Nostalgia & History > Tons of CGW F-units Caught by Rick Burn in the 1960s

1. CGW F3A 110A halfway between Popular and York Sts., Elmhurst, IL in February 1962.

2. CGW F3A 108C at Spring Rd., Elmhurst, IL in Jnuary 1967.

3. CGW F3A 104C at Poplar Ave., Elmhurst, IL in May 1960.


Continued ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/18 18:05 by MartyBernard.

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4. CGW F3A 106C at Sunnyside Ave., Elmhurst, IL in January 1960.

5. CGW F3A 108A at Schnale Road, DuPage Co., IL in July 1962.

6. CGW F3A 103C at Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst, IL in August 1960.


Enjoy,
Marty Bernard



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/18 18:04 by MartyBernard.

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More great stuff Marty. One minor note, image 5 is Schmale Road in what is now Carol Stream, IL. The CGW's Gretna station was just west of Schmale. I passed over this crossing many times as a kid in the late 60's and 70's but never saw a CGW train. I did see a few CNW train after the route had been shortened to Villa Park to West Chicago.

Marty, thanks for sharing these wonderful CGW slides by Rick Burns with us !
I like #1 snow scene the most. CGW and their many F units typifies what I think when CGW comes to mind.  --Kelly

UP951West Wrote:
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> Marty, thanks for sharing these wonderful CGW
> slides by Rick Burns with us !
> I like #1 snow scene the most. CGW and their many
> F units typifies what I think when CGW comes to
> mind.  --Kelly

Thanks Kelly.  I like #1 the best too.  The slide had not deteriorated much and Rick took it in excellent lighting.  In other words I didn't have to fool with the colors much and I am very happy with the color of the diesels.  I also cropped it to obey the rule of thirds.   Marty

These are wonderful.  Thanks for showing them, as it seems there is not too many CGW photos out there.
Brian Stevens

MartyBernard Wrote:

> 2. CGW F3A 108C at Spring Rd., Elmhurst, IL in Jnuary 1967.

Looks like he broke out the flashbulbs after doing the available-light version in this old thread:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3666424

Ooooh,Ooooh photo #2! Happy Holidays!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Great photos.  Almost enough to make one model CGW. Thanks so much for posting them.

One point - I don't think photo 4 was taken in January of 1960.  At least not in the Chicago area.  Way too many green leaves.

The Great Western in that era got to become known for its long strings of F units powering freights - I've heard of 'em using as many as 10.  However, they were not all "on line".  They'd start out with four on line, and when one klunkered out they'd take it off line and put another on line.  Maintenance was one of the cutbacks of this ailing property.

Their logo once included a shaft of wheat, so they became nicknamed the Great Wheatie, which became, with maintenance cutbacks, the Great Weedy.

-LD

These are great, as usual! #2 is fantastic, don’t see to many night shots of the CGW.

I think there was a CGW line that passed down N-S through Lorimor Iowa were my dad was born and raised.  I found a report that seems to confirm they served an grain elevator there.  When I used to visit there as a kid, I remember RR tracks were still in place.  The last time I was there about 12 years ago they were gone, as has happened in so many places.

Cheers, JIm

https://books.google.com/books?id=YA89AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA17&lpg=RA2-PA17&dq=lorimor+iowa+railroad&source=bl&ots=9_OVVZgX5z&sig=_ArJYE2kqPRd5T4iST_RXOAjThk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXoNjR-JncAhWNLHwKHY6WDx04ChDoAQhTMAs#v=onepage&q=lorimor%20iowa%20railroad&f=false

Number one is very good but I also vote for #2.  I love night scenes like this one.