Nostalgia & History > Those C&NW Alcos in South Dakota

C&NW 1688/1689 eb in South Dakota on June 3, 1977. This train was stalked by Bruce Black and preserved on Kodachrome at several locations, including this fine view. Note the 'hammerhead' on lead unit 1688.

How many of you made the trip to Huron and SD to catch the C&NW's Alco herd?

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I sure did. I made a trip in there in 1978. Wish I had made a lot more.

Spot known as Cheyenne Crossing where the CNW left the Missouri River valley and started
up Canning Hill, topping out just east of Blunt. How do I know? I lived in Pierre from
1966 to 1969 with no camera.

Oh yes, the 1689 is still running somewhere in Maryland.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Wow! Actual elevation along the Alco line! I didn't know that location even existed. Brad Hellman and I made the pilgrimage out there in 1980. I will look up the earlier posts on TO from our trip. One of the best railfan days ever was in Aug 1980 when we chased the westbound Pierre-bound train out of Huron with 3 RSDs. We were even invited up into the cab by the friendly crew when they stopped for beans at Miller, S.D.
- Eric Blasko

Wow! Epic shot! Thanks for sharing!

Al Seever
Phoenix, AZ

June 1980, on my way back to Denver after a two week vacation chasing F units in Minnesota and northern Michigan. Didn't have much luck with the mainline trains, but spent a gorgeous afternoon on the Oakes branch, watching a pair of RS3s serve the elevators under increasingly ominous skies.

I forget the name of the town, but at one of the elevators there was a woodchuck burrow between the rails (no ballast at all at this location, just rail, ties, and prairie). As the train moved back and forth switching the elevator, the wooodchuck would return to his burrow, disappear beneath the ground, and come back out immediately once the train was no longer overhead. He seemed to view it as a triweekly annoyance at most. The occasional leaking boxcar (no covered hoppers on that line) had fed him nicely.

I made many trips to the Alco Line during the 1970s. Mostly east of Huron, but did venture out on the west end a couple of times.

It left a lasting impression so great that I'm basing my HO scale model railroad on that time and place.

Dennis



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/14 10:05 by CNW.

CNW Wrote:
> It left a lasting impression so great that I'm basing my HO scale model railroad on that time and place.

And doing a fine job of it!

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

That is one gorgeous photo!

What kind of speed was the train doing along here?

I made a few Alco chasing trips across the line after moving to Alliance, NE and buying a more a more advanced camera with more lenses. Bruce did nearly all of his stuff with the Pentax 50mm glass.