Eastern Railroad Discussion > May 2023 Trains magazine article on railroads & breweries

I am very much looking forward to the next issue of Trains magazine which will have an article on railroads and breweries.  However, why did it take so long?  With Trains magazine based in Wisconsin (intially in Milwaukee before moving to Waukesha), this seems like a natural topic to be covered.  Indeed, Trains' sister magazine, Model Railroader, had a multi-part series on modeling the Milwaukee Road's Beer Line in Milwaukee.

During the year I lived in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Road was still serving the Pabst and Miller breweries.  A couple of moves later placed me in Pittsburgh where CSX served the Pittsburgh Brewing Company which made Iron City until the Allegheny Valley Railroad took over operations on the P & W Subdivision.  Unfortunately, about 15+ years ago, the brewery moved out of Pittsburgh to Latrobe where Rolling Rock was previously made.

Anyway, some time next month, I will enjoy opening reading the article with the magazine in one hand and a glass of beer in the other.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/23 18:50 by RuleG.

Yeah I’m looking forward to this too.

In Allentown (Fogelsville actually) there is a large, fairly modern brewery that started as Schafer, then was Stroh’s, and is now Sam Adams. It’s served by rail and can be seen from I78 near the Route 100 interchange.

Just about an hour’s drive north and west from there is Pottsville, PA where America’s oldest brewery still produces Yuengling beer. The Reading and Northern still spots carloads of malt at the south end of Pottsville where waiting trucks drive under the railroad, fill up with malt, and drive up to 5th and Mahantongo Streets. It’s an operation that goes back to the Reading days.

Finally just up the road from Pottsville is Yuengling’s newer brewery that is served by the RBMN also.

Now I’m thirsty, beer and trains make me happy!

Have a great day!
Dan

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Fort Wayne Indiana once had three full scale breweries.  Centlivre (later Old Crown), Berghoff (later sold to Falstaff) and Hoff Brau, (owned by the Berghoff family and where my grandfather and great uncle were beer route delivery drivers). 

Hoff Brau, by far the youngest of the three, was operated out of converted factory buildings right next to the Nickle Plate main line on the east side of town and closed in 1951.  The Berghoff Brewery was a block away and served by a spur off the NKP main and received rail service (inbound grains) until Falstaff's parent company closed it in 1990.  The Centlivre Brewery, which was the oldest of the three was built in what was at the time well north of downtown along the St. Joseph River. It never had rail service until it was later connected via interurban and street car trackage that could interhange with the steam roads in town.  After the demise of the interurbans and street cars, the brewery was once again without rail service for the rest of it's existence.  It closed circa 1974.  Ironically. it was Centlivre, the brewery that was not served directly by the NKP that brewed Nickel Plate Beer

Pittsburg Brewing Co. recently moved back north of Pittsburg. Converted vacate industrial building into a must larger and modern brewery for them.

Even a modest sized brewery requires a lot of malt, barley, etc. The kinds of things railroads excel in delivering by the car load.

Thanks for the very informative local history.

-Bill

There are magazines other than Trains that cover railroads. I wrote an article that appeared in the May 2017 issue of Railfan & Railroad. It was called Rule G Slashers - Friendly Spirits (Railroads and Alcohol). The article covered all different ways in which railroads and alcohol interact.

A local brewery has some rail themed beer names. Such as this one.

---

Royal Gorge brewery has some great beers, can designs and glasses.

portlander Wrote:
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> A local brewery has some rail themed beer names.
> Such as this one.

I never heard of RuleG ale, but I love this!

Thanks, Portlander, for sharing. 

 

RuleG Wrote:
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> portlander Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A local brewery has some rail themed beer
> names.
> > Such as this one.
>
> I never heard of RuleG ale, but I love this!
>
> Thanks, Portlander, for sharing. 
>
>  

Being friends with the owners, I've had some input on some of the names!

If I'm thinking about it, next time they brew a batch, I'll send some your way.
 

portlander Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RuleG Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > portlander Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > A local brewery has some rail themed beer
> > names.
> > > Such as this one.
> >
> > I never heard of RuleG ale, but I love this!
> >
> > Thanks, Portlander, for sharing. 
> >
> >  
>
> Being friends with the owners, I've had some input
> on some of the names!
>
> If I'm thinking about it, next time they brew a
> batch, I'll send some your way.
>
Thanks for that!!  I think the best way to enjoy the beer would be to stop at Track Seven next time I am in Sacramento.  Looks like the Curtis Park location is within walking distance of a Sacramento RTD light rail station.

Per Track Seven's website, I see that a couple of other railroad themed beers are "Daylight" and "Bloomer's Cut."  I love the graphics on the latter.  

portlander Wrote:
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> A local brewery has some rail themed beer names.
> Such as this one.

Damn too bad I don't like IPAs at all because that's quite a collectible can. Maybe I'll have to find a 6 pack anyway and serve it to guests who like when their beer tastes like pine sap and soap.