This Big Lug is Very Useful

The huge locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is an

ALCO Century-628 owned by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad (CNW). The CNW acquired a fleet of these locomotives from Norfolk & Western. This locomotive was employed for lugging heavy but slow ore trains. It is seen here at Proviso, Illinois in 1977. Here is a bit of history about the ALCO C-628, part of their Century Series of locomotives. This website is the apex of railroad information, in my opinion. I use Adam Burns’ site as a reference very often. https://www.american-rails.com/628.html By: Adam Burns The C628 was Alco's first in its line of six-axle, C-C road switchers. Overall these behemoths were as powerful as they appeared. The C628 would prove to be Alco's most successful six-axle Century, selling nearly 200 units. With the C628, “C” stood for Century series, “6” was the axle number, and the last two digits were the horsepower rating (2,800 h.p.). The C628 up to that time offered the most starting (85,750 pounds) and continuous tractive effort (79,500 pounds) of any locomotive in its class, which is a significant reason why some railroads really liked them. The Alco C628 debuted in late 1963 as a replacement for the builder's RSD-15 line.

Here is the back of the post card that was published by the ever elusive RAILCARDS.COM

Arizona Apache Takes on a Different Meaning

Apache ALCO C-420 locomotives numbered 81 to 84 and an RS-36 (also from ALCO) are seen on the front of this post card near Holbrook, Arizona on August 24, 1994. The C-420s came from four different railroads and the RS-36 was delivered new to the Apache Railroad in the early 1960s.

Why ask the Wikipedia people about something when you can go straight to the source? That is what I did. The Apache Railway still has a website... and quite the varied past. This website tells it all: http://apacherailway.com/about/ The information below is from their website. The Apache Railway was incorporated in 1917, when it began construction of a rail line from Holbrook south, reaching Snowflake in 1918. It was extended south to McNary in 1920. From October 1, 1931, until 1936, amid the Great Depression, the APA was placed in receivership. A tourist railroad, the White Mountain Scenic Railroad, operated steam powered passenger excursions over the Southwest Forest Industries-owned line from McNary to the logging camp of Maverick, AZ, beginning in 1964. My dad and I rode this train in the early 1970s before I went to New Jersey to go to college. I have some post cards of this tourist train in my collection. As track conditions deteriorated, the excursions were cut back in later years to a point about half of the way to Maverick. In the final years, it operated north from Pinetop Lakes to a place called Bell Siding on U.S. Route 60. In 1976, the White Mountain Scenic Railroad ceased operations and moved its equipment to Heber City, Utah to be used on an excursion there known as the “Heber Creeper.” The line from Maverick to McNary, with some elevations exceeding 9,000 ft (2,700 m), was removed in 1982 after the McNary sawmill closed. By the 1980s, the Apache Railway was Arizona’s only remaining logging railroad. The track from Snowflake to McNary was abandoned in 1982. The Apache Railway offered passenger service until the 1950s. In July 1954, the mixed train operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, departing McNary at 7:15 am, arriving Holbrook at 12:15 pm, departing there at 1:30 pm and returning to McNary at 7:00 pm. The Apache Railway is now here for you!

The post card was published by Audio-Visual Designs (AVD) in Earlton, New York. It was published after October of 1983 because the 7-digit zip code has an additional 4 digits appended to it. AVD was started in 1964 by Carl Sturner for the sole purpose of providing railfans with sound recordings of locos and trains as well as with photochrome postcards of trackside photos.

Let's Go to Wisconsin to see the ALCOs!!

The picture on the front of this post card is of freshly painted C430 and C424 ALCO locomotives. They are heading out of Green Bay, Wisconsin in August of 1977. The railroad that owns these two ALCO locomotives is the Green Bay & Western Railroad (GB&W). Sadly, it is no longer operational as the GB&W.

In my mind, there is no better source for the history of a “Fallen Flag” railroad than that railroad’s historical society. The information below is taken from the Green Bay & Western Railroad Historical Society. I strongly recommend that you visit their website for their unique perspective on the history of the Green Bay & Western Railroad (GB&W). This is their address: Green Bay & Western Historical Society, Inc. P.O. Box 940 Plover, WI 54467 This is their website address: https://www.gbwhs.com/gbw.html All the information below was taken from their website. Please go in and take a look around; it is very interesting. The Green Bay & Western Railroad packed a lot of fascination into just 248 miles of mainline and precious few branch lines. The GBW was chartered in 1866 as the Green Bay & Lake Pepin Railway. At the time, many railroads tried to link major waterways, and in 1873 the railroad, then called the Green Bay & Mississippi, linked the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River. Ultimately it ran from the Lake Michigan port of Kewaunee to Green Bay and west through the paper mill town of Wisconsin Rapids to the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota, the only place where it left the state of Wisconsin. The GBW even had a subsidiary on its east end, the Ahnapee & Western, which was twice independent and twice a part of the GBW. But the Great Depression dealt a heavy blow to the marginal railroad. Its frugal president, Frank B. Seymour, managed to keep the railroad alive. But it took a visionary man to see a prosperous future for the GBW. Homer E. McGee, a former Katy executive, became president of the GBW in 1934 and began an upgrading program that would improve the railroad’s track, rolling stock and financial health over the coming decades. Early on, however, the railroad was a financial failure. Traffic was sparse in the Wisconsin wilderness; passenger trains never found a real home on the “Grab Baggage & Walk.” The railroad’s resources were drained by derailments, roundhouse fires and floods. The GB&M would emerge from bankruptcy in 1881 as the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad, only to go bankrupt again and emerge in 1896 as the Green Bay & Western Railroad. On August 28, 1993, the GBW was purchased by the Wisconsin Central Limited. Its traffic and employees were absorbed by the WC, and the remaining ALCOs were dispersed to other short lines across the U.S. Today, two-thirds of the GBW’s mainline remains in service as part of the Canadian National. The GBW was famous for ALCO power, the Harley-Davidsons of diesel locomotion. They were an ALCO customer since the 19th Century, even before steam locomotive builders like Brooks, Dickson and Schenectady merged to form the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). Every diesel the GBW ever owned – from the HH660 they bought in 1938, to the FA1s and RS2s that banished steam, to their 16-unit fleet when the railroad passed into history in 1993 – was a snorting, smoking, four-stroke product of Schenectady, New York. But the GBW was much more than ALCOs. For most of their history, their eastern connection was a fascinating cross-lake car ferry operation. From 1892 to 1990, sturdy vessels of the Ann Arbor Railroad and the Pere Marquette Railway (later the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway) battled November storms and winter ice to force railroad reliability upon treacherous Lake Michigan. In the 1950s, hundreds of freight cars moved across the lake every day, and even though this market would eventually vanish, you can still ride a car ferry across Lake Michigan.

