THE MEMPHIS BUFF VOLUME 34, ISSUE 9 NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DECEMBER 2007

THE “HOODLUM”(

THE GE 44 TON

MEMPHIS & THE TENNESSEE MIDLAND

SEARCHING FOR THE REMNANTS OF THE MILWAUKEE ROAD (Part 2)

BY WALTER LANG

Memphis Chapter OfficersPresident – David Chase dchase@memphisredbirds.comVice President – Bruce SmedleyNational Director – Bill Strong williambstrong@bellsouth.netSecretary – Oliver Doughtie doughtio@bellsouth.netTreasurer – Thomas Doherty TRDoherty@aol.comLibrarian – Mike PendergrassPublication Editor – Tom Parker tscottparker@gmail.com

November MeetingThe monthly meeting of the Memphis Chapter was called to order by David Chase who reported that he had been in e-mail communication with Robert Schreiber, president of Greater Memphis Greenline, Inc. regarding the CSXT's Cordova Branch being converted into a hiking trail. Mr. Schreiber indicated interest in attending a meeting of the Memphis Chapter, NRHA, and discussing the history of the rail line and possible inclusion of historical markers along the trail.

Thomas Doherty reported that the 2008 dues notices had been mailed out by National Headquarters and the the dues were payable to him, and he would in turn remit the national dues. The 2008 dues are $36.00 for National and $12.00 for the local chapter, a total of $48.00. Additionally, member who wish a hard copy of the “Buff” should add another $12.00, total $60.00.

Bill Strong reported that a new combination diner-lounge car had been added to the “City of New Orleans” as an economy move, replacing two seperate cars with one. He will be making a trip on the train to McComb, MS, and return sometime before Christmas to check out the new service and invited anyone wishing to accompany him to get in touch with him.

November's program was “Trackside Memphis” a multi-media slide presentation by David Johnston which offered some fantastic photos of Memphis railroading over the years.

Tom ParkerDecember's Meeting

In December we will be having a “Show and Tell” meeting. Everyone is encouraged to bring in an item or two from their personal railroad collection and spend 5-7 minutes talking about them. In addition Hunter Gatlin will demonstrate the “Microsoft Train Simulator “ Cover Photo:A worker washes one of the Santa Fe R.R. 5,400-horsepower diesel freight locomotives in the roundhouse at Argentine, Kansas (photo by Jack Delano, 1943).

The Hoodlum

Courtesy Fannye Dismukes Pritchard/The Commercial Appeal files

(Click here for another picture from the same occasion)

Illinois Central Railroad employees christened the IC employees train, "The Hoodlum," in November 1947. The engine is a new diesel that replaces a steam engine and will run from Third and McLemore to the Johnston Yard, shuttling employees back and forth between the two facilities. Pictured are employees V.W. White (left), assistant electrical foreman; Myrtle Farabough; Ethel Puckett; Cordie Gilmer (all clerks in the master mechanic's office); Fannye Dismukes Pritchard, steno-clerk to the electrical foreman; and John Dolan, also a clerk to the master mechanic.

Commercial Appeal – Memphis Memories- November 1, 2007

(My father was an engineer for the IC and would often ride “The Hoodlum” between Mallory Avenue at Latham and Johnston Yards.)

The G.E. 44 Ton Locomotive

The GE 44 ton locomotive was produced by General Electric between 1940 and 1956. It was a four axle locomotive built for industrial and light switching duties. At the time of its introduction, there was a stipulation in labor agreements which required a fireman on locomotives weighing 45 tons or more. This 44 ton locomotive was designed in response to this stipulation. 385 of these locomotives were built starting in 1940, with 9 going to Canada and 5 to Mexico. 7 units went to Uruguay, 3 wide gauge units went to India for a dam project, 2 units went to Trinidad, 9 went to various sugar plantations in Cuba and 5 went to the Arabian-American Oil Company in Saudi Arabia. 239 of these locomotives went to Class I railroads. About 90% of these engines were built with two Model D17000 Caterpillar V8 power plants. Other prime movers included the Hercules DFXD 6 cylinder; the Buda 6DH1742 and the Caterpillar 342 6-cylinder.

