunks in the depot...No AC...No running
water...I don't recall what the "sanitary facilities" were like...Most likely
of the "dry closet" variety.
When I entered the Freight Claim business in early 1964 most of the railroad
Freight Claim Agent fraternity was made up of stogy old dinosaurs....All
probably younger then than I am now, but when you're 28 everybody over 40 seems
old.
The AAR had a Freight Claim Division which oversaw...theoretically...the
handling of interline matters relating to loss and Damage Claims...There were
4-5 Claim conferences which we belonged to and which met a couple of times each
year..then there was a big "annual meeting" held in the spring. These meetings
had always been held in the old "Downtown hotels"..which were always..."right
across the street from the depot". In the early 60's you could still pretty
well get around to these meetings via train and thus the "right across the
street hotels" were convenient.
As time went on and rail travel became inconvenient and in some cases non
existent..some of these old geezers still wanted to stay with the old
hotels..which, by this time had begun to deteriorate along with the passenger
trains and the depots.
In my department we had pretty much gotten rid of the dinosaurs and I had
mostly young guys working for me...It became a joke among the "younger set"
that when one of the old guys said when asked what was a good place to
stay...They would name a hotel and say..."it's right across the street from the
depot"...we would automatically know that that was NOT the hotel to stay.
One old guy who worked in our perishable claims department had been a traveling
man at one time and once when I was going to Cedar Rapids, IA fromChicago he
extolled the virtues of the old Hotel at WEst Liberty, IA where you could get
coffee while you changed trains...That hotel was probably Civil War
vintage...It's gone now, but it was just across the track from the depot where
the Burlington-Cedar Rapids line crossed the Chicago-Omaha line.
He also told me when he learned I was going to a seminar at Purdue University
via Big 4 James Whitcomb Riley...that they used to "get coffee at the depot
while they put the Big 4 power on" and I should be sure to do that.
Well...that's more information than you needed or asked for but sometimes just
can't help myself...
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: Gerald & Virginia Edgar <vje68@hotmail.com>
To: cbq <cbq@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, Jul 31, 2010 4:32 pm
Subject: [CBQ] Official CB&Q 'hotels'
Per a 1964 agreement with BLE & B of Loco Firemen & Enginemen, here is the list
of then approved "suitable lodging" All are 'x' Hotel unless noted otherwise.
Might be fun to visit a few & see if any OLD emps have memories of CB&Q crews.
NOTE: only 16 cities of the 64 listed had 2 approved hotels & just 3 had 3
approved BUT Chicago was NOT one of them!
ILLINOIS
Chicago: Atlantic
Cicero: Towne
Mendota: Faber
Rock Falls-Sterling: Miami
LaSalle: Francis
Savanna: Radke
Galesburg: Custer
E. St. Louis: Desoto & Baltimore
Centralia: Langenfield
Quincy: Quincy, Lincoln-Douglas
MINNESOTA
St. Paul: Capri, St. Paul
Mpls: Andrews
MISSOURI
Kansas City: Plaza
North K.C.: Ben Bolt
Hannibal: Mark Twain
St. Louis: Terminal
Mexico: Hoxsey
St. Joseph: Andrews, Roubidoux
KENTUCKY
Paducah: Mrs. Pool's Rooming House (my favorite of the entire listing!)
IOWA
Clinton: Lafayette
Burlington: Union, Burlington
Keokuk: Iowa
Ottumwa: Ottumwa, Ballingall
Des Moines: Randolph
Creston: (3!) Iowana, Creston, Agnew Bldg.
Council Bluffs: Chieftan
Pacific Jct: King
NEBRASKA
Omaha: Paxton
Ferry: says "see Section2(b)" which says "when away from home terminal & no
accomodations, transportation will be provided"
O'Neill: Golden
Lincoln: Lincoln
Sargent: Sunset Motel
Burwell: Pink Rooming House (close 2nd to Paducah!)
Hastings: (3!) Big Four, Clarke, Carter
Ravenna: Bart, West
Fairmont: Slumber Motel
Red Cloud: McFarland
McCook: Keystone, Goodson Apts
Wymore, Hildreth & Schubert: "Enginemen's Bunk Room per Agreement"
Alliance; Alliance, Drake
Seneca: Valentine, Drake
Edgemont: (3!) Oxnard, Huff, Prince
Bridgeport: Edding
Holdredge: Madison
COLORADO
Akron: Norca, 'Dormitory'
Denver: Barth, Oxford
Sterling: Sterling
Holyoke: Burge
Brush: Carroll
KANSAS
St. Francis: Elms
Oberlin: Oberlin
SOUTH DAKOTA:
Deadwood: Franklin
WYOMING:
Guernsey: Guernsey, Culver
Cheyenne: Pioneer
Casper: Townsend
Cody: Pawnee
Bonnville: Shawver, Desert Inn Motel
Gillette: Montgomery, Goings
Greybull: Norris
MONTANA
Billings: Carlin, Roxy
Laurel: Hurzler, Yellowstone
NOTE: None listed for Wisconsin! Why! I would have expected Lacrosse (former
Div Hdq) &/or Prairie du Chien (tie-up point)
Gerald
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