This is the back of the post card. You can see that it was published by RAILCARDS.COM , a no longer existing company about which I can find no information.

Collecting Cabooses

Thanks to Scott Woods, president of the Greenville Railroad Park: "Those cars were acquired about 40 years ago when the Park started. There's no one left from those days. When I joined 17 years ago, I went thru the records we had to come up with signs to put on our rolling stock." This is what he wrote and posted on the signs in front of the cabooses. "1 of 60 built in 1948 by Wheeling & Lake Erie at their Toledo Ironville shops Steel framed caboose is 34'- 3" long & weighs 22,700 lbs Became Nickel Plate #705 in 1949 Became Norfolk & Western #557705 in 1964 Caboose was donated in 1989 by Norfolk Southern to Richard Rowlands, Hubbard Ohio Donated to the Park by Rowlands, repainted by Trinity Industries, and placed here in 1992" AND "Built in 1959 by the Union Pacific at their Omaha shops Was used all over the UP system Special trucks make this a high speed caboose for priority freight trains Donated by the UP, repainted by Trinity Industries, and placed here in 1992"

The post card was published by Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialities in 1997.

What do you mean by "Dashing Commuter"?

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is an ALCO model C420 built in 1968. It is pictured in a fresh paint job with the colours of the Long Island Railroad. This view is at Oyster Bay Yard in February of 1976.

Some would say that this paint scheme makes the engine look “dashing”, which would fit nicely with the slogan of the railroad: “Route of the Dashing Commuter.” I am sure that this is what they meant by the slogan, not the commuter dashing to catch the train because he or she is late!! The details about the ALCO C420 locomotive are gleaned from this website. I recommend that you go to this website for any railroad-related questions: https://www.american-rails.com/420.html American Locomotive's first new Century models was the C420. It was a four-axle design that offered sufficient horsepower. The C420 was meant to be a less powerful version of the C424, which was being produced at the same time. As John Kirkland points out in his book, "The Diesel Builders: Volume Two," it was essentially an extension of the earlier RS32. On a broader perspective, the C420 did prove one of Alco's more successful in the Century line and could be found on numerous railroads. The Alco C420 used the builder's new 261C prime mover that was much more reliable over its earlier designs. The model began production in June of 1963. As the designation suggests, which was a completely new system unveiled by Alco, the "C" stood for Century, "4" regarded the number of axles, and "20" referred to the horsepower), the C420 could produce 2,000 horsepower and fuel efficiency. They found buyers among several Class I railroads.

The post card was published by that elusive publisher, Railcards.com

Let's Go to France!

The pictures on the front of these two postcards do not feature trains and locomotives; but they do feature a set of rails that have been abandoned by a railway company. The rails have been revived by the “Velorail de Point-Erambourg” company. The company does not operate locomotives; it operates (or rather, the tourists operate) velorails – a pedal-powered sidecar that can fit up to four people.

This operation is headquartered in the old train station and the grounds include some static displays of locomotives and train cars. My wife and I visited this location while we were on vacation in France several years ago. We did not ride the velorails. This is the official website of the tourist attraction. https://www.rails-collinesnormandes.fr/ It tells us that, “During your outings with family or friends, come and ride on the rails of the Suisse Normande! Go to Pont-Erambourg, 2 km from Condé-sur-Noireau, and discover the picturesque Noireau valley (to the Gouttes tunnel, in the municipality of Pont-d'Ouilly) by railbike for a 13 km round trip, lasting 1 hour 45 minutes.”

The post cards are sold to tourists like us in order to support the enterprise. The top left-had corner says that the Velorail of Pont-Erambourg, in Swiss Normandy is open from Easter to All Saints’ Day on weekends and public holidays except in July and August, it is open every day. The publisher information is written sideways; it says: Friendly for the development of the railway Caen-Flers Railway Station of Pont-Erambourg Then it shows us the Address and contact Phone number

Dependable Lifting

The picture on the front of this post card shows the Soo Line’s steam crane Number W2 hard at work picking up a derailment at the Soo Line’s Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Yard. The derailment was in front of the Soo Line’s yard office. The photo was taken on February 16, 1958. “What is a steam crane?” you ask. Our friends at Wikipedia tells us that in the early days of the railways, locomotives and rolling stock were small enough to be re-railed manually using jacks and tackle, but as they became bigger and heavier this method became inadequate. Enter into this situation the steam crane and cable winch. Appearing around 1890, the cranes (the proper rail terminology is “Derrick”) increased in size, commensurate with the rise of steel Pullman cars, so by 1910 steam cranes reached their peak of development (on the railroad). Many of these 1910-era cranes were so useful and powerful, that they remained in service until the 1980s. The combination of a quick-firing steam boiler, heavy steam winch, and cable hook could little be improved upon, and thus remained in service. Also, steam engines did not mind being parked for months, with a little care, and were ready to go to work when needed.

This post card was published by Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties, Inc. The photograph was taken by A. Robert Johnson. The code in the stamp square tells us that it was copyrighted in 1985.

