Louis,
An M-4 would make a LOT of nails !
As to routing to NWS&W; based on my research of Aurora Div. locals here is how they were probably handled.
From Galesburg to Denrock on the Pea Vine local. Then on the Sterling-Denrock turn. Your attached photo probably shows the local at Erie. They could also be handled from Galesburg to Mendota on that local, then to Earlville on the Roustabout that went over to Ottawa via Earlville and Burgess Jct.
From Chicago I would venture to say the Congo handled them to the park, then the east end to Eola, next would be the every other day Eola- Rockfalls Wayfreight that went north at Earlville.
Leo
October 25, 2015
Charlie - The Q scrap steam power you saw set out at the IHB LaGrange
Park yard was almost certainly headed towards a scrap yard in south
Chicago, not NWS&W in Sterling. Erman-Howell on 83rd Street might've been
their final destination as that yard scrapped some number of Q steam locomotives
off the Chicago and Aurora Divisions. In your occasional visits to the
Newberry Library, please look into and see if any purchasing department
"sale" records showing disposition of steam locomotives are in their Q
archives. That would go a long ways to documenting what other scrap yards cut-up
Q steam power besides NWS&W, particularly prior to 1950. I've
seen some number of images showing Q scrap steam power set out at
Downers Grove, but I can't tell if the locomotives are facing east or west. If
east, then they were inbound to be scrapped somewhere in south Chicago. If
west, then they were outbound to either Eola or NWS&W with "larger"
locomotives almost certainly going to NWS&W. Lastly, how many
nails would a M-4-A make? Best Regards -
Louis
Louis and all
I don't know where they were headed ( probably not to Sterling) but the
group I remember consisted of at least 6 locomotives maybe more drawbared cab
to cab together at the IHB LaGrange Park yard
Not like the "funeral train" of 10-20 C&NW Atlantics and Pacifics
heading south on the IHB when the commuter service was dieselized, but still a
significant movement
Charlie Vlk
Sent from my iPhone
October 24,
2015
Group - If any of you are good with math, let me ask you
a question. How many 10 penny (10d) common steel nails could be made from a
scrapped M-4-A at NWS&W? From the Corbin book, figure the
locomotive weighed 512,770 pounds and the tender weighed 158,600 pounds for
a total of 671,370 pounds delivered as "scrap on the hoof" to the deadline
in Sterling, IL. I've done the math myself and the number will absolutely
knock your socks off.....
Shown in the undated attached image is Q Class M-4-A No. 6320 and an
unidentified sister paused at Erie, IL, while in route to NWS&W. The
Corbin book says 6320 was sold for scrap in May 1961, so this image was most
likely taken in May or June of that year. There are three idler gondolas
separating the two Texas type locomotives to spread their weight. The train
would've been a local that worked between Mendota and Sterling at the time.
The diesel was probably switching nearby on-line industries and had spotted
the train on a passing siding at the depot. You can just see the way car
cupola behind the rear scrap M-4-A.
There were no "funeral trains" as such that delivered scrap Q
steam power to NWS&W. The locals did the work of moving one or more
scrap locomotives at a time from Galesburg/Chicago to Mendota over the
mainline and then onto the branch for the final trip up
to Sterling to be dismantled. The cream of Q steam power all took this
last melancholy journey during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Best Regards
- Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
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Posted by: qutlx1@aol.com
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