An old Milwaukee Road flatcar a long way from home, sitting on a grain elevator siding in Wynndel BC Canada. The switch has been removed so it’s not going anywhere soon.
The full report showing this car and the grain elevator…
http://www.bigdoer.com/1213/exploring-history/wynndel-bc-grain-elevator/
Chris “BIGDoer”
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Chris and Connie: Off the beaten path.
Hiking - Adventure - History - Exploration
This flatbed has been here for a number of years. I took a look at a few years when I was travelling from Creston to Nelson. I wonder how long it’s been here and why it has been kept here for so long.
The article indicates that the elavator may have been in operation as late as 2001, so the car, most likely bad-ordered, was probably set out on the siding after that date. While still having Milwaukee Road marks, actual ownership would have been (or is) Canadian Pacific following the acquisition of the Milwaukee by CP’s Soo Line subsidiary.
It follows that CP’s Mechanical Department either loses the bad order notice or decides it is too expensive to repair and before the car gets hauled out for scrap, the MOW Department pulls the switch to the siding.
A partial on the reporting marks is MILW 60xxxx. Maybe Carl Shaver can find the story on the car series.
In my notes I have the car number as 600XX. The fourth digit is either a 3, 5 or 9 - only the bottom of it was clear. Not sure about the last digit as it was faint and totally washed out. It’s hard to tell but the car is actually sitting against a team track style loading dock, so perhaps it was simply left after being off loaded? You can see this same loading dock being used in the old picture although closer to the elevator. The way the shrubs have grown around the car means it has been there a fair while.
Chris “BIGDoer”
We invite your comments either here or on our website.
Chris and Connie: Off the beaten path.
Hiking - Adventure - History - Exploration
I did think that the car could have been under load when it was set on the siding and then found to have a bad order condition. Still interesting that the car was not pulled at sometime before the switch was removed, but it wouldn’t be the first rail car stranded by removal of rails from abandoned lines or sidings.
Enjoy your stories.
I need to check our most wanted list to see if it is on there.[:o)]
There have been no MILW flat cars in the 60000 series since at least 2005, so I guess it isn’t wanted too much.
I show about 30 cars in that series as of 1997. They are 60-foot flat cars, kind of belying that fishbelly design (most 60-footers I’ve seen have straight sides). Before I saw that length, I was going to question whether it had roller-bearing trucks (I now suspect that it has, after all).
It wouldn’t be that hard to replace the frog and get that car out of there, if they really wanted to. It might make more sense to just lift it onto another flat car and take it out that way.
Carl,
Following the link to the full article and expanding the picture to the max, I was able to make out the end cap on an axle typical to roller bearing journals. I’m guessing, but I doubt that there is much, if any, net salvage value for the car as scrap.
Jay
I recorded the car as MILW 60030. It is alongside a loading platform which has shifted enough to prevent the car being pulled out, even if the switch was restored. But I don’t know when it arrived, or why.
If asked to guess, one possibility is it was used in some CPR work program, perhaps ferrying a cement truck or drill rig out to some remote location along Kootenay Lake. If MoW was not sure if they had finished with it they might not release it immediately, and for whatever reason nobody followed up. But that is merely my speculation; other scenarios are just as possible.
John
Oh, there it is!
I couldn’t remember where I left that thing.
IF it not too much trouble, can someone please put the MILW flat car and the trucks on a longer flat car and move them to the Vicksburg Historical Society in Vicksburg, Michigan, located along side the CN tracks.
They need to add a classic flat car to their collection of rolling stock.
Thank You.
Andrew Falconer
Oddly, a similar Milwaukee Road flat car has shown up in my own town. The car appears very close in appearance to the first one I found, at least to a neophyte like me.
Seen on the lead to a rail car repair facility. It’s been painted with a combination of spray paint and house paint. The old logo can be seen and some other data is somewhat visible, but the road number has been covered up.
What’s in store for it?
It’s pretty old I think. I can post more pics if needed.
Chris “BIGDoer”
Chris and Connie: Off the beaten path.
Hiking - Adventure - History - Exploration
MOW service for the rest of its usable life span.
Re-deck it with new lumber/ cribbing and turn it loose. So many flatcars get rejected because of deck damage. M/W service can be almost forever with non-welded/riveted frames.