A Round House on a Rectangular Card

The picture on the front of this post card is an aerial view of Steamtown National Historic Site's roundhouse and yard. Our friends at Wikipedia tell us that the Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on 62.48 acres in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a 1902 roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities; the roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The visitor center, theater, technology and history museums are built in the style of and on the site of the missing portions of the original roundhouse, giving an impression of what the original circular structure was like. This website below is a good way to find out why some thing or some place was designated to be historical. This website shows us historical markers across the United States and tells us what is written on the markers. Regarding Steamtown the website tells us the information below: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=19833 "The roundhouse was and is the heart of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) yards. Here, mechanics perform daily maintenance on steam locomotives - routine inspections, light repairs, and boiler washes. Hissing steam, pounding hammers, and the drone of engines provide a constant backdrop for the mechanics' work. During the 1940s and 50s, the diesel electric locomotive, with its different maintenance requirements, rendered the roundhouse obsolete. The DL&W removed two-thirds of its Scranton roundhouse in the 1950s. You are about to enter the largest of the three remaining DL&W roundhouse sections. The National Park Service has carefully restored the remains of the DL&W's 1902/1937 roundhouse to working condition. Once again, it is used to house and service steam locomotives."

The post card was published by Steamtown National Historic Site, based on a photograph by Calin Photography. It was printed by Dynacolor Graphics, Inc. There is a bar code where the stamp is to be placed, so this post card was printed after 1974.

It Certainly doesn't look like a Goose!!

The picture on the front of this post card is of what is fondly known as a “Galloping Goose”.

This one was built May 4, 1932, by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad using a Pierce Arrow. Later the body was rebuilt by the Wayne Bus Company and the engine was rebuilt by GMC. It once was used to carry freight, mail, and passengers. Number 4, seen here, was finally converted for the Tourist and Rail Fan. Unfortunately, it is no longer operational. This website gives some detailed history of the entire “Galloping Goose” line of rail cars: http://drgw.free.fr/RGS/Goose/Goose_en.htm I have taken some of those details and added them here. The Galloping Goose (the plural should be 'Geese'), or Motors as they were officially called by the railroad, were for sure among the most original railroad vehicles ever built. They largely contributed to the fame of the Rio Grande Southern and were its most prominent symbol from the thirties until its closure in 1951. These engines, built during the thirties, resulted from the absolute necessity for the Rio Grande Southern, then on the verge of bankruptcy, to cut its operating costs. They were meant to replace conventional steam trains becoming too expensive to operate. They were a kind of hybrid between a car or a bus riding on railroad tracks and a truck. They constituted single-car mixed trains, cheap to operate and able to carry a small amount of freight, mail and express, and the few remaining passengers travelling between Durango and Ridgway. The Galloping Geese were built by the Rio Grande Southern shops in Ridgway, with very little means and a lot of ingenuity, from whatever material was available, spare car parts and other used parts. There are several hypotheses regarding the origin of the weird unofficial nickname (Galloping Goose) of the Motors. One of them claims that the name came from the waddling of the Geese on the uneven Rio Grande Southern track, another attributed the nickname to the goose-like honk of the horn of the Motors, very different from the usual whistle of steam engines. All the Geese have survived until now, except one (of which a replica has been built). Among the survivors, all but one are operational and are used occasionally on the loop track of the Colorado Railroad Museum, on the Cumbres & Toltec or on the Durango & Silverton. Goose #1 Two different Motors of the Rio Grande Southern bore the number 1. The first Motor #1, built in 1913, was an inspection speeder derived from a Model T Ford and may be considered as the ancestor of the Geese. The second Goose #1 was built in 1931 following an idea of the Rio Grande Southern superintendent and its chief mechanic officer in Ridgway. It may be considered as the first true Goose and the prototype of the whole series. She was based on a Buick Master Six sedan, converted to rail operation and fitted with an open platform on the rear to carry and express. She was equipped with a front truck and a single rear powered axle. She is the smallest and the lightest of the Geese built by the Rio Grande Southern. The design of the Motor was an immediate success and Goose #1 soon replaced the passenger steam train between Dolores and Durango. She was scrapped in 1933. A replica was built in 2000 and is today displayed at the Ridgway Railroad Museum in Ridgway. The success of Goose #1 and the cuts in operating expenses it allowed soon prompted the Rio Grande Southern to considered building more Geese based on the same principle. Goose #2 was born in 1931. She is based on the same type of Buick sedan as #1 but runs on two trucks (the rear one is powered) and is twice as heavy as #1. She has space for four passengers and her freight compartment is completely enclosed and bigger than #1's. The livery of Goose #2 was originally of the same black as the Buick sedan she was derived from. All the Geese were repainted silver in 1935 and had kept this colour since then. In 1939, Goose #2 was rebuilt with a 1926 Pierce-Arrow car body and was equipped with a new and more powerful Buick engine. At that time, Goose #2 didn't see much use because newer Geese were put into service, so #2 was most of the time on stand-by duty. Today, #2 is preserved at the Colorado Railroad Museum and is operational. Goose #3 was also built in 1931, following #1 and 2. She is 50% heavier than #2 and is longer too. She was the first Goose running on three trucks (the middle one being powered) and to be articulated. She was mostly made of 1926 Pierce-Arrow parts for the body of the passenger section and for the engine. She has a capacity of ten passengers and is rated 39hp. The rear freight and mail section is almost the size of a boxcar and is supported by two trucks. Geese #4, 5 and 7 were built following the same principle (Pierce-Arrow parts and an articulated frame on three trucks). At the Rio Grande Southern closure, Goose #3 was sold to an amusement park in California (Knotts Berry Farm), where she runs occasionally. Goose #4, the Goose on the front of this post card: Number 3 was so successful that the Rio Grande Southern started to build another Goose (#4) the following year (1932). She is almost the same as Goose #3 (Pierce-Arrow parts and an articulated frame on three trucks). She is the only non-operational Goose among those who survived today. She is displayed in the city of Telluride, , the terminal of a Rio Grand Southern branch.

This post card was published by Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialities, Inc. The photo credit goes to William Moore. Evidently it is now part of a collection called the Glen Young Collection. The post card was printed by International Graphics in Hollywood, Florida. It is copyrighted as of December 1, 1985. That is what the number code (30806) in the stamp box tells me.

May I have your Autograph, Please?

The picture on the front of this post card is of the back end of the famous movie train Emma Sweeney.

