I’m a retired Senior Special Agent from the Union Pacific RR Police Dept., but I originally hired out with the Milwaukee Road Police Dept. in Chicago in 1968. I worked in all of the Chicago area yards as a patrolman, then as a Sgt. and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, while working a Lieutenant’s job out of Bensenville Yard, I accepted a transfer to a Lieutenant’s job in Deer Lodge, Montana. I remained in Deer Lodge well into 1980 until after the bankruptcy. (I went to work for the UPRR in July, '80 as a Special Agent in the UPRR Police Department in Seattle.) I guess I probably could tell a few stories about my short career as a Milwaukee Road Police Officer though:
Shortly after I got on the Deer Lodge job with the MILW Police, we had a serious vandalism case in Butte, Mt. which involved the boarded up Milwaukee Road passenger depot. With the advent of AMTRAK (which did not service Butte, Mt.) the small but modern passenger depot was a building that the Real Estate Dept. was trying to sell or rent out. It would have made a good doctor’s or dentist’s office for example. When one of the MILW real estate department rep’s discovered on an inspection of the depot, that one of the plywood boards had been pried off of one of the windows and serious damage had been done inside the depot by vandal(s), (restroom toilets, sinks and fixtures broken, ceramic tile broken, etc.), naturally, the railroad police (me) got the “complaint”.
Experience had taught me that kids in the neighborhood usually knew which of the bigger kids would be responsible for such vandalism, and my investigation developed a cute little kid about 8 or 9 yrs. old that lived near the vandalized depot. I’ll never forget this little guy; he’d been wearing the whole cowboy outfit; the two holsters and cap guns, the boots, chaps, vest, red bandanna and a white cowboy hat that was several sizes too big for him. I showed him my badge and let him get a little glimpse of my shoulder holster under
I’m a retired Senior Special Agent from the Union Pacific RR Police Dept., but I originally hired out with the Milwaukee Road Police Dept. in Chicago in 1968. I worked in all of the Chicago area yards as a patrolman, then as a Sgt. and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, while working a Lieutenant’s job out of Bensenville Yard, I accepted a transfer to a Lieutenant’s job in Deer Lodge, Montana. I remained in Deer Lodge well into 1980 until after the bankruptcy. (I went to work for the UPRR in July, '80 as a Special Agent in the UPRR Police Department in Seattle.) I guess I probably could tell a few stories about my short career as a Milwaukee Road Police Officer though:
Shortly after I got on the Deer Lodge job with the MILW Police, we had a serious vandalism case in Butte, Mt. which involved the boarded up Milwaukee Road passenger depot. With the advent of AMTRAK (which did not service Butte, Mt.) the small but modern passenger depot was a building that the Real Estate Dept. was trying to sell or rent out. It would have made a good doctor’s or dentist’s office for example. When one of the MILW real estate department rep’s discovered on an inspection of the depot, that one of the plywood boards had been pried off of one of the windows and serious damage had been done inside the depot by vandal(s), (restroom toilets, sinks and fixtures broken, ceramic tile broken, etc.), naturally, the railroad police (me) got the “complaint”.
Experience had taught me that kids in the neighborhood usually knew which of the bigger kids would be responsible for such vandalism, and my investigation developed a cute little kid about 8 or 9 yrs. old that lived near the vandalized depot. I’ll never forget this little guy; he’d been wearing the whole cowboy outfit; the two holsters and cap guns, the boots, chaps, vest, red bandanna and a white cowboy hat that was several sized too big for him. I showed him my badge and let him get a little glimpse of my shoulder holster under
Remember that south of Boeing field at one time their was a covered wooden bridge that crossed the UP,NP, GN and Milwaukee Road tracks. Of course at this time the Milwaukee was still electrified on the coast division and the bridge caught fire one afternoon and according to the Seattle Fire Department it was sparks from the catenanry that destroyed the last covered bridge over the tracks in the area. Used to stand on the bridge and watch trains pass beneath. It was a great train watching spot. To bad the Milwaukee Electrics burned it down.
