Disused Stations of the Chicago Great Western - Oelwein #1 - Boon to Boom - Part 23

[@BeHistoric]

Due to KZbin's 5K character limit for video descriptions, we are once again forced to place a portion of the description in the Comments Section. Below are the image credits for this video, in order of appearance: IMAGE CREDITS (FB = Facebook) - US Library of Congress - Iowa Dept of Natural Resources - Hub City Railroad Museum - www.ebay.com - Monte Barker (FB) - Bob Vaughn (FB) - www.worthpoint.com - James L Rueber - Deb Larsen Taylor (FB) - David Rumsey Collection - www.wikimedia.org - boudewjnhuijgens.getarchive.net - W A Vaughn (FB) - Chicago and Northwestern Historical Society - Elma Historical Society - www.newspapers.com (The Morning Democrat, The Courier, Chicago Tribune, Saint Paul Globe, Star Tribune, Omaha World Herald, Davenport Democrat, The Daily Times, Champaign Daily Gazette, Evening Times Republican, Leavenworth Times, The Gazette, The Evening Nonpareil, Muscatine News Tribune, Des Moines Tribune, Kingsbury County Independent, Bulletin Journal, Ottumwa Semi-Weekly Courier, Oskalooska Herald) - Progressive Men of Minnesota (1897), archive.org - AI Tool: replicate.com/tencentarc - www.familysearch.org - AI Tool: Bing Image Creator - Harold and Bonita Meier - www.newspaperarchives.com (Oelwein Register, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Oelwein Daily Register) - Railway Master Mechanic (1900), archive.org - Ron Luckeroth (FB) - www.findagrave.com (Roll, KMS, - Sears Roebuck Catalogue, 1902, archive.org - Phil Green (FB) - US Geological Survey - US Bureau of Land Management - US Post Office Archives - Iowa State Historical Society - greenwichtime.com - davidcecelski.com - St Croix Historical Society - Italian Sons and Daughters of America, orderisda.org - Ottumwa Semi-Wekkly Courier - History of Immigration in Boston - Nick Cimino (FB) - Mary Frances Krull (FB)

[@timtoms4117]

it was great to follow you to your destination. You should be proud of the record you created on this topic. Thank you

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for the ongoing support along the way - and thanks for watching the series and providing comments all along the way - it has been very much appreciated! Yes, we hope that the series stands the test of time - and documents a very important chapter in US history. Thank you again!

[@louislamonte334]

Fascinating!! Very well done!! I'm eager to see more of your videos!!

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for the kind words and support! Looking forward to future comments! Thanks again!

[@MarkPeters-p8e]

Very nicely done thanks for the history

[@jim7544]

Great job, thanks!

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for watching! Glad that you enjoyed the video! Thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to leave a comment!

[@HubCityRailwayMuseum]

Great job! We enjoyed your visit!

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks to you all for your tremendous support on this project! You all have been most helpful and open with information. You are indeed excellent collaborators! Hopefully, we are doing the topic justice. Thanks again!

[@1208bug]

Well done!😊

[@BeHistoric]

Thank you for the kind words! And thanks for watching and commenting!

[@jefftrego8491]

Another great video! The amount of detailed history always impresses me

[@BeHistoric]

So glad that you found the video informative! And thanks for noticing the detail! :-) It is indeed a labor of love! Thanks again!

[@robertweber3140]

Another exceptional video! Always Quality content to relive the past only to bring history alive.

[@BeHistoric]

So glad that you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment! We appreciate it!

[@robertweber3140]

@ need to talk to you about your program and guidance for documenting other lines for historical society.

[@WaltANelsonPHD]

Thank you both. Great job!

[@BeHistoric]

Glad that you enjoyed the video - and so thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to comment! It is much appreciated!

[@robertbaulder3955]

Another professional and educational video. Keep up the excellent work!!

[@BeHistoric]

Thank you for the kind words and support! We very much appreciate it!