The “Silver Vista” – the coach at the end of the train – is seen here on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in southwestern Colorado. This is one of the last narrow-gauge railroads left in the United States. The train operates in the Summer from Alamosa to Durango and to Silverton through some of Colorado’s grandest scenery. The move in which the train was featured was called “A Ticket to Tomahawk”. This website https://www.drhs315.org/emma-sweeney-2/history/ gives some very good history about the train and the making of the movie. I have included some excerpts from the website below. In 1949 Twentieth Century Fox produced the color film “A Ticket to Tomahawk”. The premise of the movie, set in 1876, was that to save the franchise of the Tomahawk & Western Railroad, a train must reach Tomahawk along with at least one paying passenger by a fast-approaching deadline – and the competing stage line will do everything it can to prevent it. The problem is that 40 miles of track from Epitaph are missing, because the rails from England were lost at sea. The plan is to pull the train (just the locomotive Emma Sweeny) over the mountains with a team of mules. Anne Baxter is the deputy marshal whose must protect the train. Dan Dailey is the reluctant paying passenger. Walter Brennan is the engineer, and Arthur Hunnicutt is the fireman. Rory Calhoun leads the gang that is supposed to stop Emma Sweeny. Mary Loos and Richard Sale, wife and husband, as well as avid railroad fans, wrote the script, and Richard Sale directed the film. The filming in the San Juans took place over about six weeks during August and September of 1949. The film premiered in Durango and Denver in April of 1950. The 1899 Schenectady locomotive Rio Grande Southern Railroad’s locomotive #20 (4-6-0, Ten-Wheeler), originally Florence & Cripple Creek locomotive #20, acted as Tomahawk & Western’s locomotive #1, the Emma Sweeny. It was adorned with a false funnel stack, a long wooden pilot, a link and pin coupler, and an oil or kerosene headlight box over the electric light with a set of six-point antlers on top. The fancy and colorful paint scheme included three-masted sailing ships on both sides of the tender. The train consist (part of which you can see on this post card) was Rio Grande Southern Railroad caboose 0409 lettered as “Route of the Bloody Basin Cannonball,” Denver and Rio Grande Western flat 1026, boxcar 3745, and combination car 212, all repainted and re-lettered. The train with Rio Grande Southern Railroad #20 was used in shots in Silverton, Animas Canyon, and on the old, wooden Rio Grande Southern Railroad trestle over Lightner Creek.

The post card was published by the Sanborn Souvenir Company, Incorporated in Denver, Colorado. It was printed by Dexter Press, Incorported out of West Nyack, New York. They used their exclusive "Genuine Natural Color" process for the printing. I scanned the back of the post card against a brown background so that you can see that the corners are rounded.

The American Car & Foundry Company has been busy!

The car pictured on the front of this post card is the first of 400 R-10 subway cars built after World War 2 by the American Car & Foundry Company.

Here, it poses for its portrait at the builder’s plant. These 400 cars, delivered in 1948 and 1949, were intended for joint Independent-Brooklyn Manhatten Transit service but they were used initially on the New York City built Independent Lines. I posted a picture earlier this month (June 4, 2025) of another car that was built by this company. Here is the link to that post: https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/2934863145319975648/1792440136948994381 In this post I will focus on the builder of the car. I have taken the information below from this website which gives great information about the history of the American Car & Foundry Company: https://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/amercar&foundry1.htm By 17 March 1899, when the American Car & Foundry Company (AC&F) came into being at New York City, a few all-steel cars were being built, most cars were still built largely of wood, though with an ever-increasing amount of steel. Hopper cars were early made entirely of steel, with gondola and flat cars following (though with wood floors). House cars first had steel frames with wooden sheathing. It would be almost the time of the 1st World War before the majority of box cars, tank cars and passenger cars were made entirely of steel. There were 13 independent car builders consolidated into AC&F in 1899. During the previous year, those 13 had accounted for 53% of all freight cars built outside the railroads’ own shops. Additional companies were added in ensuing years such that there were 18 by 1920. AC&F was incorporated in New Jersey, with capital of $60 million. The initial Directors of the company were W.K. Bixby of Missouri Car & Foundry, George Hargreaves of Michigan-Peninsular Car Company, J.L. Swyser of Ohio Falls Car Mfg. Company, Fred H. Eaton of Jackson & Woodin Mfg. Company, J.J. Albright of Union Car Company, H.B. Denton of St. Charles Car Company and Charles T. Schoen of Pressed Steel Car Company. William Keeny Bixby (1857-1931) is credited with forming the American Car & Foundry Company. Born in Adrian, MI, he began his railway career in 1870 as a night watchman and baggage man for the International Great Northern Railroad at Palestine, Texas. He was soon promoted to the post of general baggage agent in San Antonio. He next moved to St. Louis, where he became printing and stationery buyer for all the Gould lines. After several years he became a lumber agent for the Missouri Car & Foundry Company of St. Louis. He was promoted to Vice-President within two years and later became its President. As head of Missouri Car & Foundry, Bixby engineered a consolidation with the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company of Detroit, then added 12 other independent car builders to become the American Car & Foundry Company, of which he was the first President, serving from 1899 to 1901. He thereafter became Chairman of the Board, then retired in 1905.

The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs (AVD) from Earlton, New York. AVD was started in 1964 by Carl Sturner for the sole purpose of providing railfans with sound recordings of locos and trains as well as with photochrome postcards of trackside photos. These stunning color images were taken all over the country by some well-known photographers such as David Sweetland. The history and product line of AVD can be found on the company's website at https://www.audiovisualdesigns.com/

A Real Team Effort

This information below may sound familiar. I posted about the Horseshoe Curve back in February of this year. Here is the link to that post: https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/2934863145319975648/5578340278373810654 The famous Horseshoe curve on the Pennsilvania Pailroad's four track main line to the West, is still regarded as one of the world's most striking examples of railroad construction work. Located near the centre of the state, about 5 1/2 miles west of Altoona, the view to the south, stretching across Pennsylvania to the East and West incline of the Allagheny Mountains, near the Maryland border, is considered to be the most beautiful and impressive in the state. This website is the official website for the National Historic Landmark: https://www.railroadcity.org/horseshoecurve

Today I would like to focus on the companies involved in getting this post card into the hands of the public. There are three of them, Curt Otto Teich's company, The Minsky Brothers from Pittsburgh, and the United News Company. Each had a unique role to play.

