Nostalgia & History > WAG running extra (#96): Wabash in Kansas?

Art tells me he was working for the KS Highway Department when these 2 beauties were taken. They were putting him up in a motel in rural Kansas City (Johnson County), and he had a lot of free time on his hands. Whereupon I mumbled something like: Damn the BAD luck! In 1959 it’s a pretty good bet his motel was located “out in the sticks”. And I’d wager there’s been just a few changes in the last 61 years… ;^)

As for the Wabash power, Art tells me Miss Katy was in a bit of a power crunch at the time and the Wabash was able to step up to the horsepower plate for them…

1. WAB 1187 leads a southbound MKT manifest train near 75th St S of Merriam, KS.

2. Consist shot of above.
(2 B/W negatives by William A. Gibson Jr. “circa” 1959)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/23 02:14 by santafe199.

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Wabash #1187's older sibling #1189 is preserved and running at the Monticello Railway Museum in Illinois. It was the last F7 ordered by the Wabash.  My son and I had a nice cab ride in it last year during RR Days

 

Thanks for sharing as always. 
There were at least several railroads that leased Wabash F units: CNJ and Pennsy, to name a couple. There is a photo of one on the Pennsy GR&I at Sturgis, Michigan in the 1950s. My late friend and Wabash Conductor, Clarence Montgomery, was working on the Wabash in the 1950s when he and his crew saw a Wabash F unit on the Pennsy GR&I at Wolcottville, Indiana one day. The Wabash 4th District crossed the GR&I at Wolcottivle. To say the least, the crew was a little puzzled.  There are also some photos of Wabash F units at the Pennsy engine terminal at Fort Wayne, Indiana in the same time period. (A couple of GR&I locals would originate and terminate at Fort Wayne.)

Victor A Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Victor, I can confirm the presence of Wabash F-units on the GR&I in the mid-'50s.  I have a really blurry shot of one passing through my hometown of Moline, Michigan (just south of Grand Rapids) taken with my Kodak Baby Brownie in 1955 or 56, and remember seeing Wabash units regularly. Ken Nagel

Did Katy have a lot of Alco FA units?

Rick z

Nice posts, Lance!

RC Lundgren

I don't know how many Katy had, but this one along with others were re-engined with EMD prime movers. So did EMD actively pursue RRs to re-engine Alcos and Baldwins with EMD prime moves or was this just something that RRs pushed? In the grand scheme of things there couldn't have been many of these "sex change" operations...

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

zoohogger Wrote:
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> Did Katy have a lot of Alco FA units?
>
> Rick z

Two historic beauties.
Bob

< < < Did Katy have a lot of Alco FA units? > > >

18 FA1s and 1 FA2, no B units.

Yes it is amazing how that part of Johnson County has changed in 60 years. Thankfully that general location is still a great place to watch trains.

Thanks for sharing as I was unaware the MKT had used the Wabash power.

Katy Did have ALCO diesel units but if you look carefully, that's an EMD rebuild. Look at the roof line. Several "granger" roads rebuilt their ALCOs with EMD "innards".  ×   

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know how many Katy had, but this one along
> with others were re-engined with EMD prime movers.
> So did EMD actively pursue RRs to re-engine Alcos
> and Baldwins with EMD prime moves or was this just
> something that RRs pushed? In the grand scheme of
> things there couldn't have been many of these "sex
> change" operations...
>
> Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
>
Actually there were quite a lot mostly concentrated on the mid-west granger railroads. Katy, Rock Island, Frisco did FA's. Katy, Rock Island, MP converted RS3's. Union RR, CNW, Katy and others put EMD engines in Baldwin roadswitchers. And there were scattered others.
RWJ

Yes, but compared to the number of locomotives out there,  the re-engined locos had to be a very, very small percentage of the total. I recall that Alco re-engined some Train Masters for the Wabash. Were there any other loco or engine builders that did any work like that other than EMD, Alco and Morrison-Knudsen?  I think it might have been common with small industrial locos. I recall seeing a Whitcomb that was re-engined with a Buda engine.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

LV95032 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Actually there were quite a lot mostly
> concentrated on the mid-west granger railroads.
> Katy, Rock Island, Frisco did FA's. Katy, Rock
> Island, MP converted RS3's. Union RR, CNW, Katy
> and others put EMD engines in Baldwin
> roadswitchers. And there were scattered others.
> RWJ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/20 16:14 by wabash2800.