Nostalgia & History > A video ride on the Milwaukee Pacific Extension

I chanced upon author Jim Scribbins at Joliet station on a freezing cold Saturday in February 1974.. We got to chat, and I asked Jim about American passenger trains. He took my Amtrak timetable, and marked its map with all the routes he said were of high scenic interest. His enthusiasm for the subject set me off down a whole new path.

Over the next 7 months, I travelled 10000 Miles on Amtrak with my new wife, coast to coast, down to the Gulf, up towards the Canadian border. For me the highlight was the ride through Montana on the Northern Pacific- up the Yellowstone, down into Butte and onwards to Paradise. Jim had said that the Milwaukee ride was even better, and I always wished for a trip on the Olympian Hiawatha. 10 years later, even its tracks were gone.

So, I was delighted when Art045 posted a couple of hundred photos of the Milwaukee Pacific extension. With his permission, I have made these into a video trip from South Dakota to Tacoma, which helps me fulfil my dream. It shows truly an amazing ride. The sequence of locations is based on my interpretation of what other members said when the photos were originally posted. I didn’t know I liked electric motors until I did this. The video is in two parts, Gretna  to Pipestone and Pipestone to Tacoma.

The music is not a celebration of the boundless imagination and energy of those who planned, built and ran the line, but an elegy for its loss. May they, like the line rest in peace. From what I read, their pioneering spirit is long gone in the railroad industry.

I hope you folks enjoy the ride. Art asked me to credit the "Krambles-Peterson Archive" and the original photographers for their work - Keith Ardinger, Bill Janssen, George Krambles, Tom Matola, Henry Stange and Barney Stone. Their pictures cover the period 1950-1973.
 

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An acquaintance of mine always touted the NORTH COAST LIMITED as the most scenic train ride he had taken.
I replied that CPR's CANADIAN was my most scenic train ride.   Neither of us had ridden the other person's most
scenic train route nor the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension.
Deadlock.
I'm always interested in input from someone who has ridden these routes or who has another candidate.
 

Best set of MILW PCE photos I've ever seen.  Pure pleasure! 

Yes beautiful!!   rebuild!!

Outstanding presentation.  The music made it a pleasure to view.  Classic.

JB - Omaha

 

Thanks for sharing these, and a very sincere thanks to the original photographers for documenting these images and paying for color!

What an excellent and interesting Milwaukee Road! Well done!! Sure miss the Milwaukee!

Larry

Can you say, WinterRail Presentation !
Wow what a series of never before seens.  Love the Milwaukee road stuff anyway but just OUTSTANDING

WOW!

-LD

Copy19 Wrote:
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> Outstanding presentation.  The music made it a
> pleasure to view.  Classic.
>
> JB - Omaha
>
>  

First rate, agree completely.

Lots of fun, but many images out of geographical order, some WAY out of order.

Best regards,

Rob L.

Thank you for your creation.  It's delightful and evocative.  

-John

jaw dropping awesome images.  made my day.

thanks for posting............

66

Some wonderful images! Especially enjoy the views of Montana Canyon from the rear of No. 17--priceless. Please note: "Harlowtown" (.25) should be "Harlowton". Ah, what we lost--thanks for sharing.

Excellent production!   Thank you for putting this together and sharing it with us here.   

Many thanks to you for putting these fine images together with a very enjoyable background sound.

Thanks to you and Art for memorializing these works from the past. One of my greatest regrets is that I never got to see this era of the Milwaukee. The irony for me is that I graduated High School the exact month that they shut the juice off for good in Montana. It was not until 1978 that I made it to Montana and by then it was just a shell of what it once was. Thank you again for excelent work.

The slideshow/video presendation was an absolute pleasure to view.  I never got to see this RR in action at these locatoins, but in 1984 as a geology student I spent six weeks at Indiana University Field Camp in Montana and Wyoming.  The scenes in this presentation remind me of a slogan we had from those six weeks.  "It's not the end of the world, but you can see from here".  Keep in mind so many of the students were in even more awe, they having been born and raised in the mid-west or eastern US.

Fantastic!  I can see why there are so many fans of the PNW Milwaukee!

Cheers,
Jim

Thanks so much for sharing your slides of the sceneryand RR / facilities of the Milw. Road Pacific Extension and especially from the Olypian Hiawatha.