First, it was printed by Curt Otta Teich. This is a "C.T. ART-COLORTONE" card. The process used to print this card was registered by Teich's company with the United States Patent Office. This post card is a sample of, in my opion, one of the finest of the "linen card" era. The texture of the front of the card is amazing; yet, the picture is sharp. The code (8A-H2199) at the top-middle of the card's back tells us that it was printed in 1938. The A tells us that it is from the 1930s and the 8 says specifically 1938. The H tells us that the method used for printing the card was the ART_COLORTONE method. That is the company's logo at bottom-middle of the card's back.

Second, the publisher, the one who asked Curt Otto Teich's company to print the card, was the Minsky Brothers and Company out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This company was around from 1935 to 1948. They published mostly linen cards with pictures of Pennsylvania.

The Third group that had a hand in this post card's existence was the company whose logo is in the bottom, left corner of the back of the post card - partially obscuring the Minsky Brothers name. Based in New York between 1908 and 1969 this was a wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Company they became major distributors of postcards and other printed items through their newsstands at hotels, rail and subway stations. Their cards were published by a variety of different companies including American News, Curt Teich, Robbins Brothers, and Valentine & Sons. Sometimes only their logo appears on a card, but it is often hand stamped on cards not originally published for them. That is the case with today's post card!!

How did Cyrus K. Holliday earn getting his name on a railroad car?

The picture on the front of this post card is of a car built in March of 1921 by the American Car & Foundry Company in St. Charles, Missouri. It was built for the Soo Line Railroad and acquired in 1962 by Tom Sefton and a group of private investors. It is now owned by the San Diego Trust & Savings Bank. It is on display at the former Santa Fe train station in San Diego.

The name on the side of the car is “Cyrus K. Holliday”, one of the founders of the Atchison, Topeks and Santa Fe Railroad. The information below is taken from the website https://www.american-rails.com/holliday.html The article there written by Adam Burns provides this information: Cyrus Holliday was born on April 3, 1826, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania the youngest of seven children. His father died when he was about 4 years old, so his mother took the family to live with his older sister in Wooster, Ohio. He attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania from 1848 to 1852. That is when he started his experience with the railroads. He was hired to help build one from Meadville, Pennsylvania to the Ohio border. That company went under but his payment included bonds that helped to finance his move to Lawrence, Kansas and then to the town that he helped to set up – Topeka. He recognized the huge potential of railroads for the development of the Wild West and devoted his energy and resources to this cause. His railroad's origins began humbly in Lawrence, Kansas hotel room when he wrote up the charter for the Atchison & Topeka during January 30-31, 1859. According to this document the system would connect its namesake towns and then head towards Santa Fe, New Mexico before continuing to the west coast and reaching out to the Gulf of Mexico. It was officially chartered on February 11, 1859. On November 23, 1863 the company's name was changed to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. The task of building the railroad officially kicked off at a small ceremony in Topeka along Washington Street on October 30, 1868. The Santa Fe brought significant changes to Kansas and the American Midwest. It provided a much-needed transportation link for people and goods, bringing growth and prosperity to several areas. Holliday died on March 29, 1900, in Topeka, Kansas.

This post card was published by the bank that owns the car: the San Diego Trust & Savings Bank. Their motto is "Where money matters...but, people count" The little logo at the top tells us that the bank has celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1989.

Isn't that a Train, not an Airplane?

Yes. It is a train, not an airplane. The name of the railroad is a marking tool to demonstrate how fast their locomotives were expected to travel. The

picture on the front of this post card is of the Seaboard Air Line #2028 power car. It was built in 1936 by the St. Louis Car Company and it was used to pull two or three other cars from branch lines to the main connection points with Seaboard Air Line’s main line. Our friends at Wikipedia tell us this: “The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (reporting mark SAL), which styled itself as "The Route of Courteous Service", was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Predecessor railroads dated from the 1830s and reorganized extensively to rebuild after the American Civil War. The company was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, until 1958, when its main offices were relocated to Richmond, Virginia… At the end of 1925 SAL operated 3,929 miles of road, not including its flock of subsidiaries; at the end of 1960 it reported 4,135 miles. The main line ran from Richmond via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, a major interchange point for passenger trains bringing travelers to the Sunshine State. From Jacksonville, Seaboard rails continued to Tampa, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach and Miami… The complex corporate history of the Seaboard began on March 8, 1832, when its earliest predecessor, the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad was chartered by the legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina to build a railroad from Portsmouth, Virginia, to the Roanoke River port of Weldon, North Carolina. After a couple of months of horse-drawn operation, the first locomotive-pulled service on this line began on September 4, 1834, with a twice-daily train from Portsmouth to Suffolk, Virginia, 17 miles away." This complex history can be better followed by going to this website: https://www.american-rails.com/seaboard.html

Once again the mystery publisher strikes!!!

Hiawatha had Class, and much Glass!!

The photo on the front of this post card is a Beaver Tail observation car used on the Hiawatha routes.

