Nostalgia & History > Grand Island, Nebr - boyhood recollections

Yeah, going to give away my age. I\'m talking about the 1950\'s. Union Pacific had a two-story red brick passenger depot. The second story was for railroad operations offices. Freight trains were by far mostly pulled by steam. It was a real treat to see those very occasional trains pulled by yellow multiple-unit freight diesels. I think the most common steam engine for freights was the 4-10-2\'s which UP numbered in the 9000\'s but a lot of freights were also pulled by 4-8-4 800\'s. The really rare treat was to see a CB&Q freight crossing the UP main and pulled by those cream/gray/red Burlington line freight diesels. At that time the "Q" line from Lincoln,Nebr to Billings, Montana only had about two manifest freights each way each day plus one passenger train (unnamed, only a train number). The era of coal trains out of the Powder River Basin was still two or three decades away. A two story manned wooden tower building, always in need of paint, controlled the crossing of the UP / CB&Q lines which was at the west end of UP\'s Grand Island freight yard.
Then the real treat was when my parents had to meet someone on a UP passenger train. All of those trains came thru GI in the dead of night. The "city" streamliners like "City of Los Angeles", "City of Portland", "City of San Francisco", "City of Denver" were all pulled by diesels. But other trains like "Los Angeles Limited" and "San Francisco Overland" had the 800-series 4-8-4\'s at the front. The only daytime trains at the UP depot were mail trains 5 and 6, and another more local passenger train 11 and 12.
Grand Island at that time was a crew change point for all UP trains. Now I guess the crews work from eastern Nebraska (Fremont/Omaha)all the way west to North Platte.
Geez, is there anyone out there who remembers Grand Island like this or am I the only dinosaur left?

I\'ve also got fond memories of Grand Island, but they\'re from the two months when we lived there...in 1987. A great place to watch trains even then!

I love Grand Island. I\'m headed there next week. First time I was there was late 1999. Cool place.

The freights were 4-12-2\'s in the early 50\'s with more than a few 2-8-2 and 2-8-0\'s for the locals to the Loup City/Boleus/ St. Paul and Hastings locals. If you remember the 4-12-2\'s, the Q\'s diesels weren\'t red and grey, they were the Black and Grey. 800\'s were the rule of the day for the freights and the numbered passenger trains. By the time the Chinese Red and grey showed up on the "Q", all of the 4-12-2s \'cept one were probably part of an Edsel or Nash- Rambler most of the 800\'s were on the way.
early Challengers were an experience. . 0-6-0 did the tricks to Webb\'s and the sugar beet factory. How\'s that for jogging your memory? Got an 8 mm super 8 taken at pine and south front if the words don\'t help

Sounds like you know a lot of the GI I used to remember, especially if the Webb\'s you\'re referring to was west from GI and on the other side of the UP tracks from Highway 30? Want to exchange some recollections? Contact me at ee.lenz@verizon.net . Remember to put in the dot after the ee or you\'ll get an email addressing error. Hope to hear from you.

Hi GeneL, I read your story with interest as I was born in Hastings in 1934. Our family migrated to the "SF Bay Area" in 1939. One nite during our first revisit to Hastings during the summer of 1950, One of my cousins and I were sitting in the Hastings ballpark with our backs to the C,B&Q tracks when a steamer flew by behind us. The only thing I recall is that it was "Eastbound and Huge". I spent several weeks in Hastings during the summer of 1951 but my relatives kept me to busy to do any trainwatching.
I have a question: In another post, I noted that I had ridden the UP Ogden/Omaha local from Ogden to Grand Island in Oct 1957. My recall told me that it was trains 10/11 with the eastbound being train #11. You noted in your post that the local is/was Trains 11/12. Would you clarify that for me. Thanks. Note: The train I was on arrived in GI about 6am. One engine, three coaches, several other cars. No diner or snack car.
This year our family is having a reunion in GI over the July 4th weekend but I won\'t be able to attend.

Floyd Nelson
Spokane Wa.

Ah, Grand Island! My favorite destination as a kid (we had several relatives there). I grew up in Columbus (65 miles northeast of GI on the UP main to Omaha). The trip was always enjoyable, as we\'d always see more than one train, but best when there was a freight train moving in the same direction. The race was on!

Floyd, you were likely to have been riding #28, which I knew as a mail train, and rode myself from Columbus, NE to Omaha in July, 1967 (with two SDP35s in the consist along with 2 Es). Its westbound counterpart, #27, also ran through Eastern Nebraska in the early morning hours, IIRC.
Also, I believe they ran Ogden-Omaha.

There was another pair of daytime trains worth noting: #7 and #8. They generally followed #5 and #6 by about an hour. These trains, as I recall had mail and express cars up front, but normally had 4 passenger-style cars on the rear, possibly including a diner(?) and a Pullman(?) Rode this train from Columbus to Schuyler as a Cub Scout in the mid-to-late 50s. A true 15-minute JOY ride!

Also, do you remember the The Challenger, which was a rare early-evening westbound passenger train which was summer only? Was this coach-only?