Alco-GE Electric Locomotive in the Cascades

Last week, I posted what looked like an "olde tyme" effort at photoshopping a picture of an electric locomotive onto a railroad. The post card this week shows that same type of locomotive, but in a much more believable setting.

This looks like a real picture of a real train on an electrified railroad right of way!! Just like last week's picture, the locomotive has a rounded front and toward the back of the locomotive, the pantograph is very obvious. The headlight is in the same location on the locomotive, too. So this must be the real thing. When I turned the post card over I saw that the publisher was the manufacturer of the locomotive - General Electric!!

This train belongs to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad; probably just like last week's. This one is traveling through the Cascade Range of mountains in Washington state. Operating conditions in the mountain regions of the Pacific Extension proved difficult. Winter temperatures of −40° made it challenging for steam locomotives to generate sufficient steam. Electrification provided an answer, especially with abundant hydroelectric power in the mountains. Between 1914 and 1916, the Milwaukee implemented a 3,000 volt direct current (DC) overhead system between Harlowton, Montana, and Avery, Idaho, a distance of 705 km. Pleased with the result, the Milwaukee electrified its route in Washington between Othello and Tacoma, a further 333 km, between 1917 and 1920. This section traversed the Cascades through the 3.6 km Snoqualmie Tunnel, just south of Snoqualmie Pass. This last bit of information was taken from Wikipedia. This is what the entire back of the post card looks like:

The upper right-hand corner reminds me of a previous post titled: "Don't Do That!". Someone ripped the stamp off the post card, this ruining the value of the card to all but the die-hard collectors.

To Take Your Breath Away

There are two meanings to the title of this post. One is that the scenery must have been so beautiful as to take your breath away. The second one, which is the subject of this post, is that the tunnel in the Cascade Range of Washington state was so long that the railroad had a difficult time cleaning the air after a steam locomotive traveled through it. As a result of this challenge, they electrified the line as it entered and left the Cascade Tunnel.

Given one quick look at this locomotive a person might think that it is a very strange looking steamer. Upon closer examination, however, one can see that the locomotive is electrified. There are overhead wires and one can see the pantograph that brings the electricity to the motors. As I researched this picture to see what railroad was operating it, I discovered nothing about the engine. I think that it might be made by Alco-GE. The website http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEGNElectricRosters.htm shows us that there were four 1,000 horsepower units delivered to the Great Northern Railroad. It goes on to say, "Great Northern's electric locomotives were confined to the Cascades, purchased to relieve asphyxiation problems in the Cascade tunnel caused by exhaust of steam locomotives. The initial class of four locomotives were confined to the Old Cascade Tunnel only, while the later models were used on the entire line-segment from Wenatchee, through the New Cascade Tunnel, to Skykomish. The Great Northern Railway rostered a total of 24 electric locomotives. The first four used a 6,000 Volt three phase electric system using two overhead wires and the rail as conductors. Power was taken from the overhead wires by means of trolley poles. With the opening of the New Cascade Tunnel and the enlargement of the electrified district a switch was made to a single phase 11,000 Volt system. Power was now taken from a single overhead wire by using pantographs, making for a less troublesome layout of the catenary system. Great Northern used 2 different paint schemes for its electric locomotives. All electrics were delivered in a Pullman Green livery except for the two W-1 class locomotives which arrived new in the Empire Builder scheme of orange and green separated by imitation gold stripes. All electrics, except the original 3-phase and Z-1 classes, were eventually repainted in Empire Builder colors. Electric operations started in 1909 with the opening of the first Cascade tunnel and ended on July 31, 1956 when the decision was made to force-ventilate the Cascade tunnel and run all trains through using diesel power, instead of upgrading the entire electrical operation, which was coming due. This method of force-ventilation is still being used today by BNSF."

The caption in the upper left-hand part of the picture on the front does confirm that this train is, indeed, in the Cascade Range in Washington state. It is hard to believe that this is a real locomotive. When researching the types of engines that ran through the Cascade Tunnel, I could not find one that had a round front like this one. Knowing that some publishers did their own style of photoshopping even back in the early 1900s, I suspected that this was the case here. But, next week's post will help to redeem this publisher and clarify where this picture might have been taken.

The publisher was the E. C. Kropp Company, a publisher and printer that began producing chromolithographic souvenir cards and private mailing cards in 1898 under the name Kropp. These cards were of much higher quality than those that would printed under the E.C. Kropp name. They became the E.C. Kropp Company in 1907 and produced large numbers of national view-cards and other subjects. Their latter linen cards had a noticeably fine grain. Sold to L.L. Cook in 1956 and they are now part of the GAF Corp. U.S.

Just Pictures... mostly

Last week I posted a bit of history of an electric trolley that traveled on either side of the Niagara Falls escarpment. At the end, I said that this week would be mostly pictures - with little commentary. Below are pictures (starting with the same post card as last week) from all the post cards in my collection that treat the theme of "The Gorge Route" at Niagara Falls. The only comments will be about the age and/or the publishers of the post cards.