From our friends at Wikipedia: “The Hiawathas were a fleet of named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the Milwaukee Road) between Chicago and various destinations in the Midwest and Western United States. The most notable of these trains was the original Twin Cities Hiawatha, which served the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The train was named for the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. History The first Hiawatha trains ran in 1935. By 1948, five routes carried the Hiawatha name: The Twin Cities Hiawatha — the main line route from Chicago through Milwaukee to St. Paul and Minneapolis, in Morning and Afternoon editions. The Twin Cities Hiawatha was the original Hiawatha, beginning service between Chicago and the Twin Cities on May 29, 1935. The Hiawatha used styled streamlined Class A 4-4-2 steam locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company and was intended to compete directly with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's (Burlington Route) Twin Cities Zephyrs and Chicago and North Western Railway's Twin Cities 400. The North Woods Hiawatha — a spur route off the Chicago-Minnesota main line leading from New Lisbon to Minocqua, Wisconsin The Chippewa-Hiawatha — connected Chicago to Ontonagon in Michigan's Upper Peninsula via Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin The Midwest Hiawatha — used the Milwaukee Road's mainline across Illinois and Iowa to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Omaha, Nebraska (the train split into two parts in Manilla, Iowa) The Olympian Hiawatha — which traversed the Milwaukee mainline from Chicago-Twin Cities-Seattle/Tacoma.” Adam Burns of https://www.american-rails.com/ says that the history of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad’s Hiawatha is multifaceted and long. If you are interested in getting the details, you may want to purchase (or check out of the library) one of these two books: Jim Scribbins' book, "The Hiawatha Story," and "The Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas" by Brian Solomon and John Gruber.

This post card was published by that great post card mystery publisher Railcards.com

Doodlebug???

The information below was taken from this website: https://www.american-rails.com/defect.html By Adam Burns The history of testing for internal track defects dates back to the early 1900s and sadly it all began with a serious accident that occurred on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The incident occurred in 1911 when a passenger train derailed and crashed near Manchester, New York due to what is now known as a transverse fissure, or a crack/defect within a rail that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Four years later in 1915 the Bureau of Standards initiated research into finding a way to test and find this deadly problem, no longer was simply walking the rails to find potential issues effective. It took over a decade for a testing method to be developed and implemented. In 1923 a Dr. Elmer Sperry, who also created the gyroscope among his more than 400 patents he would lay claim to, began development on an induction system that would test for these transverse fissures. Defect detection cars have been scanning the rails for undetectable defects and cracks dating all of the way back to the mid-1920s with the birth of Sperry Rail Service.

Today, the company's equipment is a common sight across America with their signature yellow heavy utility trucks (the classic Doodlebug rail cars have largely since been retired). The original cars used a system known as induction testing to detect defects and newer methods use ultrasonic testing. The classic, retrofitted doodlebugs which Sperry became so well known for over the years have predominantly been replaced by high-tech utility trucks and new rail cars. By 1928 he had perfected the invention and launched his company, Sperry Rail Service. While many of the large Class I railroads operate a few of their such cars, even today, for more than 80 years since its inception Sperry has often been the contractor of choice by railroads to search and scan for transverse fissures and other imperfections hiding within their rails. The induction method uses electrical brushes and low voltage power to create a magnetic field around the rail and the different variations in the field can mean that a unseen defect or crack is apparent within the steel. Later, in the 1950s Sperry developed a new method for finding cracks and imperfections within rails. Ultrasonic testing uses high-frequency sounds pulses directed into the rails to detect problems, typically from a number of different angles. Sperry's most famous defect detection cars (also known as simply Sperry cars) have always been the now-historic gas-electric cars, better known as Doodlebugs. At first Sperry built their own cars but later they purchased them from the J.G. Brill Company. Not only did these cars come fitted with testing equipment they were also full-service, rolling hotels (complete with sleeping quarters, bathrooms, and kitchens) for the crew as many times accommodations were not available along the railroad tracks. Later, the company began acquiring several Doodlebugs secondhand from railroads (from companies such as the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, and Chicago & North Western Railway), which had given up using the more efficient machines to move passengers on lightly populated branch and secondary rail lines. In all Sperry would wind up with nearly 30 of the gas-electric cars and today still employs many of them in regular service, which interestingly haven't changed much since they were built during the first half of the 20th century! As Sperry has improved its testing methods its equipment has become lighter and easier to handle. Because of this the company has begun to retire a few of its gas-electric cars and now employs more versatile heavy utility trucks to search and test for rail defects. The post card was published by Railcards.com The mystery company!!

Hold Your Breath!! We're Going Under Water.

This is a picture of the entrance to the tunnel that runs under the Detroit River so that trains can travel back and forth from Detroit, Michigan in the United States to Winsor, Ontario in Canada. Here are the words on the back of the post card: "The Detroit River Tunnel has the unique disctiction of being the only tunnel of its type ever built. It was constructed in sections, all work being done from the surface of the water without the use of compressed air. The tunnel is operated electrically. Constructioin was started October 1, 1906 and completed July 1, 1910. The length from portal to portal is 1 3/4 miles, and from summit of grade 2 1/2 miles. It was built by the Detroit River Tunnel Company for the M. C. R. R. at a cost of $8,500,000." The M.C.R.R. is the Michigan Central Rail Road. This tunnel gave the New York Central Railroad-controlled company a useful short-cut through southern Ontario connecting Buffalo, Chicago and Detroit. Back on April 5, 2014 I posted a blog about an electric locomotive used for maintaining the right of way in the tunnel: https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/posts/2934863145319975648?q=detroit

This post card is part of the Divided Back Era of post cards. This was from March 1, 1907 to 1915. And I can age the card even closer by seeing that the publisher of the card, S. H. Knox was only in business until 1911. So, the tunnel was completed in 1910 and the business (in Buffalo, New York) ended in 1911. That is a very short time frame of 18 months in which this post card was printed.

Not Speedy Gonzales, but Close!!

