The Prairie Dog Central Railway

The Prairie Dog Central Railway is a heritage railway northwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. The picture on the front of this post card

is a train being pulled by City of Winnipeg Hydro No. 3. It is a 4-4-0 (Ammerican) in the Whyte nomenclature of classification of locomotives. It was built by Dubs & Company in Glasgow, Scotland. The Vintage Locomotive Society, Inc. operates excursions June through September. This is their webiste: https://www.pdcrailway.com/ The Prairie Dog Central Railway is a short line railway owned and operated by The Vintage Locomotive Society Inc. a Registered Charity, volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and operation of a vintage steam locomotive and train. Events generally depart at 11:00 AM and we travel directly to Grosse Isle, approximately a 50 to 60-minute train ride. The stopover is approximately 75 to 90 minutes depending on the entertainment. Our arrival time back at Inkster Junction Station is approximately 2:45 PM. Initiated in 1970 by The Vintage Locomotive Society Inc., the first operations were in July, 1970. From 1970–1974, the train operated out of Charleswood on the now-abandoned Canadian National Cabot Subdivision. From 1975 to 1996 the train operated out of St. James, immediately west of Polo Park on a now abandoned Canadian National Railways line. Locomotive No. 3 is a 4-4-0 built in 1882 by Dübs and Company in Glasgow, Scotland, for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and later for the City of Winnipeg Hydro. From 2001 to 2009, it underwent a complete frame-off overhaul, including the manufacture of a new boiler. No. 3 is the oldest operating steam locomotive in Canada. They also own a diesel locomotive; 4138 is a classic EMD GP9 which was built in November 1958 by Electro-Motive Division of General Motors at La Grange, Illinois for the Grand Trunk Western. A GP9 model, it has 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW).

The photo on the front was taken by D. Shores. The post card was published by The Vintage Locomotive Society, Inc. P.O. Box 33021 L155 - 1485 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3G 0W4. They did not operate in 2020 because of the Covid virus. You may want to ride the train later.

Going Up and Over in New Mexico

The front of this post card shows two steam locomotives very close to each other, but not one attached to the other. This is because these engines

are going up Raton Pass on the Santa Fe Railroad line.
Raton Pass is a 2,388 meter high (7,835 ft) mountain pass between New Mexico and Colorado. It stretches from Raton, New Mexico and Trinidad, Colorado. It is northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico and straight south of Puebl0, Colorado, but not close to either of them; it is approximately 290 km northeast of Santa Fe on the border between the two states. Captain William Becknell discovered the pass while he was surveying for the Santa Fe Trail in 1821. This pass was part of the route between Kansas City and Santa Fe when the pioneers were out to settle the West. Today you can travel on Interstate 25 through the pass.
During the 1800s, the pass was the main route into New Mexico for the Santa Fe Railroad as it's primary route through the mountains. Unfortunately, the route over the pass included gradients of up to 3.5%. That is why you see two engines on the front of this post card. There was always a locomotive around to help the scheduled trains get up and over the pass. Finally having enough of this, the Santa Fe began work on the "Belen Cutoff" in October of 1902. It's completion in 1908 meant that the trains no longer had to negotiate the steep grades of the Raton Pass. They could glide (in comparison) over a maximum grade of 1.25%. Having said that, Amtrak still used the pass twice a day for its passenger service.

The post card comes from early in the Divided Back Era (March 31, 1907 - 1915); it was mailed on April 20, 1907. Williamson-Haffner Company was a publisher of lithographic souvenir books and view-cards of the American West. While their views were largely based on photographic reproduction, many scenes were artist drawn. They also produced comic postcards. They were based in Denver, Colorado and only existed from 1905 to 1910. The author of this post card was lucky to find one made by this publisher.

Way, Way Up There!!!

The train on the front of this post card is crossing the Pecos River near where it meets the Rio Grande River in Texas. The train and railroad was originally owned by the Texas & New Orleans Railroad. This railroad, along with many of its own subidiaries, eventually became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad System. The following information was gleaned from a couple of sites on Wikipedia. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad

was chartered as the Sabine and Galveston Bay Railroad and Lumber Company in 1856, and was formed to build a railroad from Madison (now Orange) in Orange County to tidewater at Galveston Bay. Ground breaking was on August 27, 1857 outside Houston and real construction work began in April, 1858. In late 1876 the railroad’ gauge was converted from 5 ft 6 in to standard gauge. In 1878 the Texas and New Orleans, Charles Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company, and the Louisiana Western Railroad Company reached an agreement and the line was finished from Orange to New Orleans. The Louisiana Western Extension Railroad Company was chartered in Texas to build from Orange to the Louisiana boundary and the first through train ran from Houston to New Orleans on August 30, 1880. 1881 C. P. Huntington, acting for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, bought the Texas and New Orleans as well as many other railroads in the southern United States. As a result of this acquiring of railroads by Southern Pacific, The Texas and New Orleans Railroad found itself as part of a major transcontinental route. In 1882, The T&NO made over $1,500,000 and owned 36 locomotives as well as over 1000 pieces of rolling stock. Also in 1882 the T&NO acquired the 103-mile (166 km) Sabine and East Texas Railway Company. Many more companies were merged into T&NO from 1880 to 1900. In 1934 all of the railroads that the T&NO was leasing were merged into T&NO, making it the largest Texas railroad with 3,713 miles (5,975 km) of road (not all in Texas). On November 1, 1961 the remaining 3,385 miles (5,448 km) merged into the Southern Pacific and the T&NO ceased to exist. Trains on the Sunset Route of the Southern Pacific lines have crossed the Pecos River on three different bridges, completed in 1883, 1892, and 1944. The most famous was the 1892 Pecos High Bridge, for many years the highest railroad bridge in North America. On the original Sunset Route, completed in 1883, a low bridge was located at the mouth of the Pecos River, where it joins the Rio Grande. To reach this crossing, trains between Comstock and Langtry had to follow a winding route called the Loop Line, which descended southward down steep grades into the canyons of the Rio Grande, passed through two tunnels and deep cuts, and ran along ledges where the danger of rock slides was constant. In 1892 the Pecos crossing was moved northward five miles upstream from the junction with the Rio Grande, in order to eliminate the Loop Line and shorten the rail distance between San Antonio and El Paso by eleven miles. The new line reached the Pecos at a point where the river flows through a deep gorge. The Pecos High Bridge was built there in only eighty-seven working days, between November 3, 1891, and February 20, 1892. Some colorful legends of Judge Roy Bean date from these days, when he served as coroner after construction accidents. The first train to cross the bridge was a special carrying C. P. Huntington, president of the Southern Pacific, on March 30, 1892. The 1892 high bridge was built by the Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and was of the metal viaduct style with cantilever center sections. It was supported by twenty-four towers and had a total length of 2,180 feet. The rails stood 321 feet above the river. The bridge was thus the highest railroad bridge in North America and the third highest in the world (exceeded only by the 401-foot Garabit Viaduct in France, built in 1884, and the 336-foot Loa Viaduct in Bolivia, built in 1889). For many years it was a tradition for trains to pause near the bridge and proceed slowly so that passengers could view the canyon, the landmark bridge, and the river below. In 1909 and 1910 the structure was significantly reinforced, the original four-leg central towers were converted to six-leg towers, and the length was reduced to 1,516 feet by a filled embankment at the west end. Additional reinforcement was added in 1929. Finally, with the increased rail traffic during World War II, it became clear that a new, heavier structure was needed. Construction was begun in August 1943 at a site 440 feet downstream from the 1892 bridge. The 1892 bridge was dismantled in 1949, with sections sold to highway departments and local governments in several states. The back of the post card tells us that part of the bridge is used to cross the Wabash River in the state of Indiana.

The post card as rounded corners; not very many of the post cards in my collection do. It was published by Kustom Quality out of El Paso, Texas. I know it was published after 1963 because there is a zip code included in the company's address. It is still in existence today, although they don't have a website.

Logs!! Lots of Logs!!!!!!

This black and white picture is on the front of a "Real Photo" postcard.

