Wonderfull! Thanks

Well done!

The old power plant at my town used two of these monsters to power the town

I LOVED the breaking glass sound at the two couplings (one example at 2:04)!!! Some Mopac boxes in the video, so I guess it's ok!😃

My dad worked for the Milwaukee road during this time, although he was up by Clinton, ia. Delmar, and Green Island to be specific. He also worked for the Chicago and Northwestern around this time as well at the car shops in Clinton. He said working for either railroad at the time wasn't bad paying/good benefits. I would like to see some old footage from Delmar or Green Island, maybe my dad would be in it. A good story he has from working on the Milwaukee road is getting plastered drunk after work with some friends, and climbing a pole outside the bank in Delmar. He wound up breaking the pole, and having to pay for it.

It’s a shame that America decided to invest in roads and trucks instead of rail. I personally think rail is a more greener choice because you can haul way more with less.

Andy, do you have any Metra electric footage from 04/05?

My childhood train at 12:37.

Why is the Milwaukee so missed? It outsells all the other historical society mags and has a great deal of interest still. It's my fav rr from when I was a child but it's so dearly missed.

In 2004 the IAIS said basically that big change was on the horizon. With the retirement of interesting motive power was the line’s final blow.

THE MOST EFFICIENT AND LOWEST COST TO MOVE FREIGHT. EISENEHOWER BACKED DOWN FROM THE TRUCKER UNIONS AND GAVE RAILROAD MAINTENANCE MONEY TO JIMMA HOFFA TRUCKERS. RAIL ROADS ARE MAKING A HUGE COMEBACK IN EUROPE AND RUSSIA, AMERICN FREEWAY AND ROAD AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY WON..

These were the best days.

Ruined by completely inept management. Sickening.

with no hand held radios, trains like this couldn't be too long... not without at least a brakeman... and two would be preferrable.... but the 1972 national agreement was the beginnings of the crew reductions... and watching this vid makes me believe this was definitely targeted as a "blankable assignment"

really nice vid... what a cool time capsule... and to think if the ICC had done its' job back in the early 60s, the line would have been under UP ownership at the taping of these vids... the ICC took 10 years to finally approve the UP/rock island merger... the UP, not surprisingly, passed on the offer

@6:55 thats my dad there in the stripped shirt.12 years before i was born. Super cool that this footage is out there on youtube.

Sad the line is gone, another piece of history faded away. 😢

i know railroads are cheap an psr ,butt running on grass tracks now thats cheap

Nice!

Thank you immensely for sharing this footage!!!! Seldom will we see videos of the few that didn't make it into the Conrail takeover, and the differed maintenance they had to undergo in order to stay afloat!..?? The only thing that kept the right of way "clear" was the trains themselves! The ICC could have played a "small" part in that! Milwaukee Road...?? It is unlikely that any of us will ever see a Class 1 railroad, even a branch line, get to such a state and still carry rail traffic.

OUTSTANDING!

Mr Andy! These movies are amazing! Thank you for posting them. My all time favorite RR, Central Indiana Railway, would have looked much like this videos of Iowa but located just North of Indianapolis. And Mr Ben must have used a tripod…I LOVE IT! I appreciate your efforts. CFM

The Rock Island line was a might doomed line... They call this progress.

Hi Andy, I am working on a project about the CRANDIC and would love to use some clips from this video with credit attributed to you and Ben. May I have your permission to do so? Thanks for your consideration. -Drayton

Thank you for sharing.

This footage reminds me of the CNW operations on the Belle Plaine-Blue Earth line in the same time period in Parkersburg, Iowa.

It would be awesome to see both of these doublehead again and maybe even see one of them with the locomotive from Boone iowa

What a great tractor to have under the 234. Good power for picking and shelling too. Only downer you had to have smaller tires on it. 16.9 38s. Or 15.5 38s.

