Hello all, Have a question that y'all might have the answer to. How far south did the WAB run? Anywhere close to the IL,OH,WV borders- I am interested in this due to the fact that prior to the merger of '64, I noticed N&W only had 2700+ trackage miles, but after this number increased to just shy of 7700 miles. Did the NKP and WAB parallel alot of the same trackage and routes or were they diversionary? Sorry to ask so many questions but I am wanting some WAB coal hoppers and wondered about how far these might venture pre-merger. Thanks again and have a good one, Justin May
Hi Justin, I hope your other questions have been answered to your satisfaction. The WABASH lines were in central and NORTHERN IL, NORTHERN IN and NORTHwestern OH. They had no lines near WV. BILL ------------------ "Follow the Flag"
W1, Thanks for the response, Do you know of any hoppers that might be produced in HO scale that correctly represent a WAB hopper? Did WAB have the 55 ton USRA standard hopper or the 70 ton offset hopper? Thank you again and looks like I will be considering the hoppers for my layout. Have a good one , Justin May
Hi Justin, didn't want you to think I had forgot about this. I'm still compiling the info on the WABASH coal hoppers, every chance I get. Hope to have the info for you soon. How are the studies going? BILL p.s. I found a picture of the 70t, and hope to find pictures of the 55t and others for ya' ------------------ "Follow the Flag" [This message has been edited by wabash_one (edited 03 May 2000).]
FWIW, there were a number of ex-Wabash boxcars still on the N&W main line near Portsmouth, OH as late as summer 1977. I don't know if they were part of a train, in storage, or what, but there was no way to miss that "Follow the Flag" slogan.
These are old posts, but I found unadulterated WAB cylindrical hoppers in Follow The Flag paint in the mid to late 1980s. Have photos of them. Such a nice sight.
I guess the OP didn't know that the N&W swallowed the Nickel Plate at basically the same moment as the Wabash. Yes, there was a slight jump in system mileage with the three way merger.
While the N&W gained control of the AC&Y in 1964. It was not merged into the N&W until 1982. In 1990 the track segment from Mogodore to Carey was spun off and is now operated by the Wheeling & Lake Erie today.
Of course I can't find it for looking, but I somewhere have a photo of a PS-2 (non-cylindrical) covered hopper, brownish paint, with the flag logo as part of a by-then NS train in Monticello, IL during July 1984. The Monticello Railway museum hadn't moved the depot at the time and believe me, the GP40 leading that train nearly made me jump out of my skin that day!
And would you believe it, while transferring stuff from thumb drives to a second (portable?) hard drive, I found the photo mentioned before. This was sometime around July 22, 1984, a Sunday, and we had just finished viewing the Monticello and Sangamon Valley museum a couple of miles east of here. The Wabash lives on!