You can see on the right-hand side of the card that the locomotive belongs to the "Columbia and N..." Scratched onto the picture, in the top, is are the words, "Columbia and Nehalem R.R. yard B. Goe. and J.T. Labbe collecton" I have written the narrative below about the Columbia and Nehalem Railroad. I have taken content from these two websites, which I encourage to visit: http://www.twrps.com/history/columbia-river-logging/the-columbia-and-nehalem-valley-railway-company/ http://www.brian894x4.com/Kerryrailroadhistory.html On March 7, 1902, the partners by the surnames of Goodsell, Giltner, and Sewell of Portland form a company. They plan a train terminal at Columbia City and another at Pittsburg. Columbia City is north of Portland Oregon on the Columbia River, just after the river turns north, and Pittsburg is west of that about 25 miles. On April 25, 1902, The Columbia City Railroad (to be renamed to the Columbia & Nehalem River Railroad) is designed to be 10-12 miles long and will run from Columbia city westward to the waters of Oak Ranch Creek. It will use 6 logging engines. Four years later, on June 29, 1906, a large timber land deal was made. 5,000 acres were sold by Giltner and Sewell to Peninsular Lumber Co. for $200,000. The deal includes a logging railroad five miles long with dockage on the Columbia River front near Columbia City. The sales price is based on stumpage of $1.25 per thousand. The Peninsular Lumber Company operates a sawmill near St. Johns and will raft logs up river (another 25 miles) to the mill. Enter Albert S. Kerry. Albert S Kerry’s venture into the logging and lumber industry dates as far back as the 1890s and spanned the state of Washington and the Canadian Yukon Territory. Kerry’s Oregon venture, the subject of this article, dates as far back as 1912, when Albert S. Kerry apparently united with the Wright Blodgett Company, the Blodgett Company, Limited and the Oregon-Washington Timber Company to build a new railroad from the Columbia River into the Nehalem Valley. Significant building of the railroad towards the Nehalem valley began in approximately 1912, when some 6000 acres of A.S. Kerry timber holdings had burned. To salvage the dead trees, they have to be logged within three years. Construction of the railroad began on February 17, 1913 at a point near the Columbia River, called Kerry Island, a little more than 1 mile east of the town of Westport, Oregon. By June, 1914, 8 miles had been completed. A year later, the mileage was 14. By July 1, 1915, the first train ran over the line. By July 16, 1916, the initial mainline of the new Columbia & Nehalem River railroad was completed with 24 miles of track laid. By the end of the year, the line would reach 27 miles. This route would take the line from nearly sea level to straight up the North Oregon Coast Mountain Range, an elevation over 1100 feet, and into the Nehalem River Valley. It was nearly all completed by labor using hand-made carts, pulled by mules over 20lb steel rails. At the summit, the line passed through one of the few logging railroad tunnels ever to be built. The line begins at the log boom at Kerry Island, which consisted of about three miles of water frontage along the Columbia River slough. A log dump trestle approximately 1 mile long was built, with as many as 6 separate log dumps. A separate spur left the log dump and connected with the Spokane Portland & Seattle RR, (I have blogged about this railroad and its shrewd owner on March 23, 2022) which ran past the Kerry log dump. The Columbia & Nehalem River Railroad, most commonly known as the Kerry Line, was one of the most famous early 20th century logging railroads in the Northwest. What distinguishes the Kerry line from most of the hundreds of other logging railroads that operated from the late 1800s through the 1930s in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, was the sheer number of logs that were hauled from the woods between 1915 and 1938…over 3 billion, 104 million board feet of timber. It began by pulling out all of the timber that had burned in the forest fire and just kept on continuing. Another thing that distinguishes the Kerry line from most other logging railroads was its 1875 foot long tunnel. It was one of the longest of the few logging railroad tunnels that ever existed in the Western U.S. and Canada. And one of only three logging railroad tunnels in Northwest Oregon.

The back of the post card shows that it was published by The L. L. Cook Co. of Milwaukee. All rights are reserved. I have 5 post cards in my collection from this publisher. The L.L. Cook Company was founded in 1921 and was one of the two largest postcard publishing companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin up to the 1960s, producing thousands of postcards with scenes from different cities and states across the country. In 1969 the L.L. Cook Company was sold to the General Aniline & Film (GAF) Corporation and shifted focus from producing postcards to maintaining a photofinishing business. It formally dissolved in 1980.

