Simply as further info. On the twists and turns of corporate America. Luria Bros. Became PCS, which today still exists but is currently struggling with high employee departures and a tough scrap market.
Erman Howell,unless I am totally wrong, morhed into today's Erman Corp, that dismantles rail cars in a KC suburb and has a division that pulls up rail,etc on abandonments and behind steel gangs on rail change outs.
Leo Phillipp
June 5, 2015
Leo and Hol - I agree, Pielet Brothers never scrapped a Q steam locomotive.
Although technically not a direct Q sale, let's not forget 5632 and 4963 being
sold by the CWI in August 1969 to Erman-Howell Division of Luria Steel on 83rd
Street in Chicago. This resulted from a conflict between their owner Dick
Jensen and the railroad. The CWI was then sued by Jensen and he was
eventually awarded a large sum in settlement as I recall. The legal case
makes for interesting reading:
Although 5632 was quickly scrapped (it's tender lasted for a little
while longer as it was gutted into a hopper car for moving scrap around the
yard), fortunately 4963 was set aside by Erman-Howell (probably because of
Jensen's law suit at the time) and eventually purchased by the Illinois Railway
Museum where it remains in storage today.
If not dismantled at Eola, the Q competitively bid their retired
locomotives and rolling stock. We're all familiar with NWSW at Sterling, but
Robinson Company is a new one to me. My father told me that Hyman Michaels in
south Chicago also purchased Q steam power for scrap, those locomotives being
interchanged to the IHB at Congress Park.
Hol, I've always wondered, what company(s) scrapped CS steam power. I
recall the last CS steam locomotives were assembled in Denver and then moved
south all the way to Commercial Metals in Dallas, TX. However, wasn't Q steam
power moved from Denver and other Lines West division points east to the Lincoln
dead line? And from Lincoln, east to Chicago scrap yards, or at the
very end, to NWSW.
Thanks for posting the Robinson Company letter. I've got several
images of Q steam power taken in the 1950s showing a number of locomotives on a
scrap yard delivery track "some where" in Chicago. One is an 0-8-0. Got to
find the images to see if it's the 547, plus if any of the numbers in the
letter match the other locomotives. Other than at Eola or NWSW, photos of Q
steam power being scrapped are rare.
I'd like to see someone with access to Q mechanical department archives
compile a list of what scrap yards purchased what Q locomotives along with the
dates of sale. Compiling a complete scrap list is probably impossible, but from
World War Two forward to complete dieselization might be doable. Seems as if
NWSW purchased the majority if not all of the Q's remaining steam power in the
late 1950s. Best Regards - Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
Thanks Hol,
I had not heard of any steam locos going to Pielet but the Congress Park
location made me wonder. I checked Corbin's Steam Locos of the Q and it shows
the 547 scrapped in 1954, the same year as the photo at the
"park".
So I'll theorize that these locos were brought to the park by the
Congo,left for the east end Wayfreight to take to Eola. Then the Rockfalls
Wayfreight would take them to Rockfalls where the switch engine would deliver
them to Northwestern steel.
Does anyone have documentation on the final dispo of 547?
Leo
Phillipp
Leo: I don't believe Pielet was involved in the
scrapping of steam locomotives, though I could be wrong. The Q,
however, did not sell any to Pielet, that I've sever seen documented.
The attached letter is typical of the dispositions of steam locomotives sold
for scrap. The only Illinois company listed besides Northwest Steel
& wire is Robinson Bros. of Chicago. Hol
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.comFrom: CBQ@yahoogroups.comDate: Fri, 5
Jun 2015 10:30:52 -0500 Subject: [CBQ] Did the Q sell locos to Pielet at
McCook,IL
Can anyone advise if the Q sold steam Locos to Pielet
in McCook,IL for dismantling ?
It's well documented that locos went to
Northwestern Steel and Wire and of course the Eola Reclamation
plant.
I'm asking as there's a photo of the 547 and another dead loco
at Congress Park on yard trk 1.
Congress Park would not be a storage
point as every track was used multiple times a day
for
Interchanges.
Leo Phillipp
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