According to the equipment roster of the Monticello Railway Museum, the John G.
Shedd operated ex-CE&I No. 304, the "Turkey Run", in fish transport service
after modifications to accomodate crews on board from its original use as
coach/baggage. Other cars that survived initially from the C&EI's 1946
"Whippoorwill" train set include coach No. 460 "Vigo Trail" which went into IC
MOW service in 1961; Coach 462 "Vanderburg Trail also went to the IC in 1961,
then to a railroad equipment company; 463 "Vermillion Trail" is a virtual
vagabond with stints on the IC, Black Hills, OPE, LA amd renamed "Sierra Madre"
according to the Wikipedia search for "Whippoorwill Train". Diner 505
"Shakamak Inn" went to the IC in 1962, then the Louisiana Arts and Sciences
Center in Baton Rouge, and is now at the Monticello Railway Museum being
restored to IC livery.
When the fish tanks had been replaced in the Nautilus at Monticello and it was
ready for visitors for the first time years ago, a member of the crew that had
worked aboard the car on trips to the Gulf or elsewhere. He gladly answered
questions about how they maintained the tanks on the road, smiled while
visitors joked about him "not going hungry" if they got stuck somewhere and
provided great enlightenment about life away from home gathering and caring for
fish.
I am not entirely certain if he was joking or not when he replied about what
happened if something died in transit? Could you eat it? He said they never
ate their captives, but once had a fish or some other large specimen that
expired and they pitched it out the side door going through the country.
Imagine some farmer plowing next to the tracks and finding a giant octopus
lying in his field. Would probably make the weekly paper.
As a youngster growing up near Chicago, I couldn't imagine why there were
rudimentary railroad tracks crossing Lake Shore Drive near Soldier Field and
the Field Museum of Natural History, climbing out of the bushes that shielded
motorists from viewing the remnants of the IC freight yard and commuter coach
tracks. After learning something about the Nautilus' operations from someone
who worked on it, I suspect those long-gone rails that went out near the
Aquarium had probably been a delivery route for fish.
Most interesting is that the Monticello Railway Museum would wind up with two
of the cars from this relatively obscure C&EI train through the most different
of sources. Their website is mrym.org.
To tie this message back to this group: Caboose CB&Q 14042 is the only piece
of Q equipment on hand at Monticello. With its sliding door and a couple of
seats, some referred to it as a "drover's caboose" used to accomodate riders
who traveled with their livestock to market. Others suggest it was just used
in branchline service where some freight and a few passengers handled that way
eliminated the need for a coach of some sort. Maybe someone here will know.
Second Tie-in: If it were not for a CB&Q fantrip from St. Louis to Hannibal in
February 1966, however, the site now developed as the Monticello Railway Museum
might still be a cornfield. The trip generated interest in preserving steam
from those aboard who signed up as initial members to fight the imminent
retirement of Burlington steam. After acquiring a tiny saddle tank steamer in
October 1966, that, things really got out of hand and 45 years later,
Monticello proves to be one of the really nice museums.
Ted Lemen
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
CBQ-digest@yahoogroups.com
CBQ-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> 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/
|