On the Turntable, Ready to Go

The train tracks that this locomotive used to run on are still in place. However, they are no longer owned by the Chicago & North Western Railroad. This article, found on the website of the current owner is worth a read: https://metrarail.com/about-metra/our-history/chicago-north-western-history What is now the Union Pacific (UP) West line started as the Galena & Chicago Union in 1848, the first railroad in Chicago. The two other UP lines had different origins in the 1850s. Chicago & North Western (C&NW) owned all three for most of their existence. These lines passed to UP ownership when the C&NW merged with UP in 1995. UP West timetables are “Kate Shelley Rose,” named for a girl from Iowa who saved a train from disaster in 1881. The three Chicago area commuter lines that are now owned by Union Pacific spent much of their existence as part of the Chicago & North Western. Each began independently before becoming part of the C&NW: • The Northwest Line, which started as the Illinois & Wisconsin in 1854, became part of the C&NW when that system was formed in 1859. • The West Line, which began as the Galena & Chicago Union in 1848, became part of the C&NW system in 1864. • The North Line, which started as the Chicago & Milwaukee in 1854, was leased by the C&NW starting in 1866 and was bought by the C&NW in 1883. Commuter service on all three lines developed gradually, particularly in the years following the Civil War and the Chicago fire of 1871. The fire especially made living in the suburbs, away from the congestion and noise of the city, more appealing, and the railroad promoted and benefitted from the trend. By the end of the century, the railroad’s passenger terminal at Kinzie and Wells had become too small for the number of commuters and intercity passengers using it. The railroad spared no expense on a new $23 million facility, which opened on June 4, 1911, on a site bounded by Madison, Lake, Clinton and Canal. It featured a three-story, 202-by-117-foot main waiting room, a dining room, women’s rooms with writing desks and hairdressing services, smoking rooms for men, a barber shop, hospital rooms and a variety of other features. In the 1920s, the railroad improved several suburban depots and introduced some new aluminum-alloy commuter cars. It also leased a private car, the Deerpath, to wealthy businessmen on its North line in 1929. But during that same decade, the company was noticing a severe drop in local train passengers due to the growing popularity of the automobile. Like the rest of the country, the railroad was battered by the Depression in the 1930s, leading to a nine-year bankruptcy starting in 1935. The C&NW’s introduction of its famed “400” intercity trains that decade was one of the few bright spots. In the 1940s and 1950s, passenger trains continued to lose riders to the automobile and airplane. Commuter trains fared better than intercity trains but still were generally losing money. The C&NW sought to reverse that trend under new leader Ben Heineman, who came aboard in 1956. The Heineman era included catching up on deferred maintenance, modernizing ticketing and collection methods, revising schedules and adjusting fares. The railroad also replaced the commuter fleet with new bi-level coaches and shuttered about 20 close-in stations so it could concentrate on suburban service. And it rehabbed several locomotives and instituted a push-pull operation into and out of Chicago. Like other railroads in the 1960s and 1970s, the C&NW sought to deal with losses by diversifying, and by 1970 the railroad was a money-losing component of a much larger corporation. In 1972, Heineman sold the C&NW to an employee-led investment group. Two years later, the RTA was formed and it began to subsidize the region’s commuter trains. The C&NW entered a purchase-of-service agreement with the RTA, an arrangement that continues for the three lines, although the agreement is now between Metra, which started in 1984, and UP, which bought the C&NW in 1995. The post card was published by the Audio Visual Designs Company. They included the logo of the railroad in the bottom-left corner of this post card.

You can see that it matches the logo on the tender of the locomotive in the picture above. That is it below here and to the right.

A Long Way from Japan.

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card represents one of the most popular

