Category: Photo Section
Photos from the Pennyrail Newsletter
I couldn’t resist. We’ve had high nineties for what seems to be forever, and today only 90. So just to jog our memory of cooler climes, this January 1979 scene seemed like a nice idea. I feel cooler already.
The eastbound is exiting one of two wooden show sheds along Lake Keechelus. Interstate 90 occupies the shoreline across the lake. Snoqualmie Pass and the 11,789 foot tunnel are a few miles behind the train. The vertical milepost number 2112 indicates the miles to the bumping post at Union Station in Chicago.
Everything except the power poles in this scene are gone, track, sheds and all. Yours truly became the proud owner of the salvaged the milepost sign after the abandonment. The right-of-way is owned by the state parks system, and great for hiking and biking in the Summer, and cross-country skiing in Winter.
Credits: Picture by Jay Lentzner from the book “The Milwaukee Road,” by Frederick W. Hyde. Submitted by Gary O. Ostlund, gary.ostlund@att.net, Pinehurst, NC









So the question becomes, “why paint up a fancy new locomotive and leave the wheels and coupler all rusty..?” Very simply put, the wheels and couplers take a horrendous beating. Hairline cracks occasionally form, and if painted are difficult to detect. Broken couplers and chipped wheels cause nasty derailments. Rail managers feel that a little rust isn’t going to hurt anything, and maintenance forces can easily stay ahead of the problems. Submitted by Gary Ostlund.
Former chapter member Fred Ripley sent me this for my birthday back in April! Great present. Bill
Louisville & Nashville 4-8-2 No. 407 on Cincinnati–Birmingham train 7 passes 2-8-0 No. 1212 on a northbound freight on double track 10 miles south of Louisville in November 1948. – C. William Streit photo