Restoration of GE 44-Ton NC&StL 100 is almost complete. Being restored by the NC&StL Preservation Society, it is on

display at the Cowan Railway Museum.Pictured with NC&StL 100 is Tom Knowles. Click on the picture to visit their site.

(Photo by Maryann Knowles, 9/16/07)

Memphis and the Tennessee Midlandby Tom Parker

The Richmond and West Point Terminal

To understand the history of the Tennessee Midland, it's necessary to know a little bit about the Richmond and West Point Terminal Company. The “Terminal Company” was a holding company incorporated in 1880 to promote the interests of the Richmond and Danville Railroad. The R&D was prohibited in its charter from owning stock in any railroad with which it did not have a direct connection. The Terminal Company was created to circumvent this restriction.

By 1887 the Terminal Company controlled 4,500 miles of railroad but by 1892 the company had gone broke and entered receivership. It was re-incorporated in 1894 as the Southern Railway Company.

Both the Virginia Construction Company, who constructed the Tennessee Midland and the Tennessee Midland shared a number of officers and directors with The Richmond and West Point Terminal Company and were possibly separate entities only on paper.

For example, when the Tennessee Midland was sold, the majority stockholder was the Virginia Construction Company. James C. Pace a wealthy Virginian, President of the Planters Bank of Richmond, VA and tobacco company owner, was the President of the Virgina Construction Company and a director of the Terminal Company. A. S. Buford, a former president of the Terminal Company, was a director of the Tennessee Midland and was later the president of Virginia Construction. The Tennessee Midland was sold in 1892, the same year the Terminal Company entered receivership.

Tennessee Midland # 201 at Parsons, TN

The Short History of the Tennessee Midland

The New York Times reported that on December 21, 1886, the Virginia Construction Company, under the auspices of the Pace Railway Syndicate had dispatched surveying parties from Jackson Tennessee on December 13, 1886, to map out the proposed Memphis and Nashville Road, which Mr. J.C. Pace and other owners of the Richmond and Danville intend to build. Two surveying parties left Jackson, one going toward the Tennessee River, the other towards Memphis.

No provision had yet been made to survey beyond the Tennessee River, but it was expected that such work would be done as soon as the work in West Tennessee was completed. Chief engineer was Mr. R.H. Temple of Richmond, Va. It was the intent of the Case Syndicate to extend the tracks as far as Knoxville, TN, thereby making direct connection with their Atlantic roads. Mr T. C. Leake, Jr. was to be in charge of construction.1

On December 29, 1886, the Tennessee Midland Railway received a charter to build a railroad from Memphis, TN, to the Virginia state line.2 A meeting of Memphis citizens was held on January 5, 1887, where it was agreed that Memphis should agree to a subscription of $100,000 of capital stock of the proposed “Memphis & Nashville” railroad. The action was endorsed by the Merchants' Exchange and six prominent men were selected to solicit subscriptions. Fifty percent of the subscription was payable when the road was completed to the connection with the Illinois Central at Jackson, TN, and the remaining fifty percent when the road was completed to the Tennessee River. 3

On February 18, 1887, A meeting was held in Memphis concerning the new railroad. Tennessee Midland President A. S. Buford said that the railroad would extend 700 miles from Memphis to Bristol at a cost of fifteen to twenty million dollars and would be completed in two years. It would connect to the Atlantic seaboard via the Richmond and Danville and

1 “The Pace Syndicate”, New York Times, 12/22/18862 http://www.decaturcountyonline.com/article.asp?

acat=1&archive=yes&art=3033 “A New Road to be Built, New York Times , 1/5/87

the Baltimore and Ohio systems.4

The Tennessee Midland secured $350,000 in private, town and county money and on July 19, 1887, contracted the Virginia Construction Company to build the railroad. Virginia Construction issued $2,000,000 worth of stock for this purpose.5 On May 14, 1888, the Tennessee Midland was authorized to build a bridge across the Tennessee River “on any point on a line between the counties of Decatur and Perry” by the United States Congress.6

The track from Memphis to Jackson was completed on June 1, 1888.7 The next year the track was completed to Perryville on the Tennessee River and on June 30, 1889, the first train operated from Memphis to Perryville. It consisted of a baggage car, two passenger cars and three freight cars. Perryville's importance was due to the transfer of passengers and freight between boats on the Tennessee River and the railroad8.