[@al007italia]

As the old saying goes: "There's no place like home." Welcome to my home. This penultimate video is somewhat bittersweet as it reminds me of what is no longer there, i.e. most of the shops. But it also brought back a lot of good memories as well. Understandably, covering Oelwein as it needed to be, you were right to make 2 longer videos. I am very impressed with the historic details in this 1st video & look forward to the completion in the next. There is way too much for me to comment on so I will focus on 1 thing. As the grandson & great grandson of Italian immigrants, that part of the story is closest to my heart. My great grandfather, Frank Aiello, immigrated to the USA in 1908 & came to Oelwein in 1910 to work in the shops. In 1914, my maternal grandfather, John Stasi & his brother Joe, immigrated to Oelwein in 1914, settling there because they knew Frank. He later married Frank's daughter. Uncle Joe worked in the roundhouse & Grandpa in the shops. My paternal grandfather, George Washington Troup, worked for the CGW as a blacksmith. I'm not sure what year he came to Oelwein, just that he came from Hagerstown, MD. I grew up om 7th Ave. NW 3 blocks from the roundhouse & 3 blocks from the yards, station, etc., as well. So, you can see the huge part the GCW played in my life. Like I said, looking forward to Part 2.

[@BeHistoric]

Thank you for your continuing support and for the thoughtful comment! We were hoping that you would comment on this video and share you own experiences, as you have a direct connection with Oelwein and with Italian immigrants who came to this city in the early 1900s. We hope that we did the topic justice, as there is much nuance and layering of stories here. We gained some perspective when we stopped and ate a few times at Leo's restaurant in Oelwein (very good restaurant, btw), and the owner was very kind to us - and spoke of his own family's experience. It resonates very much with your family's experiences. Thank you again for the support and the sharing of your family's own history when they came to Oelwein and were part of its boom time and its role in the American dream.

[@matthewdockter2424]

Been waiting for Olwein. Great to see you guys have a #1, implying a #2. I look forward to all of them! Great work to all on this!

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for watching, commenting, and for the kind words of support! We very much appreciate it!

[@kadenemerson3569]

Thank you from the oelwein museum

[@BeHistoric]

Thank you for watching and for supporting this project! We very much appreciate it!

[@Illinois.1970]

I was wondering when this video would be released! Glad I checked KZbin today.

[@BeHistoric]

Glad that you kept checking! And thank you for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@sherryb8133]

Another thoroughly researched and enjoyable video. So sorry i'll miss your presentation in St Charles.

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for the kind words and support! We much appreciate it! There are sure to be other presentations in 2025 - and so perhaps we'll see you then! Thanks again!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Thanks for your historic background on the Chicago Great Western in Oelwein, Iowa and the town itself. Very well done! I was employed by the C&NW Railway through the 1980s and early 90s working in their engineering department (maintenance of way). It was about 1983-84 that I once stopped in to visit the former CGW yard at Oelwein which at the time had quite a few older, unused switch and road diesel locomotives sitting on the various tracks of the facility. As I recall most of the units were C&NW (probably former CGW too) that were an assortment of Electro-Motive, F, GP and SDs. Some were not North Western power and these included several General Electric, Auto-Train locomotives. I gather most of these engines from this time were eventually traded in for newer ones or outright scrapped. Thankfully I shot a fair number of print photos to document what was there at the time. Regretfully, I never made the time to visit the large, locomotive shops at Oelwein under C&NW ownership. Looking forward to your next video on Oelwein.

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for watching and the kind words! Thanks too for sharing your experiences with the Oelwein shops and yards. That is very interesting to hear your observations. Thanks for taking the time to comment and share!

[@bedlam71]

What a well done video! Very informative, professional, and accurate. For those who are interested, more information about the Oelwein Shops can be found in the book "The Back Shop Illustrated, Vol. 2"

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for the kind words of support - and thanks too for the additional reference - that is indeed a very excellent source!

[@45RPM45]

Thank you for all your work you do on these videos, my favorite moments are where you show exactly where things stood. A sort of then and now.