I saw a Milwaukee Road F7A being pulled by CSX to the Chattanooga Railway Museum several months ago. This just happened to be a day when I left my camera at home. I’m still kicking myself.
Just recentally I have seen a Soo Line bandit. It was about 3 weeks ago and it was a MP15AC and it was in the CP yard in Bensonville(near Chicago). So the Milwaukee still lives today.
Here is my stoy, not much, but it’s Milwaukee Road:
Every Friday my dad and I drive past Bensonville Yard in Chicago. Working the yard is an MP15 in Milwaukee Road Paint. There is also a GP38 in Milwaukee road. The only change is the word SOO on each of their cabs.
I have photographed the MP15 from a highway overpass while it waas swithching. (The hghwaay overpass is the only way to see the part of the yard it works) But I have not been as lucky w/ the GP38. I will get it someday!!!
It was a brief encounter/memory of the Milwaukee that motivated me throughout my public school & college years to pursue a career in railroading. In 1979, my grandfather and I went to a rodeo in Forsyth, Montana. Sitting in the bleachers at the Rosebud County Fairgrounds, you could see the not-long-for-the-world Milwaukee mainline on the north side of the Yellowstone River. I still remember the orange-and-black SD40-2s on the eastbound that rolled past the fairgrounds during the rodeo. My grandparents owned a ranch adjacent to the present-day BNSF Forsyth Sub (in 1979 a bastion of green n’ black) and the orange-and-black locos were a new sight for me; I asked my grandfather about them and he told me that we were looking at a train on the ‘Milwaukee Road’. I’m pretty sure it was right then and there that I wanted to work for a railroad.
i never worked on the milwaukee in fact ive only seen one bandit in person and never a full livery uninit even in a museum
but i do know an old codger who worked on the milwaukee during the steam era as a brakman he once told me that one time long ago an F7 (steam) broke a wheel somewhere south of st.paul and had to go back to be repaired the engineer who got called was to say the least “hevily dosed with the good stuff” and promptly nodded off after getting out on the line at this point the engin decided to take off and proceded to run hell bent for the north they got to the shops without an icedent and went home. the next day the track formans were fit to kill aparently the broken wheel of the engin had broken a hundred or so sections of rail during the night
The first train I ever remeber seeing was in Columbus Wisconsin in 1982. We were waiting for my aunt to arrive on amtrak, and an orange and black locomotive led a freight train through. MY mother took a picture, and I still have it today (GP40). I was hooked. I spent alot of my time growing up wondering where that train went, and started reading about the milwaukee. The pictures through montana fascinated me and I always wanted to go there to “se what was left”. A few years ago, on my second solo backpacking trip to the old mainline, I hiked the Hiawathat trail through the adair loop. I camped at adair that night, right at the tunnel entrance next to the stream. It was a positively eerie experience being right next to the right of way, by myself, thinking about the history and of the men who built, maintained, and ran trains over that section of ground. I only wish I had been there sooner, and had the time to meet them.
I will say this, Richard Steinheimer’s “Electric Way Across the Mountains” is a MUST HAVE for anybody remotely interested in the Milwaukee, or the story of men who made railroading happen.
P.S. Anybody in this thread who is not a memeber should check out the MIlwuakee Road Historical Association. (www.mrha.com). Their quartlery publication is EXCELLENT - and full of such stories and invaluable information. Membership is cheap.
I would like to hear from people who have stories about the Milwaukee Road. If you have a story about Milwaukee Road please share it here in this thread. Post any story you want to post. Talk about the trains, the locos, the people, the problems, the competition they faced, their downfall, and any other Milwaukee Road “thing” you can think of to post. Thank you in advance for your story. [^]
Sure do.