4 “Planing a New Road”, New York Times, 2/19/875 http://www.southernhistory.net/articles/shnet_10226.pdf

6 Statutes at Large, USA,12/87-3/89, Chapter 2497 H. V. Poor, Poor's Manual (New York) 1889, P. 7078 http://www.decaturcountyonline.com/article.asp?

acat=1&archive=yes&art=303

The Tennessee Midland extended 135 miles from Memphis to Perryville, TN. The Paducah, Tennessee and Alabama Railroad built the connecting track between Hollow Rock Junction and Lexington. (1906 Rwy Guide)

The company continued to solicit financing from individuals and government entities along its proposed route. The fledgling railroad hit a brick wall, however, when, it sought subscriptions from Davidson County. Powerful interests in Nashville blocked the subscription, backed by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, who, along with its subsidiary, the Nashville and Chattanooga (the future NC&StL), held a monopoly on rail traffic to and from Nashville. Advocates of the Tennessee Midland continued to seek a referendum on the public subsidy of the railroad through 1892, but were unsuccessful. Later, the Tennessee Central would also be thwarted for many years by the L&N in their attempt to enter Nashville.9

It was reported in February, 1892, that the Illinois Central was in negotiations with the Tennessee Midland to acquire the track between Jackson and Memphis, TN. At the time the IC did not have tracks to Memphis from the North but reached Memphis from the south through Grenada, MS. While it had no interest in the forty five miles east of Jackson, the IC offered to arrange through a third party to complete the road beyond the Tennessee River to Nashville and to guarantee the bonds for its construction.10

The deal with the Illinois Central evidently fell through and on April 2, 1892, the Tennessee Midland was sold for $2,350,000 to Mr. T. J. Mors of St. Louis, the principal owner of the Paducah, Tennessee and Alabama Railroad. The PT&A operated from Paducah, Ky., to Hollow Rock, Tenn., with a connection under construction between Hollow Rock to the Tennessee Midland at Lexington, Tenn.11

In 1893 both the PT&A and the Tennessee Midland went into receivership. The Trustee was the St. Louis Trust Company and John Overton, of Memphis and W. L. Huse of St. Louis were named joint receivers. There was no change in the operation of the two lines.12 In 1895 both lines were sold at foreclosure to the L&N Railroad. The L&N in turn leased both lines to its subsidiary, the NC&StL, for 99 years.13

9 http://www.southernhistory.net/articles/shnet_10226.pdf 10 “To Buy the Tennessee Midland”, New York Times, 2/14/9211 New York Times, April 3, 189212 New York Times, November 1, 189313 Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, Richard E. Prince,

p 60.

Epilogue

With the sale of the Tennessee Midland in 1892, the former mainline between Lexington and Perryville became a branch line. Highway improvements and the construction of the Alvin C. York Bridge over the Tennessee River at Perryville in 1930 diverted traffic from the railroad. Revenue suffered and service was discontinued on October 31, 1936.

Around 1968 the remainder of the Tennessee Midland was abandoned east of Cordova with the exception of some track in Jackson, Tennessee. On September 6, 2001, the line between Aulon and Cordova was embargoed. The CSXT received discontinuance authority in 2002 and 2003 and has now requested full abandonment authority from the Surface Transportation Board. In the last couple of months the CSXT has had brush removed from the right of way to facilitate removal of the track when final approval is received. Except for trackage within Memphis and Jackson, TN, what once was the Tennessee Midland will be gone forever when this track is removed.