classes of steam locomotives ever built. It is a "Mikado". This webiste is very good at giving a history of the engine and its popularity. This is only an excerpt; I recommend that you link to the original ariticle. https://www.american-rails.com/mikado.html The Mikado type was the workhorse steam locomotive for the railroad industry during the 20th century and prior to the switch to diesel-electric technology. The design is often regarded as the classic American steam locomotive for this very reason. The 2-8-2 design (a blend of the 2-8-0 and 2-6-2 wheel arrangements) offered just the right amount of power, pull, and speed to be used for about any type of service, from passenger trains to freights moving over stiff grades. Baldwin Locomotive Works built a fleet of narrow-gauge (three-foot, six-inch) 2-8-2s for the Japan Railways in 1893. It is here where the term Mikado, which refers to a Japanese emperor, is said to have been applied to the 2-8-2 design. he first 2-8-2s employed in standard road service that featured the larger fireboxes and boilers (for increased steam pressure, and thus, more power) is often credited to the Virginian Railway; in 1909 the coal-hauler acquired a fleet of 42 units from Baldwin (#420-461) listed as Class MB. Other railroads to use early examples of the 2-8-2 include the Bismark, Washburn & Great Falls Railway which used a few beginning in 1903 and the Northern Pacific's initial batch of 1905. Other railroads that would own several hundred examples of Mikado types include the Baltimore & Ohio, Santa Fe, Chesapeake & Ohio, Burlington, Milwaukee Road, Illinois Central, Louisville & Nashville, Missouri Pacific, Pennsylvania, Southern, and Union Pacific. The locomotive pictured is shown on the Kentucky & Tennesee Railroad (K&T). While no trains run under that name any more, there are trains that travel on the tracks once owned by the K&T. This website gives an excellent history of the line: https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/railroads/historic-appalachian-railroads/kt/ The Kentucky & Tennessee Railroad was formed in 1902 to serve the timber and coal reserves of the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. The original line was a short spur off the Cincinatti, New Orleans and Texas Pacific mainline run by the Southern Railway. After a reorganization into the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway in 1904, the line was extended along the South Fork of the Cumberland River to access the rich coal and timber resources owned by the parent company and included the classic concrete arch bridge at Yamacraw. Although there were aspirations to extend the line south into Knoxville, Tennessee, the K&T’s mainline progressed as far as Bell Farm, KY, in 1923. At Bell Farm the road met with the 25-mile long logging railroad also owned by Stearns Coal and Lumber , and timber was hauled the 21 miles to the railroad’s origin and sawmill at Stearns, KY. The last addition to the railroad was the mile-long spur from Comargo to the “modern” coal operation at Devils Jump (Blue Heron) in 1938. Traffic consisted of timber to the sawmill and coal from numerous mines hauled back to Stearns to be interchanged with the Southern. The K&T also ran a modest Passenger service between Bell Farm and Stearns. At its high tide, the K&T hauled about 1,000 passengers and 3,500 tons of coal daily. Coal operations on the western end of the road at Exodus and Fidelity played out in the 1930s leaving only the timber connection at Bell Farm to keep the line open, but the lumber railroad was shut down in 1948 and the line between White Oak Junction and Bell Farm abandoned in 1949. The large mine at Cooperative was closed in 1950, and the line was cut back to Oz in 1953. Passenger service was systematically cut back following the closure of the mines until the last segment between Stearns and Worley ran its last in 1952. In 1953, the tipples at Yamacraw and Worley were closed leaving only the mine at Blue Heron and Mine 16 at Oz. K&T operations remained similar for the next decade, and every year brought more visitors to see the eclectic steam locomotive fleet operated by the railroad. The K&T also operated a pair of fan trips for the NHRS along its “route of the painted rocks” using one of its now-rare steamers. The K&T finally dieselized in 1963 when it bought a trio of used Alco S2s from the Denver & Rio Grande Western followed by a pair of S2s bought for spare parts from other roads, one of which was returned to service as K&T 104. The last steamers, K&T #10 and #12, departed in February 1964. Blue Heron closed in the early ’60s followed by Mine 16 at Oz in 1966 leaving only a couple of truck-dump operations loading on the line. In 1967, a brand new operation at Barthell named “Justus Mine” was opened and flood loaded about 30 Southern “Big Red” 100T hoppers per day. Trains typically consisted of three S2s and about 15 cars, but each S2 was only rated for 3 100T hoppers on the 3.5% grade up to Stearns from Barthell making for a typical loaded train of 3 diesels and 9 hoppers (the K&T never used cabooses). Justus Mine was closed in 1987, but the K&T’s legacy lives on. The Big South Fork Scenic Railway continues to operate tourist trains between Stearns and Blue Heron and perform switching at Stearns. The BSFSR uses S2s, including one of the original K&T units, to haul passengers along the banks of the Cumberland River to the restored tipple and mining museum at Blue Heron. The K&T’s motive power consisted of used Alco S2s which it had overhauled and outfitted for multiple-unit operations on their way to the K&T in 1963. The diesels originally wore D&RGW black and gold, but later switched to the white and burgundy scheme now worn by the BSFSR. A three-locomotive set was standard on the K&T which allowed a good rotation through the maintenance shop. Interestingly, the K&T learned about driving and maintaining Alcos from its neighbor, the Tennessee Railroad, who’s diesel fleet consisted entirely of similar Alco RS1s.

This post card continues the series of cards published by Railcards.com.

Anybody got a compass?