Until the 1980 retrenchment, the MILW had a branch line from Iron Ridge, WI, to Fond du Lac, WI. About 3 miles south of town, the MILW shared track with the CNW to get into FDL, WI. During the early '70’s, my cousin and I would ride our bikes down to the “yard” area, which was only 4 tracks wide. The MILW would come up from Iron Ridge every Tuesday and Thursday to switch the local co-op(2 locations in FDL). Motive power was usually 2 SW1200’s, towing 4-8 freight cars and the rib-side caboose. They would break for beans about 9P.M., and leave the engines idling on a siding.
At the same time, the Soo and CNW locals would be working industries in the area, so sometimes three trains would be tying up traffic all within a 4-block area.[}:)]
One night, as the MILW was preparing to leave, we chased them on the bikes. Unfortunately, my pant leg got caught in the chain as I was standing up to pedal, and I went over the handlebars.[xx(] The engines stopped, and the brakeman got off to check on me. Other than a few scratches, I was fine. After a short lecture on safety around the railroad, he re-boarded and the train left.
There was an engine house on the west side of town, that was used for storage, and torn down about '83. For years, a wedge plow was parked in front of it. Never saw it in action.
I also have newspaper clippings of a few derailments that happened on this lightly-railed branch, but nothing serious.
The trackage in FDL was acquired by Soo, then WC, and now by CN, and averages one trip a week.
Although I didn’t have the pleasure of working on the Milwaukee, one in the family did; and I can tell one for this post.
My grandfather worked for the Milwaukee from the mid 1950’s until the 1985 buyout. During that time, he worked in the railroad police department, eventually earning the rank of lieutenant, a role in which he trained in new members.
Here’s a story;
Once, back in the 1960’s, my grandfather took the entire family for a rail trip to the west, all the way to Deer Lodge. Because he was a employee, I would presume there was a discount.
Well, the trip was going well as any train trip goes. As the train went farther and farther west, there were less and less aboard, and things were pretty empty across Dakota.
Also famous on train trips, the train ran out of real food. Being an employee, Paul found out before the rest of the riders, and quickly had his 5 kids (including my mother) go down to the diner and eat up all the donuts and rolls they still had.
At this time, it is neccessary to introduce the other character in this story, a rather “rotund” man, who also found out that there was no food. Being less swift that 5 hungry kids, he made it to the diner too late and got nothing.
There would not be another station stop until the next morning, so everyone waited for the next depot to buy up food (Much like today’s Amtrak passengers.) The time finally came and the station was rolling into sight. On the platform was a local boy with a large box of candy bars and the like.
This time the man was not to be denied food. He flew, first off the train, made a beeline for the boy, gave him a twenty, and bought the whole box!
(Side note- While in Deer Lodge, the train arrived late, but the theatre operator arranged to show Hatari! for the passengers. It was the last movie my grandfather watched in a theater for almost 30 years. )
The Milwaukee Road was merged with the Soo Line the year I was born, so I don’t have any athentic Milwaukee Road stories. However, I did come the closest I woud to seeing the MILW in operation in the sumer of 1997.
I was almost 11 years old at the time and my family took a trip to Minot, ND. I had been there twice before when I was very young. On this trip I did quite a bit of railfanning. It was the first time in my life I had ever seen BN engines in operation (the merger had happened by then, but the motive power was all still BN green). There was also a special Amtrak train with exhibits that stopped in town, so it was pretty good trip for trains.
But probably the most incredible train I saw on the trip, although I didn’t know it’s signifigance at the time, was a Soo Line Bandit. One day we headed out to the tracks to watch trains and in the distance I saw this orange engine. It was far away and at first I thought that it was a BNSF engine. I told my dad to get the camera ready (at that age I wasn’t using the camera yet and so my dad took all the train pictures on the trip, which did turn out quite good). It soon became clear that it wasn’t a BNSF engine. It was, in fact Soo GP40 2011(ex-MILW 199), very dirty and rusty, but still waering it’s original MILW orange at the head of a CP frieght! My dad got two very good photos of it. I did know that it was a unique engine that I should have a picture of, but it wasn’t until later in life that I became aware of what really was.