On CB&Q Dining Cars at Christmas & Thanksgiving were little card 'tents' with a
generic prayer for the Holiday (this in pre-PC days)
Not to diminish the significance of one of my favorite if not most favorite
Holidays, among the many things we can be thankful for as Americans is that we
have the freedom, AND the wherewithal, to pursue hobbies, no matter how
inconsequential.
In our case of course, it's collecting, modeling, discussing, rail fanning the
old CB&Q. We can also be thankful that compared to most RR's the Burlington
covered 'Granger country' from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Rockies, from
the Twin Cities to the Gulf of Mexico and from Kentucky to Montana. In
addition it was not just a railroad but an aggressive firm that also pursued
agricultural, warehousing, recreational, bus & truck interests with its own
subsidiaries (the bus business will be touched upon in the next Zephyr).
Another aspect of the CB&Q was its maritime interests. Even today, old Q spurs
to the Chicago River may be seen where 'in the day' new yachts would be
delivered on flat car (or relocated to other navigable waters). Some time back
either a MP206 calendar or their website had a photo of a CB&Q owned tug &
barge working on something along a shoreline or dock. I was just looking thru
some of my old Annual Reports and found this nugget. In addition to reporting
how many box cars, diners, MoW cars, loco's etc were on the roster each year,
"Floating Equipment" is delineated. The last major year is 1924: Steamboats &
Tugboats: 3; Barges, Car Floats & Canal Boats: 10; Other Floating Equipment: 3
[a total of 15]. By 1926 the report shows but 1 unit: a Steam or Tug Boat.
Anyone have more data, photos, anecdotes, etc? We do know the Q once operated
a car ferry (pre-bridge) from Paducah, KY to Metropolis, IL; anywhere else?
Was the Canal Boat category for the Chicago River & Shipping Canal? Were there
operations on the Mississippi or Missouri or ??? More "things" for us to
research and to thankful that as Burlington fans we will never run out of
discoveries!
Happy Thanksgiving one and all!
Gerald
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