This one was published by the Miller Art Company and it was posted in the mail on June 29, 1925.

This one is from after March 31, 1907 and published by the Nicklis Co. of Niagara Falls; there was also a Nicklis & Lawrence Company of Niagara Falls (before March 1, 9017). I need to do some more research to satisfy my curiosity; I found something by Nicklis from as far back as 1895.

There are some symbols that hint at who the publisher might be... but I have not been able to decipher the clues. This is from between 1907 and 1915. Notice that the telephone pole that is in this one is missing from the 1925 post card, above.

This post card is about the same age as the 2nd one, above, and the picture is the same one. A case of one publisher "borrowing" from another. This is from between 1907 and 1915.

This post card is postmarked on September 8, 1915. It is by the same publisher as the 2nd post card above according to the heretofore undeciphered clues.

And, this final post card of "The Gorge Route" is the oldest on of the set. It is from before March 1, 1907 because it does not have a divided back. Only the address could be written on the back... as you can see by the very short handwritten message on the front at the bottom.

"Picturesqueness" is a Word

I will start with the back side of the post card today. The title in the description in the upper left-had corner tells us that the picture on the front is

from The Trolley Line Through the Gorge at Niagara Falls. In the description under the title they use the word "picturesqueness" to describe the beauty through which the trolley ride took its riders. It is in the first sentence and on the first line of print.

The information below is taken from https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/greatgorgeroute.aspx

The early 1890's saw the development of the electric railway on both sides of the Niagara border. In 1891, the Queen Victoria Parks Commissioners granted the Niagara Falls Park and River Railway a charter to operate an electric railway through Queen Victoria Park and Parks Commission land from Chippawa to Queenston. This single track railway was intended both to generate much-needed income for the Parks Commission and to offer tourists a better mode of transportation to the Queen Victoria Parks. The railway opened on May 24, 1893, and proved to be very popular due to its low fares and picturesque route, and as a result, the track was doubled in 1894. A similar double track railway line was constructed by the Niagara Falls and Lewiston Electric Railway on the American side of the River in the early 1890's. This line started at Niagara Falls, New York, gradually descended to the water's edge, proceeded along past the Whirlpool and Devil's Hole to Lewiston, where it again returned to the top of the gorge.

Both of these lines continued to be popular attractions until 1902, when the two trolley lines were purchased by the International Railway Company and combined into the "Great Gorge Route." The Route began at the Gorge Terminal on Falls Avenue in Niagara Falls, NY, where passengers paid a fee of $1.00 and boarded the electric trolleys. The trolleys left the station, crossed the Falls View Bridge into Canada, and proceeded along the top of the Gorge to Queenston, where they met incoming steamships from Toronto. Next the trolley cars crossed the Queenston-Lewiston Suspension Bridge into the United States, descended into the Gorge and followed the route of the original American railway. The Great Gorge Route had 38 trolley cars, most of which were open, and which ran from May to September. Power for the attraction was provided by a small generating station at Table Rock. Beginning in 1901, the International Railway Company began offering nightly trips with several powerful spotlights illuminating the Gorge. The Great Gorge Route remained a very popular tourist attraction for nearly 40 years.

During this time, the Route proved to be quite dangerous; rock falls, derailment, and washouts of the tracks happened often on the American side of the Route, and were not without casualties. On July 15, 1915, a trolley left the rails, killing 13 tourists. In 1917, a trolley toppled into the Whirlpool and twelve more passengers were drowned. A conductor was killed by falling rocks, and on another occasion, refuse was accidentally dumped from a garbage chute onto an open trolley car. In spite of these incidents, however, the attraction remained open.

With the arrival of the Great Depression, however, the Great Gorge Route faced a declining number of passengers. Poor business, coupled with high maintenance costs and increasingly hazardous rock falls made the Route too costly and dangerous to continue. Trips along the Great Gorge Route ceased in 1932, and the area on the Canadian side was sold to the Niagara Parks Commission who dismantled the Route. Trolleys continued to operate in the United States, until a rock fall in 1935 buried the tracks under 5000 tons of rock. At the time of its closure, over 13,000,000 passengers had ridden on the Great Gorge Route and had experienced the magnificent view of the Whirlpool and rapids which it provided.

The post card was published by the Miller Art Company. This company existed from 1922 to 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. They published view-cards of the Northeast USA in halftone lithography. Many of their cards suffer from very crude retouch work. They issued better quality holiday cards and a large set of New York World’s Fair cards in 1939, many with decorative borders. It is the little coffee mug with the "M" at the very bottom in the centre that lets us know who the publisher was.

I have several post cards that continue the theme of "The Gorge Route" along the Niagara Falls.
Next week's post will be mostly pictures of these post cards with very little commentary.