Focus on the Train, Not the Battle!

The picture on this post card is of a Baltimore & Ohio train crossing over

Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware. I bought the post card because of the train on the front. Evidently, the publishers of the post card were more interested in the history related to the site. The description on the back of the post card focuses on a battle that was fought there in the Revolutionary War on September 11, 1777 which led to the occupation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the British Army. I went on line and looked up the bridge. This website gives an excellent description of the history of the bridge and the railroads that are related to it. https://historicbridges.org/delaware/brandywineviaduct/inventory.pdf Delaware’s most visually impressive stone arch bridge is the 1909-1910 Brandywine Viaduct built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad over Brandywine Creek in Wilmington. The seven-span bridge is slightly less than 1,000’ long and rises over 110’ above the creek. The bridge was built as the railroad’s replacement of an 1888 iron deck truss bridge, which had proven inadequate to heavier locomotives. Although the B&O could have chosen to build another steel truss bridge, or a reinforced concrete bridge, there were few bridge types that spoke to permanency and stability as well as a stone arch, even if stone construction was very costly. The iron truss bridge in the background of this picture on the post card was abandoned by the railroad in 1910. It was then transferred to the City of Wilmington, which converted the bridge for use by pedestrians and motorized vehicles. Today, the railroad bridge is owned by CSX.

The post card was published by a company from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This may account for the interest in the historical aspect rather than the railroad aspect of the scene. The company, the Post Card Distributing Company, existed from 1911 to 1919. They have a great logo – see the picture of the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall in the top middle of the post card back. The post card was printed by Curt Otto Teich. His numbering system (to the right of the statue, above the word POST) suggests that this card was printed in 1917; probably early 1917, since the post rate went from one cent to two cents on November 2, 1917 and the rate for this card is one cent.

Plummer Junction, You Say??

The picture here is a Real Photo Post Card. It was made by Charles A. Lane care of Los Angeles Railway at 7th and Central Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The pencil writing on the back tells us that this passenger train is on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad (CM&SP). It is climbing a steep grade from Ste. Marie to Plummer Junction in Idaho in April of 1922. I have blogged in the past about the CM&SP so I went on line to see what I could learn about Plummer Junction. This website gives a great, photograph-filled tour of Plummer Junction and the surrounding railroad related area. The photographs are from the 70s. I highly recommend that you visit the site. https://www.milwelectric.org/palouse-to-cascades-trail-virtual-tour-plummer/ Plummer Junction was a relay office as well as a train order office. In addition to delivering orders to trains, the office also bridged telegraph circuits to pass along messages.

Allen Miller drew this map of Plummer Junction that shows the configuration of the wye, location of water tank, depot and the old U.P. line that went under the legs of the wye. The Plummer Junction depot was located inside the wye off the main line between Malden (west) and St. Maries (east). Trains from Spokane would come in from the east (right) and have the option of going either direction on the main line. The Union Pacific line from Tekoa to Wallace also came through Plummer. Today the St. Maries River Railroad comes in from the east on the Milwaukee Road main line and interchanges with the Union Pacific at Plummer. The Union Pacific comes in from Spokane on the former Milwaukee Road line to interchange with the St. Maries River Railroad and to service the Plummer mill.

I know nothing about the photographer who would also be the publisher. But I am reproducing the back of the post card here for your viewing pleasure.

A Mighty Midget

The information about the locomotive on the front of this post card was taken from this website: http://hawkinsrails.net/industrials/lclc/lclc.htm About 1920, a small 2-6-0 was sold to the Williams Lumber Co. at Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and sold again in May 1921 to the Joseph Rathborne Lumber Co. Rathbone closed in 1929 and was sold to the Joyce interests of Chicago. The Joyce family also operated rail lines at Rainey River, Minnesota and Manistique, Michigan. The Ponchatoula mill was reopened on July 15, 1936 as the Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co.

The little 2-6-0 was renumbered to #2 and served as backup to the company's road locomotive #1, a 2-6-2 built by Porter in 1921. For about a year before the mill closed in January 1956, Cypress imported mahogany logs from Honduras to cut up at the Ponchatoula mill. The logs were shipped to New Orleans by steamship and then transported to Ponchatoula in Illinois Central gondolas. #2 was used in regular service as the switcher at the mill to switch the gondolas while #1 was out on the road. This map shows where in Louisiana the locomotive did its work.

Remembered with Love

The Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad (BC&G) was an 18.6 mile long coal-hauling short-line that operated in central West Virginia in its original form from 1904 through 1965.

The locomotive on the front of this post card is a 2-8-0, “Consolidation”. Number 13 was owned by the BC&G. The photo was taken in April of 1963. BC&G Consolidation #13 was built by the Alco's Brooks works in 1920 as c/n 61579. She was acquired by the BC&G in 1950 from the Kelly's Creek and Northwestern. BC&G Consolidation drew the assignment to be on the point of the final scheduled train from Widen before the Rich Run Mine closed. The date was December 30, 1963. Engine #13 had a life after the BC&G. She was sold in 1964 to the South Penn Museum, then went to the Lakeshore Central System before going to the Logansport & Eel River. She is currently owned by the Ohio Central Railroad. She served there in tourist service for a number of years. The engine is now at the AGE OF STEAM museum in Ohio, but is currently not in service. The history of the Buffalo Creek & Gauley can be broken into four fairly distinct periods. The first runs from the formation of the Elk River Coal and Lumber Co. and the chartering of the BC&G in 1904 until the final closing of the BC&G in 1965. The BC&G bought only one engine new, Baldwin Consolidation #4, in 1926, but it continued to acquire steam engines long after other railroads had dieselized. Consolidations #13 and #14 were purchased from the Kelly's Creek and Northwestern in 1950. The logging line had three Climax acquired new over the years, and acquired their last steam engine, Shay #19, from the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company as late as 1957. This engine, and other geared engines, traveled into the woods along the Lilly Fork. The Lilly Fork varied in length over the years but reached about 9 miles into the woods. The second period is the 1970's and early 1980's when the Majestic Mining Company reopened the line for a while. The third period was in the early 1990's when The Elk River Railroad, Inc. used a portion of the former BC&G track. The final period is, fortunately, the present. This includes the work being done by the BC&G Co-Operative to establish a tourist line on the former BC&G track. The above information was gleaned from this website. The website reflects some people's love and concern for keeping the memory of the Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad alive. Take a look at what they have to say. www.buffalocreekandgauley.com

The post card was published by Railcards.com. I know nothing about the publisher even though I have 204 of their post cards in my collection.