The picture on the front of this post card shows a group of Canadian National Railways (CN) "Speeders" lined up to await disposition in the early 1990s at CN's Transcona Shops in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

The history of the "Speeder" below was taken from my favourite author and webiste about anything train-related.

https://www.american-rails.com/speeders.html By Adam Burns "The classic railroad speeders dates back to around 1893 when the Sheffield Velocipede Company developed a primitive gasoline engine motor car (the company, founded by George Sheffield, had originally been in the business of building velocipedes). Just a few years after Sheffield developed its early motor car the company was purchased by Fairbanks-Morse (FM), most famous for its line of diesel locomotives years later. Of all the manufacturers which built speeders over the years unquestionably the Fairmont Gas Engine and Railway Motor Car Company was the most successful and well-known. For 80 years between 1911 and 1991 Fairmont built speeders, around 73,000 of them and even today these they can be seen in use, particularly by hobbyists which prefer them over other models. Fairmont's early railroad speeders were similar to FM's in that they offered little in the way of amenities. However, almost all of Fairmont's models featured cabs to keep crews out of the elements and their easy maintenance made them favorites among both crews and railroads. Early Fairmont models featured a standard two-stroke gas engine, fixed transmission (although later models corrected this by featuring a belt drive). Interestingly, the design was so basic that to put it in reverse one simply had to adjust the on-board sparkplug (although their simplicity endeared them to crews, some of which preferred the older models over newer ones). Because crews enjoyed the older designs Fairmont continued to produce them, such as the M-9 model, which was one of the oldest designs the company manufactured for years. Later models featured a four-stroke engine and varied in size to accommodate needed crew space, some of which held anywhere between 4 to 6 individuals. One of Fairmont's unique models was the FT, which featured an air-cooled (instead of the traditional water-cooled models), opposed-piston engine and featured amenities like heat, cushioned seats and a totally enclosed cab. Overall, Fairmont's models did not change much over the years and stayed mostly the same save for their crew size and amenities with most models able to cruise down the tracks between 25 and 40 mph. When railroad speeders became a stable of a railroad's maintenance department they were ideal for crews to inspect track while rolling along or transport them to a desired location (and in some cases spot for a trailing train if the line was poorly maintained or prone to rock/mudslides). However, as highways, roads, and automobiles became better constructed railroads now had the versatility to use utility trucks and cars (which could carry much more equipment and tools than a speeder) to not only drive to a location but also come equipped with rail wheels (known as Hyrails) to inspect the line."

The post card was published through the efforts of a team. The photographer was Morgan B. Turney; the distributor was Railfan Canada (their post card number 20) and the publisher was North Kildonan Publications. They are still around. Here is their website: http://www.cdnrwymod.com/body.htm

Bashing through the Snow!!!

The information (including the title of this blog post of mine) about the Wedge Plow was taken from this blogger's site: https://theroadhome.ca/2018/06/18/bashing-through-the-snow-northern-style/ The blogger is Caroline Ross and she posted on June 18, 2018. The Road Home is a blog about history, travel, nature and the expansive joys of everyday life written by Caroline Ross. Caroline is a sea kayaker, history advocate, outdoor enthusiast, creative spirit and collector of new experiences living in Parksville, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. Many of her stories relate to her local area or her travels around British Columbia and beyond. Caroline is endlessly curious about the world around her. She thrives on exploring new places, meeting new people and delving into natural and historical landscapes. Her inquisitiveness inspires her to search out the stories behind what she encounters — to unearth the details, unravel the threads, tease out the meaning — so she can experience life fully, deeply and with heart. The Road Home is Caroline’s vehicle for sharing her stories and experiences with you as we all strive to live more present, informed, passionate lives.

Here is what Caroline wrote: "It looks, from the front, like a bad accident between a cargo ship and a loading ramp. But this mass of metal on display in Nakusp, British Columbia, played an important role in Canadian rail history. Winter-worn residents of rail-side communities might recognize this machine for what it is: a snowplow, or, more accurately, a wedge plow, used to push snow off rail lines in winter. Wedge plows are specially designed to move large volumes of snow from railway tracks in North America. The big lower wedge (ramp-like portion) lifts snow high above track level, while the vertical “prow” directs the white stuff to the sides of the track, away from the front of the train. Rectangular wings on either side of the plow’s body can be adjusted outward to help widen the span of the plowed path and prevent snow from falling back against the train. Wedge plows do not have engines; they must be pushed by one or more locomotives, ideally at speeds high enough to clear solid paths through heavy, wet or frozen accumulations. Plowing deeply covered tracks can sometimes be a long (and loud) process, but it’s a necessary one where annual snowfalls are among the highest. There is a wedge plow in Nakusp, British Columbia Canada — #400648 in the Canadian Pacific line — is one of just 36 such plows constructed by CP’s Montreal-based Angus Shops in the 1920s. The plow served in the CP fleet for decades. One just like it may have bulldozed wintry drifts from the old Nakusp & Slocan Railway (1894-1988), which connected the West Kootenays with the CP trunk line in Revelstoke. Other identical plows undoubtedly carved paths for trains carrying Kootenay ore and timber over Rogers Pass to markets in eastern Canada. In 2016, CP Rail donated the plow (along with a 70s-era caboose) to the Village of Nakusp. The Nakusp Rail Society has since restored the plow (and is working on the caboose), in partnership with the Village of Nakusp, the Arrow Lakes Historical Society and a host of enthusiastic local volunteers." The picture on the front of this post card is a wedge plow that belonged to the Vermont Railway and it was taken on a bright August day in 1973.

Harvard College made Money because of this Bridge!

The bridge that stood into the 21st century was built in 1900 under chief engineer William Jackson, and was designed to carry the Charlestown Elevated railway in addition to vehicle traffic. In the post card to the left you can see horse and buggy (mailed September 23, 1909) as the vehicle traffic.