As a railfan since 1950,does my ❤️good to see 3 great granger roads,moving branch line traffic... THANKS 👍 from MSP 🥶

What a great film ❗❗👍👍we had 9 r.r In MSP in1949...I would go out of my way to study,walk, enjoy branch lines around stpaul,mostly we had many sidings in the cities,every 3 blocks,serving business,really had fun watching your 1971 film and thank👍

Spark arresters & caboose,great rural track,great post ❗👍,chased Rock in St Paul,1949-1980,my kinda railroading,did not want film to end...😞

This is hidden power two stroke s are this good and why are there not more of them

Wow different planet time capsule footage glad someone was filming

Sure miss the caboose on trains today, reminds when I was little watching CNW and UP go through my area with cabooses.

I really enjoyed this & other videos you've posted. I am also a retired railroader. In the early 1970s I worked local wayfreight jobs for CP out of Woodstock Ontario. We had an S-3 for a few years until they upgraded us to SW1200RS units. Those little switchers had their hands full pulling 15 car trains, especially up slight grades. We worked 6 days a week 12 plus hrs each day and somehow got the same amount of work done in 8 hours when we had to work Saturday. My 37 yr career ended 13 years ago, but it seems like yesterday sometimes. I went from wooden cabooses (that we slept in) and 5 crew members (if we had a a fireman on the train) to 2 man crews & distributed power (&10,000 ft plus trains) in my last few years. Keep the videos coming Andy ...while I'm in Canada, railroading is pretty well the same on both sides of the border & they make me think back to the old days. My first trip on CP was 50 yrs ago Tuesday (June 13th). Ron

551 with no MU

Those white Manufacturers Railway cars carried beer.

Great film of a great railroad. Thanks for posting. These film clips are catch some history. Fewer railfans are left to appreciate railroading in the early 70's. Almost all of the equipment and practices are gone now. I miss the caboose, the depot and the train orders, not to mention the clerks that worked in the small agencies all along these branch lines and main lines. All gone now.

I live in ottumawa

The Milwaukee Road Line from Madison Wisconsin to Prairie du Chien Wisconsin. Still used today by Wisconsin Southern Railroad. The Prairie du Chien Wisconsin to Marquette Iowa the railroad Bridge was removed in early 70s the the line is owed by CP rail now

Marvelous time travel! The maps and written information are very helpful. Someday I'd like to check out that antique shop in Hedrick.

I'm cringing to see how fast that train goes on that weedy track lol. Too bad even most of the old elevators are gone today. Which RR crossed at Webster?

Such amazing film! I looked at Google maps satellite view and the ROW has totally disappeared from Kalona. If I didn't know it was east-west through there I would never find it. The Kalona Depot is part of a historical village

Thanks for posting this great Rock Island memory. The brakeman opening the door at the depot to turn in waybills or bills of lading doesn't happen anymore.

My friend knows a guy here in my city right down the street from me in Galesburg Il that works for the IAIS I think his name is Kevin

My Aunt and Uncle lived in Toddville. Their property boarded a Rock Island line that ran from Cedar Rapids to Alburnett. I used to walk the tracks hoping I would see a train. By the late 70's I think the trains ran only once or twice a week. The rails had been torn up by the early 80's and a wooden trestle that crossed the creek was all that was left. It was dismantled by the mid 80's. Now on Google earth I can barely see where the right of way was. I can still find my Aunt and Uncle's house though. Great memories from my youth. Thanks for posting!

As I watch these videos, I pause at the towns and switch over to Google Maps and Google Street View to see what's left. In most locations the right of way is nearly gone - turned into a road, a farm field, or built over. Sometimes I have to consult the historic aerial website to even find where the track went through a town because the former right of way is completely unrecognizable and the industries served are gone!

Cool video Running trains in the weeds 😮

Love seeing branch line action, and all those old freight cars with fallen flag reporting marks.

There's still an active industrial spur in Muscatine that was once part of the line to Montezuma. Years ago Trains magazine did an article about railroads in the Muscatine area. It was interesting that train crews in that article still referred to that spur as the "old Montezuma line" many years after it was abandoned.