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment! We very much appreciate it! Yes, we enjoy doing that part of the video, attempting to place structures in the landscape.

[@brianberthold3118]

another great vid .. was able to add some info to my roundhouse file

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for the continuing support and for commenting! Glad that we could provide some useful information regarding Oelwein's two roundhouses. Any more word on Aiken? :-)

[@brianberthold3118]

@@BeHistoric il be going in the next 2 weeks waiting for fall to finish so i can see in the trees

[@thomasmackowiak]

Than k you for this fantastic video on the history of Oelwein, Iowa and what the Chicago Great Western Railroad did to make Oelwein, Iowa the center of the railroad's operations. I enjoyed listening and seeing all the historical information that you presented to make the history of Oelwein, Iowa come alive. I also enjoyed all the information about what Chicago Great Western did to build the infrastructure that the railroad needed at the hub of its operations. In this video you took explored the history of Oelwein, Iowa from its inception through the first two decades of the 20th Century and you told us about the arrival of the surveyors of the Chicago Great Western Railroad through the same period of the 20th Century. In the next video on Oelwein, Iowa, I presume that you will stop your narration as of 1 July 1968 when the Chicago Great Western was merged into the Chicago & North Western Railway. (Posted on 22 November 2024 at 0022 CST.)

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful and detailed comments! And thanks too for the continued support from the very start of our journey towards Oelwein! We always look forward to your comments and additional observations regarding these sites - as it adds much to the conversation!

[@poptart4511]

Born in Fayette county I appreciate the efforts put forth about the history including the arrival of numerous immigrants that was part of Oelwein's development. Like many cities that lost a major industry that has had a detrimental to its future we must understand the history of such an event. A friend of mine his father worked until nearly the end of the yard in 1988 then retired he said his father like many who worked in the industry had a special attachment to railroading as it was a truly unique career field.

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for taking the time to comment and for your thoughtful response. Indeed, it is the story of many cities and towns across the US, to see a major company or industry position their operations there - only to pull them out decades later - leaving those communities on life support. There are no good answers to this, as the solutions are almost always suboptimal. We hope that Oelwein continues in its legacy of reaching out and grabbing the brass ring, much as it did when it acquired the CGW shops in 1893, to ensure its future. Not easy to do, however. Thanks again!

[@TommyJohnson-ms8pb]

I almost grew up in Oelwein. My dad worked for the CNW and thought about taking a transfer to there from the M19 shops in Chicago.

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for sharing your own family's experience with Oelwein! Thanks too for watching and commenting!

[@josepvanco1419]

Thanks! I really enjoyed this video! My wife and I visited Oelwein 3 years ago. Looking forward to the next 😊 one!kzbin.infogaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f60a.png

[@BeHistoric]

Wow! Thank you so much! That made our day! Very glad that you enjoyed the video - and hope that it augmented your own memories of Oelwein from a few years back! Thank you again!

[@johndonlon1611]

While these episodes have been excellent history episodes, it is way too late to save the CGW. It is NOT too late to make sure the Canadian National doesn't pull the same stunt as what the Chicago North Western did in their "merger" with the CGW; with CN's Freeport to Dubuque Subdivision and abandon it or worse, allow it to fall into such disrepair that it becomes essentially useless. If anything, these episodes have shown the sociological and economic damage done with the CGW's abandonment. It can happen again. Well done and keep going!

[@kadenemerson3569]

Cn doesn't have control of this line up didn't want them having it

[@johndonlon1611]

@@kadenemerson3569 Makes no difference who owns that line from Freeport to Dubuque. The point is that it is the only game in town and whoever "owns" it has to have oversight to ensure it doesn't just "disappear" like the CGW did.

[@BeHistoric]

Thanks for the kind words and support! We are not familiar with what the CN is doing or planning to do - but hopefully they consider the legacy of these railroads when making their business decisions - and that they weigh the long term versus short term profits. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!