Thanks GS! I'm glad to have found a place where people who love the Milwaukee are openly discussing it! Everyone's knowledge and narrative has made this the most interesting forum I've come across! Thanks to everyone who is sharing their knowledge and experiences so openly! This is a great place! Bob
Back to Alberton we go! The little museum on wheels is a great place to spend hours and hours..... This is an older system map of the CMStP&P, along with various photos along the line: The large picture frame has a bunch of photos local photographers have taken on the MILW, mostly local area stuff, and all around it are corporate ads from magazines and a poster or 2: This photo shows a large pen & ink drawing of Missoula's depot, more local photos, most of these are very old from the early days of the RR: This is a semaphore blade (not sure of location), conductor's stepstand, and various gauges and electrical aparatus from the substations:
By the paint style on that blade, it's from a train order signal- Milw or NP(?). Unless Darrel or someone else there knows it's origin, might be difficult to know the original use site. This style replaced the earlier "square shoulder" seen in days going back to CM&PS RY. There was a predecessor to the square shoulder on Lines West. A pointed blade, lower quadrant style. But I have never seen one preserved, as they went away very early during Lines West years. Anyhow, I can say it is not from Superior. Don't remember that style ever installed at Haugan. Seems like a lot of the others were closed while still having square shoulders. Some palces on the NMD still had square shoulders quite late. Boxcab E50
More of Alberton's RR museum (28 pictures strong!)... A monster MILW playing card, various crewman grips, and lanterns: A little of the old, a little of the new. The last train thru Alberton's crew poses for a bittersweet photo, and vintage photos of Alberton decorate this wall: More photos from along the line, and a couple interpretive posters about the electrification: Various posters, certificates, and a newspaper clipping about Alberton's RR heritage; an antique coal stove and a milepost marker also stand by:
MILW posters (some are for sale), various helmets, conductor/trainman hats, ballcaps, posters,a nd a couple large photos: More lanterns, lamps, and insulators here, along with a couple collages of the last train thru Alberton, that gloomy 1980 day: A decked-out MILW trainman, several more insulators, a beautiful specimen of a feather switchstand target, more grade crossing signs, a TV with a collection of MILW vids to play during open-houses: More 'Joe photos, and posters in the back corner:
Wow! They have sure added a TON of stuff since my last visit to Alberton! Hemi, thanks for sharing all of this with us! Makes me homesick for Montana!
Please be careful- There is a good amount of posted and patrolled, off limits private property in that area. Including ex-right of way. Boxcab E50
Cool! Oh, be careful out there this time of year. Buzzworms (rattlesnakes) are plentiful enough to make the canyon famous for its nearly only residents....
No Duh! I do study history. Thanks, but we are bringing a herpetologist with us. We are hoping to capture a few!
Hey Guys, I owe you all an apology. I'm sorry for sounding so damn snobby. I have been through some stresses lately and it all caught up with me. You are all my internet friends who share a love for the Milwaukee as I do. Darn right I'll take you all with me and get my pics posted here as soon as I can. Eagle Nest?!? Heck ya!!! Thats THE place along the Milwaukee in my opinion! After a ride across the pond (Lake Michigan) on the Badger (former rail car ferry - still with rails in the floor and coal fired to boot!), we are starting somewhere near the Calypso bridge(s) and Miles City and hoping to end up at Avery. Highlights include all the usual locales - yes that one too. Others have covered them well here so I doubt I will have much to add. Is it normal that I still want to go see these places in person - even after all those pretty pics here? We are planning a ride on the Hiawatha trail to top it off. But then there is Plummer Junction etc, and where was it that Milw hopper that still lies on the creek bottom? (Forget it, I already know!) We'll see what time allows... I have big dreams. Anywho, you will all be along for the ride... See you on the other side...
Oh yes. There's nothing quite like really being there, and actually feeling as though you are a part of history. Boxcab E50
If I can ask for a particular area to be covered, it's Vendome and Grace. I was up on Pipestone with Alaska GP49 a couple weeks ago, and ran out of time for those 2 areas to be covered in any detail!
