MILW Old Milwaukee Trackage.......

Kurt Moose Nov 6, 2017

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Seems familiar. I may have this same view, somewhere in my collection.
     
    Kurt Moose likes this.
  2. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

    9,814
    14,202
    147
    The Mrs. and I went for a roadtrip today towards Mount Rainier, (it was sunny and 60+ degrees!!), and drove up near Morton, Wa. The old Milwaukee Road line up there is all but abandoned, lot's of overgrowth and turning back to nature. Hard to believe back as late as the 70's, 80+ carloads of raw wood was coming outta' here to Tacoma to mills. IMG_1219.JPG IMG_1216.JPG IMG_1218.JPG
    Sad, the mills up here are still going strong, but it all is shipped by trucks now......:mad:
     
    Hardcoaler, badlandnp and hoyden like this.
  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    I am wondering if this is not MILW. Is this east of Morton?
     
  4. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

    9,814
    14,202
    147
    This is just north of Morton, looking north towards Mineral. The rails can barely be seen east of the Morton depot, heading east from there for maybe a 100 yards into the bushes.
     
  5. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    22,015
    27,414
    253
    Any date nails or other collectibles in that line?
     
    Kurt Moose likes this.
  6. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

    9,814
    14,202
    147
    Probably a lot, but most of it is covered up by the brush and dirt, need a lot of time and walking!
     
  7. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    22,015
    27,414
    253
    Your mission, should you choose to accept it..... :p
    On a side note, how much of the intact ROW is privately owned now?
     
    Kurt Moose likes this.
  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    This may belong to the City of Tacoma. It is not abandoned, nor has it been officially even taken out of service.

    Date nails? Somewhere I have a bag full.....
     
    Kurt Moose likes this.
  9. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

    9,814
    14,202
    147
    Spring or summer, I'll have to get back up there and do some hunting.....:rolleyes:
     
  10. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,679
    44,879
    142
    As a Christmas gift, I received Kalmbach's Trains of the 1970s softcover book and in it is the article I mentioned in the above post. I read a portion of it this morning and learned again that the MILW Fs on this route had no dynamic brakes. The Tideflats Roundhouse Foreman said that they tried to change brake shoes once a night! A photo in the story shows six F's on the trestle, A-B-A + A-B-A. That's a lot of brake shoes. :eek:

    I've saved many Trains magazines from this era, but it's nice to have the most classic articles in one spot in this book. How can all of this have been 40+ years ago?!
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2018
    Kurt Moose likes this.
  11. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    There were only a few F units based at Tacoma. They usually did not stray far. Normally just grinding tonnage up and down the Hill at Tacoma. Occasionally running down toward Chehalis area, or grabbed for a dead freight on a weekend, when power short.
     
    Kurt Moose and Hardcoaler like this.
  12. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,679
    44,879
    142
    The sound of those Fs working the Hill must have been incredible.
     
    Kurt Moose and BoxcabE50 like this.
  13. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Yes. Especially when one might fail, really loading up the rest. Also, the "B" units were slugs. So, no sound. Still, you could hear them coming for quite some time, before they crawled into sight and on by.
     
    Kurt Moose and Hardcoaler like this.

Share This Page