So, B&O control for at least 20 years. Interesting!
Rich
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Not sure, but it looks like the Alco (PA or FA) pictured is coupled to a Alco DL series engine.
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Thanks for the read BaltACD vary interesting .
Chuck
PA. It has the âeyebrowâ over the side cab windows that the FA and FPAâs lack.
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How so, Jeff? I donât quite get the reference.
Rich
Always âsickâ.
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Eh?
Continual poor financial condition.
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Oh, I see what you mean. Thanks.
GM&O had a nice direct route Chicago to St. Louis, but so did IC, Wabash, and Chicago and Eastern Illinois. Chicago and North Western got there roundabout as did Burlington.
Lots of competition. The old Chicago -St. Louis route is now UP south of Joliet and is the racetrack for Amtrak. There is some 100mph trackage.
Back in my travelling sales day it was fun driving down I55 and seeing the B&O signals as the rails and interstate parallelled each other. Also after Southern pacific purchased it there were Rio Grande diesels based in Bloomington, Il used on the locals. Got some photos of those.
Dont know much about their lines south of St. Louis other than the EStL to Cairo line is pretty much abandoned. Might have had coal on that line at one time.
Ed
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Yeah, that had to be a problem, way too much competition.
Rich
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When the B&O purchased the C&A in the Depression of the 30âs they bought it cheap. When they disposed of it in 1942 it was considered that the property was not earning its keep.
The GM&O was a property that also had issues in earning its way.
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It seems like anybody with money back in the second half of the 19th century wanted to build a railroad.
Rich
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Predecessor to the âDot-Comâ boom and bust.
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Thatâs a pretty good analogy.
Rich
The âDot-Comâ boom led to a lot of fiber being put in the ground, which came in handy when YouTube and Streaming greatly increased internet traffic. One reason for forming the ICC was to rein in some of the overbuilding of railroads.
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Boom and Bust.
I seem to recall reading about the investors of early railroads, particularly of the âTranscontinentalâ railroad which included much foreign investment, realizing that their returns wouldnât materialize for many years. Huge investments were needed, cycles of traffic, equipment expenses, etcetera would eat away at their initial investments.
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 was partially a result of the likes of J.D. Rockefeller and his monopoly on tank cars. If a competitor wanted to ship oil he was at the mercy of the Standard Oil Company (Union Tank Car Line*) which set rates and supplied cars (or didnât).
(*Owned by Warren Buffet today)
Carnegie had a sweet arrangement with his former employer, the Pennsylvania Railroad, even naming his first mill after J. Edgar Thomson, its chief engineer and then president. The PRR gave Carnegie greatly discounted shipping rates that his competitors would not. Later leading to âsecretâ rebates on freight rates.
Glad we learned our lesson about allowing billionaires to control functions of the government!
Cheers, Ed
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Amen. Instead we get ACW2
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Well my grandfather worked for GM&O! Retired when IC took over! Found some pics of him on his train!!
And donât forget the Lil Rebel was so kool !!
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Wow, never saw the Lil Rebel before. It is cool.
Rich
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