Nostalgia & History > Milwaukee Road Iowa Division Memories

Have acquired a few slides of the old Iowa Division of the Milwaukee Road and thought it would be great to share with you good TO people. 

1. MILW 254 West with either Train 61 or 63 at Perry, IA November 15 1971. Bill Kurt photo. During the winter of 71-72 the MILW leased a few DMIR and EJ&E SD9s and a few made their way west on the Iowa Main. 
2. UP 3207 leads GP40s 2021 and 2034 on Train 61 at Perry February 16 1974. Bill Kurt photo. Pool power began on 61/64 later to be Train 220/221 after the December 1 1974 renumbering. I can recall as a kid in Marion IA how neat it was to see UP power rolling past my house. 

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3. Next up is MILW 439 on the Marion to Louisa(Hiawatha) patrol in July of 1976. Don Lodge photo. This train originated in Marion Yard and always after 220 went by or around supper time, the Marion yard engine would go west to Louisa to serve the various industries there. Central States Cement, Nash Finch. Vigortone Feeds, and Downing Box were all switched about every night right up til the end March 1 1980. Once switching was done the train would shove caboose first back into Marion with a flare in the knuckle of the caboose. 

4, 3 UP motors are on Train 221 east of Martelle, IA in Feburary 1977. Photographer unknown. 

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5. PNC 6304 and a SD10 are at Perry IA September 23 of 1978 likely on a 370 train from Council Bluffs. Bill Kurt photo. The Milwaukee leased many of these ex-SR Bricks from PNC in the winter of 1978 right up til the summer of 1979 as I used to see them in Marion quite often. Retired engineers and trainmen I know hated these units with a passion. 

6. On Saturday December 16 1978 Bill Kurt records one of the first mainline trains to use the CNW between Clinton and Tama, train 287 the Columbia II Coal train with CNW 940 leading.  Trackage rights over the CNW had begun less than a week before on December 11. The diamond at Tama was taken out, there was little or no service between Tama and Marion, and Marion to Savanna saw daily trains 106 and 107 with usually a foursome of Fs. As one retired MILW told me, when the MILW ran over the CNW, the end was soon coming.

Thank you as always for looking

MILW86A 

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You have some really interesting lashups.
Bob

Photo 1 is a first for me as I had never heard the MILW leased foreign SD9's during that period.   Thank you for sharing.

Great stuff for those of us who are fascinated with this part of the MILW..

MILW86A Wrote:
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> 3. Next up is MILW 439 on the Marion to
> Louisa(Hiawatha) patrol in July of 1976. Don Lodge
> photo. This train originated in Marion Yard and
> always after 220 went by or around supper time,
> the Marion yard engine would go west to Louisa to
> serve the various industries there. Central States
> Cement, Nash Finch. Vigortone Feeds, and Downing
> Box were all switched about every night right up
> til the end March 1 1980. Once switching was done
> the train would shove caboose first back into
> Marion with a flare in the knuckle of the
> caboose. d
>
Thanks for posting, K-Man.  I'm having some trouble with the exact location of this shot.  I'm thinking somewhere around Council Street in Cedar Rapids, but am probably way off.  For what it's worth, ALL the industries mentione here are GONE, except Downing Box which is now Kapstone Container and is switched by CN when needed and if needed.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/23 19:49 by ntharalson.

Great series. So many locations where you really have to stretch your imagination to think the Milwaukee was once there.