Nostalgia & History > IC power leading east out of Cheyenne ('69)

Here's a sample of what could be found in Cheyenne in 1969 .... specifically July 5, 1969. Got this shot of an eb just leaving Cheyenne with 3 IC units followed by UP SD45's #3602 & 3603 and an SD24B .... and black IC units also showed up here.

---

Very good catch of the IC's first (3040) and last (3059) unit of the second order of GP40's in as delivered paint, spliced by a first order (3022) 40 that was originally delivered in conservative IC black with green diamond logo, but already repainted to the orange and white scheme.
Also great to see the UP SD45's in their as delivered 3600 series numbers. Thanks for being there for this moment in time.

Wowzers!
MILW86A

Very cool!

Posted from iPhone

Nice one !

As an ICG fan, awesome! I just never seen a photo of them out west. Thanks for sharing.
Ralph

BNSF20 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As an ICG fan, awesome! I just never seen a photo
> of them out west. Thanks for sharing.
> Ralph

At one time the IC units were going all the way through to LA. There were photos posted within the last 3 years showing them East LA and
in Cajon Pass.

Do a search and you should be able to find them.

Allen

Posted from Android

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BNSF20 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > As an ICG fan, awesome! I just never seen a
> photo
> > of them out west. Thanks for sharing.
> > Ralph
>
> At one time the IC units were going all the way
> through to LA. There were photos posted within the
> last 3 years showing them East LA and
> in Cajon Pass.
>
> Do a search and you should be able to find them.
>
> Allen
>
> Posted from Android


Interesting. All the way to LA without dynamic brakes?

bradleymckay Wrote:

> At one time the IC units were going all the way
> through to LA. There were photos posted within the
> last 3 years showing them East LA and
> in Cajon Pass.
>
> Do a search and you should be able to find them.

Art Wilson had a photo published on page 17 June 1970 Trains showing UP's eastbound LAX at Summit, California with 5 IC GP40's on the point. The units were all from the 3060 class order; all 5 had dynamic brakes.

Jim Boyd's book, Illinois Central: Monday Mornin' Rails, gives an interesting story about the UP-IC pool power set-up. The IC purchased  ten 3060 series GP40's for use in a Chicago-North Platte pool power arrangement with the Union Pacific. These were "deluxe" units with Dynamics and UP compliant equipment. At the time, the IC's Iowa Division had bridges that restricted the use of 6 axle units, so the UP reciprocated with four motor units. Except, the UP didn't have any new four axle units. So, in return for new IC GP40's, the UP sent GP20's, GP30's, GP35's, U25B's and even an Alco RS27. Someone on the UP took the ban on six axle units literally...there was no mention made of eight motor units. UP DD35 77 slipped by everyone and made it to Chicago. It eventually got back to the UP through St. Louis.

Because of the inequities, the power pool lasted about a year. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/20 15:24 by WSOR506.

What traffic was going UP / IC as opposed UP's preferred C&NW?  Or MILW?   I've never quite understood that.  Does the shipper choose and if they don't the railroad routes as they see fit?

> What traffic was going UP / IC as opposed UP's
> preferred C&NW?  Or MILW?   I've never quite
> understood that.  Does the shipper choose and if
> they don't the railroad routes as they see fit?

Hello,

Short answer; shippers would normally specify the route for their shipments, if left blank on the form, the agent would provide a routing.  You can see that option on standard waybill forms, with a box to check to show if it was Shipper or Carrier's/Agent's routing.  Most traffic that moved via UP-IC was routed that way because of IC's sales dept. efforts (overhead traffic), or because the shipper/consignee was located on an IC route (origin/destination traffic) where it would make no sense to route via another RR.  UP did prefer to work with CNW on an operational basis, but were prohibited from forcing or coercing shippers to use a particular routing.  From the mid-50s until 1980 or so the UP-Co. Bluffs - IC/ICG routing represented only 5-10% of all UP east-west traffic in that corridor, translating into something around 75-150 carloads/day in each direction on average.  The big exceptions were the result of the weekly container trains that ran via ...UP-Co. Bluffs-ICG-Chicago-CR and the Plaines coal trains that made daily car counts on certain days much higher than others. 

Take care,

Mark