A section of the former Southern Minnesota/ Dakota branch east of Austin, MN

The former Milwaukee depot in Albert Lea shown from track side. Outside temperature was a balmy 15 F.

It is still in use as a depot of another kind, though. After all these years I still don’t understand why anyone

would drink that stuff

Searching for Remnants of the Milwaukee Road in Iowa and Minnesotaor

“Innovative” Uses for Former Railroad Property (Part 2)Walter Lang

In the first part we visited sites in Central and Northeastern Iowa. Now we are crossing the state line and enter the “Lower Great White North”. Like across Northern Iowa, the Milwaukee built an East-West line out of the Mississippi River valley across Southern Minnesota into South Dakota, which became known as the Southern Minnesota Line. This route branched off the

Mississippi River Line south of La Crescent (across the Mississippi River from La Crosse, WI) and followed the Root River valley through Lanesboro and Spring Valley (home of the young Laura Ingalls-Wilder) towards a junction called Ramsey, MN, where it connected with the Minneapolis - Austin - Mason City/Marquette line. From Ramsey, which is just north of Austin, MN, the line continued towards Albert Lea and further west across the southern Minnesota prairies into South Dakota, where it terminated at a hamlet called Wessington Springs. Among the branch lines originating from this line was the Caledonia branch, which ran south from a junction called Isinour to Preston, then climbed up to the plateau near Harmony before turning east towards Caledonia. Until 1947 this branch then continued down hill into the Mississippi River valley reconnecting with the River line at Reno Jct. A flash flood following severe thunderstorms washed out large portions of the section between Caledonia and Reno Jct. Those were not rebuilt due to lack of finances and profitability.Throughout its life, the Southern Minnesota Line retained its character as a light branch line and never

Unlikely that the Milwaukee cops come by

anymore!

..and the ICE/DME rules the track behind the building.

The Depot in La Crosse, WI is now used by Amtrak and by two regional bus companies that provide Amtrak connecting

services. La Crosse was once headquarters of the River Division

The name is still up, however, the Austin, MN depot is now used by the Department of Motor Vehicles as a Driver’s License testing station ….

received significant upgrades. The bridges in the Root River valley had severe weight restrictions, limiting the motive power for freight operations to lightweight engines. After the end of steam, lashups of up to five SW1 switchers provided the motive power for the freights operating over this line. The Southern Minnesota/Dakota line was largely abandoned by 1980. The only section still in operation runs from Ramsey westward to Jackson, MN and is currently owned and operated by the ICE.After track removal a large section of the right of way in the Root River valley was converted to a state trail. It is mainly used as a biking or hiking trail in the snow free period. When sufficient snow is on the ground, which has been a problem lately, cross country skiers and snow mobilers can cruise where trains used to run. At its eastern end the trail begins near the tiny town of Predmore and stretches all the way to Fountain at its western end. It also includes a section of the former Caledonia branch from Isinour south to Preston and Harmony.The first rail line connecting Milwaukee with the Twin cities ran through Madison, WI, crossed the Mississippi River between Prairie du Chien and Marquette, IA and went from there to Calmar, IA, Austin,

MN north to the Twin Cities. This line was completed by 1868. Following the acquisition of the St Paul and Chicago, which built south from St. Paul along the Mississippi River towards Chicago in

This 1942 rib side passenger/express combine is right behind it – I do not know whether it is used as part of the restaurant operation.

1872, a second Milwaukee - Twin Cities route was available, which was shorter and evolved into the Chicago-Minneapolis main line. At its height this line was double tracked all the way from Chicago to Minneapolis and permitted speeds in excess of 100 mph in several sections. Milwaukee E-units were geared for a top speed of 117 mph. This is where most of the Hiawathas used to run beginning with their

inauguration May 29, 1935 lasting until Amtrak Day 1971 with the last of the breed being the Morning Hi. After crossing the Mississippi River at La Crosse, the Milwaukee main line followed the river on its west bank to Hastings, where it crossed it one more time before reaching St. Paul. Major Stops along the way were Winona, Wabasha, Lake City and Red Wing. The depots in

