I have discovered that the Milwaukee road # 109A is alive!!! (sort of ) In the official records the locomotive was scrapped in 1983. The locomotive has a fairly bright future as a display in the Kansas City Union station, along with several milwaukee road passenger cars and a Great Northern obs car. a heavyweight car, the Alaska will also be included. I spent the day helping to get the locomotives 24RL airbrakes working. Perhaps someone in the KC area can keep us up to date once the equipment arrives in 3to 4 weeks.
Randy
Randy
More details on where it is now and how it’s going to get to KC? Maybe someone can get some pics.
Jay
Randy,
Does it stll have it’s 567 diesel, traction motors, etc.? I know it would be a ton of money but would be wonderful if it could be brought back to operating condition.
Randy,
Thanks for the news. I’ve been very curious about what KC is going to get. Is this GN observation car intact inside?
The equipment is moving under FRA waiver as a dedicated hospital train. The train is currently at Jones island in Milwaukee and I assume it will move south to Chicago and west on the ICE to KC. The locomotive is intact with the original equipment in good shape. I’ve been told that there are Millions of dollars set aside for this project. The GN obs car is in terriffic shape, it will take minimun effort to get it in shape.
Randy
What’s that in front of this F-M?
Greetings,
Living less than a mile away from Jones Island and the cars and locomotives you mentioned I have been watching the progress being made on getting them ready to move. I remember seeing several people working in and around the F7. I heard rumors that the F7 was going to be running, because it only had about 60-70 hours after being rebuilt. Any truth to that.
Also do you have any better idea as to what date the cars will actually be moved ? Just wondering.
Keith Schmidt
It appears to be an EMD industrial size diesel hydraulic switcher.There is a picture of one in the original Diesel Spotters Guide.It was owned by CP .I don’t recall how many were built.As I recall,it was about the size of a GE 44 tonner.
I posted some pictures of the some the equipment that is going to be moving from Milwaukee to Kansas City, MO. Here is a shot of the Milwaukee Road F7 #109A.
I hope this works.
Keith
Ok,
Now that I know this works, Here is some more of the equipment.
This is one of the RPO’s #2159
Here is Pullman Car “Jefferson River”
Here are a Milwaukee Road Rib Side Caboose and the Great Northern “Going to the Sun Mountain” Observation Car which served as a bar here in Milwaukee for several years.
One last thing I forgot , I have more photos of this equipment and some others at
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/keithschmidt
Keith
Great pics !!! The fellow in charge of the move in Milwaukee is John Morgano, he would be the one to ask about the date of the move. I know they were originally going to truck the caboose out , we had talked about that being a waste of time and talked them into including it in the hospital train. We are currently looking for some journal box packing pads, the caboose is riding on brass , so for whatever reason the CP didn’t want to handle it. We’ve been railroading for 150 years and 100 years have been on brass ( or something other than Timkens ) I think we talked the CP into hadling it. I hope you get some photo’s of the ribbed side cars and the REA reefer / troop sleeper.
Randy
Thanks for the pic’s. I was expecting MILW orange and black, but that is OK. I’ve made many rides in both Hiawathas and City trains decked out in the UP yellow and grey. But a question! Was the 109-A in passenger service and therefore the yellow paint, or was that a “restoration” paint job?
Jay
Regarding the F7, it was built in 1951 and I have been told that it only had 60 hours of service since undergoing a rebuild. Of course, there is much more there than just the F7…
The GN obs Going-to-the-Sun Mountain and the Milwaukee Diner #170 were part of the Milwaukee Great Northern Railroad’s Midwest Hiawatha lounge which opened around 1987 and closed in mid-January of
2002. I was a regular patron there (usually three to four times a month) for about a dozen of those years. Both cars are probably 95% original. The only things I think the Sun Mountain was missing was correct drink tables/a***rays (
instead they had authentic C&NW ones in there), the one roomette was converted into a ladies rest room, and the glass partition between the lounge and obsersation area was not in place. I was told the lamps were reproductions. The carpeting in the
Sun Mountain was replaced about 2000, and the car was last repainted in 1992. I saw the kitchen of the #170 once, and the only thing that seemed out of place was a microwave. Dinners and then lunches (or viseversa) were served in there from 1989 until 1991 or so and while
the menu was limited (due to space) the food was very good. I don’t know if I ever got any interior pics.
I’ve added almost daily updates to the status of preparing the equipment for the move (from what some of us have been able to observe) at www.scheduleboard.net. I also have a link to a
page I call “Milwaukee’s Last Coachyard” with pics and info on almost all the cars. I haven’t been able to get pics of the Milwaukee passenger cars in the middle tracks. Randy, is there a chance you
can get car numbers for us from those cars not visible from Stewart St?
There is also a Plymouth switcher and two MILW speeders on the property.
Milwaukee is losing a BIG piece of its railroad history with a number of those cars being built in the Valley Shops. I hope KC appreciates what they are getting.
Joe R.
Welcome Joe,
Here are some shots of the equipment Joe also mentioned.
Another of the Milwaukee Road RPO’s on property
Here are the two speeders. It was tough to shoot them because of other junk in the way
Here is the Plymouth switcher, parked behind the Stowell Yard Scale House.
Keith Schmidt
I’m not planning another trip down there, my job was to get the locomotive ready to move, fixes the 24rl brakes and pinned the reverser. There will be lots of opportunity to photograph all the cars when the CP assembles the train. The KCS is spending BIG money on this train … in the millions I’m told. It is sad that milwaukee loses one of it’s treasures but I’m satisfied that the equipment will be well cared for. What more can you ask for ? I am told that the REA reefer does not have a home as it was not included with the sale. In my opinion this car is a significant artifact, instead of mourning the loss of equipment lets find good homes for the rest of it.
Randy
Eww, in UP paint!!!
I’ve now found some pics for them on NE Rails, including this very unit at:
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel117.html
It is an EMD GMDH-1, #1001. Very interesting styling on these… Sort of reminiscent of the Aerotrain.
These are the first I’ve ever seen.
The little engine was manufactured by Plymouth locomotive Co. I think it was manufactured in Rochelle Illinois. ( either that or I’m thinking of Whitcomb )
Randy
That is, if we get to know when the CP assembles the train. 
I am not overly confident of how the equipment will be maintained in KC. Granted, it’s current location near a cement silo was not good for its paint, but after reading about all the financial problems KC Union Station is having (cutting staff, closing museums two days a week, etc.), I’m not sure this is a good home - they already what to sell three of the cars. I can’t see them getting the 250,000 people down there to see this equipment like they are projecting. It’ll have a one-year honeymoon period, then ho-hum, been there - seen that.
Milwaukee has lost so much of its railroad heritage in the past 40 years that there’s not much left.
Thanks for the info on the REA reefer. Since there are 12 cars there, some of us were wondering which was the odd one out.
From what I’m hearing, the move could take place any time from today (Tuesday) through Saturday.