The picture on the front of this post card was taken after 1952, when the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad

purchased this locomotive from the Southern Railroad. The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad has a lovely history. This version of the history was taken from this website: https://www.american-rails.com/etwnc.html The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina is a legendary small railroad located in its namesake states that dated to the late 19th century. The road's nickname as the Tweetsie inspired today's Tweetsie Railroad, a tourist line that hosts excursions near the original property. To railfans the attraction of the ET&WNC was due to its narrow-gauge operations, which remained in use until late 1950. However, to locals the Tweetsie was beloved for its willingness to go out of its way to help local communities from offering free rides to even doing errands for folks! What ultimately spurred the development of this classic line was the need to move raw materials, such as timber and iron, out of the mountains and to market. Interestingly, despite its remote nature the ET&WNC had multiple connections to larger, Class I systems. Today, the remaining section of the Tweetsie remains in use by shortline East Tennessee Railway. The ET&WNC's history begins in 1866 when it was originally chartered that year by the Tennessee General Assembly to connect Johnson City, Tennessee with Cranberry, North Carolina (a distance of around 32 miles) deep within the isolated Blue Ridge Mountains to serve the Tarheel State's western timber industry and iron mines. Unfortunately, a lack of any serious type of financial backing precluded any construction attempts and resulted in the charter being left undisturbed for nearly 20 years. Then in 1873 the railroad was acquired by financier Ario Pardee through his Cranberry Iron & Coal Company. Under Pardee's guidance the route was opened between Johnson City and Hampton, Tennessee on on August 22, 1881. This 14.1-mile section was extended to Cranberry by July 3, 1882 giving the railroad a total system of 34 miles; soon it was doing quite well moving primarily iron and timber from North Carolina with interchanges at Johnson City available via the Southern Railway and Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio Railway. The route was built to three-foot, narrow-gauge standards to reduce construction costs and more easily navigate the rugged Blue Ridge. While the ET&WNC did have grades as high as 3% and 4%, overall it was a masterfully engineered line designed by Thomas Matson. Early on the railroad became well-known by locals for its kind-heartedness (giving it another name as the Railway with a Heart, it even used heart-shaped punches for its tickets), which carried on throughout the years. For instance, during lean times such as the Great Depression the railroad helped out by offering folks free trips to wherever they were going. Through World War I little changed for the ET&WNC until it opened a 32-mile extension to the northeast at Boone, North Carolina known as the Linville River Railroad in 1919. Overall, the Tweetsie) was a 66-mile railroad during peak operations with two very short branches in the Tarheel State that connected Minneapolis and Pineola. At this time freight traffic consisted of not only iron and timber but also furniture, other wood products, tanneries, brick, and agriculture. There were also two rayon plants that sprang up around Elizabethton, which offered the railroad additional traffic. While the ET&WNC did offer passenger services the railroad was unique in that in never operated scheduled passenger trains year-round, only during the summer months. Despite this setup, due to the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and scenery along the tracks thousands of tourists were drawn to the property annually to ride the trains. For power, the company used primarily, narrow-gauge 4-6-0 ten-wheelers although it also operated small 0-8-0 switchers as well. The decline of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad began in 1940 when historic flooding along the Linville River Railroad east of Cranberry forced the entire section to be abandoned due to little online traffic (aside from curious tourists) and the cost of repairs. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the decision on March 22 of that year and the Tweetsie again became just a 34-mile system. While World War II offered the ET&WNC strong traffic this rapidly declined following the conflict as the local remaining iron and timber industry disappeared. With no reason to continue operating its route between Elizabethton and Cranberry, the section was abandoned with the final train operating the line on a warm but somber October 16, 1950. What remained was about a 10-mile section between Johnson City and Elizabethton that primarily served the rayon plants and had already been operating as a dual-gauge line for several years. Through the 1960s the railroad continued to use steam power (#207-208), two former Southern 2-8-0 Consolidations it acquired in 1952. One of those – #207 – is pictured on the front of this post card. The company finally decided to switch to diesel locomotives when it swapped its 2-8-0s with the Southern for a pair of Alco RS3s, #209-210. The railroad would also pick up two former Southern Pacific RS32s, #211-212. During the diesel era the company's livery was nothing fancy, consisting of a simplified version of the former Southern freight scheme; black with an orange lower stripe and gold numbering/lettering. In 1983 the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad name disappeared forever when the property was purchased by the Green Bay Packaging Company and renamed it as the East Tennessee Railway. Today, the line is still known by the same except it now a part of the Genesee & Wyoming family of shortlines with connections to both Class Is CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. Interestingly, one of the ET&WNC's steamers was saved following the closure of the narrow-gauge lines in 1950 and today operates on the Tweetsie Railroad, 4-6-0 #12.

The post card was published by Railcards.com. They are the ones who came up with the title of this blog by writing it on the back of this post card.