On the Wikipedia page there is an extremely similar picture, but there are cars instead of horse and buggy (picture from 1928). Our friends at Wikipedia tell us the following: The first government-sanctioned ferry crossing of the Charles was chartered at this location in the 1630s. It was operated by various individuals until it was given to Harvard College "in perpetuity" in 1640, to support the college financially. In 1640, the Massachusetts General Court granted Harvard College the revenue from the Boston-Charlestown ferry to help support the institution. The Harvard Corporation in its capacity managed the Charlestown ferry from the 1640s until 1785, and after the completion of the Charles River Bridge in 1785. The first bridge on this site was known as the Charles River Bridge, chartered in 1785 and opened on June 17, 1786. As a condition of chartering the bridge, a sum of £200 was paid annually to Harvard College to compensate for the lost ferry income. The bridge was privately built and operated, with tolls producing profits for the investors during the charter period, after the initial expense was paid off. In 1792, the West Boston Bridge was chartered, connecting West Boston to Cambridge. In compensation, the legislature extended the charter period of the Charles River Bridge by 30 years, but the unpopular double tolls on Sundays were eliminated. Traffic to the bridge was facilitated by the laying out of the Medford Turnpike in 1803. https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/last-elevated-train-runs-in-boston.html On June 25 in 2004, Boston's last elevated train pulled into North Station. For over a century, Bostonians had avoided the congested streets below by riding trains carried on huge steel tracks overhead. When the El was built in 1901, people were thrilled to pay the five-cent fare to travel in mahogany-paneled cars from one shiny station to another. But over time city officials and most residents came to see the once-elegant El as a noisy eyesore. Gradually elevated lines were replaced with subways, and the tracks were demolished. The final run of the Green Line trolley on the last half-mile of elevated track marked a milestone in the modernization of the nation's oldest subway system, and, at the same time, the end of an era. The bridge (both the structure built in 1900 and its replacement) was officially named the North Washington Street Bridge until 2024. In October 2024, the new bridge was officially named the William Felton "Bill" Russell Bridge in honor of Bill Russell. Russell was a player and player-coach for the Boston Celtics during 1956–1969, during which the team won 11 NBA championships. Locally, the bridge has been commonly known as the Charlestown Bridge,[ although The Boston Globe has noted that residents of Charlestown called it the North End Bridge. The Globe has opined the 2024 naming of the bridge after Bill Russell "puts an end to the hundred-year argument over whether the span should be known as the 'Charlestown Bridge' or the 'North End Bridge'."

The post card was published by the Reichner Brothers who had offices in Boston, Munchen, and Leipzig. This was printed before World War I (September 23, 1909) so the printers were still in Germany. The company lasted from 1906 to 1914.

Again, Not a Locomotive!!

A couple of weeks ago I posted a post card without a picture of a locomotive on it. It is obvious that today's post is in the same league as that post - no locomotive; in fact, it is sort of the exact opposite.

It is a picture of a caboose. That means that today's post card is over 30 years old. Cabooses were used on railroads in both the United States and Canada until the 1980s. The caboose on the front of today's post card posed for the picture in 1970. I am living in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. A local railway museum is the supplier of the details about cabooses in today's blog post. The museum is the Alberta Railway Museum in the northeast part of this city. Here is their website where I found the information below: https://albertarailwaymuseum.com/cabooses/ The caboose had many nicknames among railway workers: crummy, cab, van, doghouse, hayrack, waycar, conductor’s van, and even “brain box” or “brains box”. Modern CNR employees called it the cab or caboose while CPR employees called it the van as did CN eastern lines employees. The caboose was the conductor’s home and office. The conductor was responsible for the entire train, except the locomotive. The conductor and engineer work together to keep the train on schedule. The conductor must know exactly who and what was on his/her train, how many, the origin and destination of each item or passenger, etc. The conductor was assisted by one or two trainmen. They threw switches, coupled and uncoupled cars, checked brakes and made sure the train ran safely. The head end brakeman rode in the locomotive cab and the tail end brakeman or “brakie” rode in the caboose with the conductor. In the days before the installation of air brakes, brakemen had to climb on the roof of the train to manually set and release the brakes. The conductor and the brakeman rode in the cupola, which was the raised portion on the roof of the caboose or on its side. They looked down the length of the train to see or smell “hot boxes”: overheated axle bearings that could catch fire or seize up and cause a derailment. They also looked for dragging equipment, shifted loads, fires, loose straps, or hoboes. If anything out of the ordinary was detected the conductor signaled a stop with his lantern or pulled the emergency brake. The problem was fixed by the train crew or the car was set out on a siding to be repaired later. During the early days of railroading, conductors and brakemen saw the caboose as their home away from home. Each crew would often bring personal belongings from home. Conductors made their own symbol to put on the roof of their caboose to help them find their “home” in a crowded rail yard. At the end of a day’s work, the caboose was taken off the train and set out on a siding. The crew would eat and sleep in it overnight and be put on another train the next day. Each caboose came with three benches with mattresses stored underneath, a coal bin, a stove for heating and cooking, a sink, water for drinking and washing, a conductor’s desk, and an ice block refrigerator. The caboose also had a first-aid kit, stretcher, switchman’s hand lanterns, and a flag/flare kit. Newer cabooses had no beds, but did have an electric refrigerator, heaters, an oven, a toilet, lockers, an eating table, and a conductor’s desk. Eventually, the caboose was phased out. In February 1988, the Canadian Transport Commission gave permission to Canadian railways to replace the caboose with the new end-of-train unit. The conductor moved into the locomotive cab with the engineman and front-end brakeman. By the fall of 1988, CNR and CPR began the removal of the caboose from active duty. Trains are now operated by a conductor and locomotive engineer both located in the cab of the locomotive.

This is another post card (I have 204) from the publisher "Railcards.com" about whom I know nothing. The back of the card tells us that this Soo Line Caboose was photographed at Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

The Tehachapi Loop - Part 2

On May 16, 2012, I posted a post card with a picture of the Tehachapi Loop near Walong, California. Here is that link: https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/2934863145319975648/8903353205476421380

That post referred to the fact that I have another post card of the Loop. Well, here is that post card. This is a picture of a Southern Pacific train with a bay window caboose. That caboose is rolling over the top of its own mixed freight train as it passes around the loop. This website https://www.american-rails.com/tehachapi.html has an article about the Tehachapi Loop. This website is worth bookmarking for all sorts of interesting information about railroads, locomotives, and many other railroad related information. Adam Burns know a lot about a lot. The Tehachapi Loop is a famous spiral section of a railroad through Tehachapi Pass in Southern California. Built by the Southern Pacific between 1874-1876, it is considered an engineering marvel for its ability to allow trains to traverse the steep Tehachapi Mountains. Its intent was to gain elevation at a manageable gradient and has worked so well for nearly 150 years it has remained virtually unchanged and in regular use. The loop extends 0.73 miles with a diameter of 1,200 feet and a height difference of 77 feet between its highest and lowest points. It is still a vital part of the area's transportation infrastructure and is now a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Today, it remains an important artery of Union Pacific.

This post card was published by Railcards.com It is still a mystery to me as to who this company was.