Winona and Red Wing are still standing and are currently used by Amtrak. Three smaller branches originated from the main line. The first one was the former Minnesota Midland from Midland Jct. south of Wabasha to Zumbro Falls. Its life began as a narrow gauge line before being acquired by the Milwaukee and converted to standard gauge as mandated by a Minnesota State law. It continued from Zumbro Falls to Zumbrota and on to The recently renovated Winona depot is used by Amtrak, however,…

The former Milwaukee La Crosse freight house is located 1.5 miles south of the depot in downtown La Crosse. It houses now restaurant, an excellent one as I’m told, have not yet tried it out.

It’s no Hiawatha, but Amtrak’s Empire Builder still serves Winona, a fashionable two hours late… …while two SOO units doze in the sun!

Faribault, where it connected with the Austin-Twin Cities line. The Zumbro Falls – Midland Jct. portion was abandoned already in 1934, the remaining sections in 1952 and 1980. From Wabasha a branch branch line crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. It followed the Chippewa River towards Eau Clair and Chippewa Falls. The Mississippi River flood of 1952 destroyed the bridge across the river. This branch was then served via trackage rights

over the Burlington Road, which runs along the East bank of the river, until abandonment in 1980. The third branch line originated in Red Wing and followed the Cannon River to Cannon Falls and Northfield, where it connected with the Austin-Twin Cities line. This line was built to

compete with the Minnesota Central, which ran on the opposite bank of the Cannon River to Canon Falls and on to Mankato. The Minnesota Central later became part of the Chicago Great Western, and outlasted the Milwaukee between Cannon Falls and Red Wing. The Milwaukee trackage was abandoned in 1974, whereas the CGW (by then Chicago Northwestern) continued until 1983 and eventually became the Cannon Valley Trail. Although the branches are all gone, the main line along

..the freight house definitely has seen better days!!

The Depot in Red Wing has several uses: Artists Studio, Art Gallery, Home of the local Visitors and Conventions Bureau, and as an Amtrak depot. The Empire builder stops on the track in the foreground. There is an

impressive collection of Rail Road heralds on display inside. Ironically I had a hard time finding the Milwaukee herald. It’s tucked away in a far

corner – a sign of a strained relationship in the past with the city??

Some rolling stock remains that retains its original Milwaukee markers. Here in a work train helping with temporary track and bridge

replacement after the August flash flood.

Although this is not Milwaukee related, I included this picture of the Red Wing depot formerly owned by the Chicago Great Western. This building

made it on the National Park Service’s register of historical places and was nicely renovated. Inside is a display describing the history of the

building and the railroad that owned it. The platform shelter on the left is used for the drive thru window and yes, the name of the coffee brand

served is way more appropriate for the permafrost region we’re in than let’s say Starbuck’s.

the river is still in place and in operation. In 1985, the Soo Line became the surprising winning bidder of the remnants of the Milwaukee system, known as Milwaukee II. Since then the Soo became fully merged into its parent company Canadian Pacific, whose freights now run along the river on the former Milwaukee trackage. Soo units are still around in their original paint, but are relegated to local and work train duties. The second track of the main line was removed in the early 90’s and replaced with a series of sidings. Although Hiawathas are no more, there is still passenger

service on the line, because in an ironic twist of fate Amtrak operates its Empire Builder between Minneapolis and Chicago over CP track. And the Hiawatha name was bestowed on the Chicago-Milwaukee Amtrak.

Hope you all enjoyed the journey and....

Happy Holidays from the Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train in Winona on December 09, 2006

CABOOSE

MILW 991943 in the city park at Cresco, IA. Photo by Walter Lang

Meeting Schedule

December 10 , 2007January 14, 2008

Meetings are the 2nd Monday of each month in the White Station Branch Library from 7-9

pm.

5094 Poplar AvenueMemphis, TN (in front of Clark Tower)

Contact the EditorTom Parker

3012 Wood Thrush DriveMemphis, TN 38134

tscottparker@gmail.com

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