Entering A Forgotten Portal, Passage To A Bygone Era

[@williammcgeehan3424]

Chicago Milwaukee Saint Paul & Pacific better known as The Milwaukee Road. They had the shortest route and easiest grades from Chicago to the Pacific northwest. They were the last railroad to make it to the Pacific northwest and the first to be abandoned. Milwaukee Road didn't survive their third and final bankruptcy in 1977. That tunnel was electrified with overhead catenary to provide juice to Milwaukee Road Boxcabs, Bipolars, and Little Joes. They moved heavy freight trains from Puget Sound east to Chicago through that tunnel until the early 1970s. Check out Trains magazine for September 1980. " How the Milwaukee packed up and went home from the west ".

[@MountainWestProductions]

Thank you, is this confirmed that the Milwaukee was the easiest grade? Interesting fact here if so but actually makes sense from some of my research. I wonder why the competing two continental lines ended up with harsher grade and line layout? (Great Northern & Northern Pacific) Good facts here we can appreciate, thank you Will!👍👍

[@williammcgeehan3424]

@MountainWestProductions The other railroads were built first. Chicago Burlington & Quincy, Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Spokane Portland & Seattle. All four roads became Burlington Northern in the 1970 merger. Milwaukee's route is widely regarded as the best engineered route through the Cascades and the Rockies. It came along much later than the others. Not only that, but the other railroads were using steam when the Milwaukee put in electrification on their mountain divisions. They could move quicker with the more powerful electrics with no smoke in the tunnels. In the end, the other routes, which became Burlington Northern in the 1970 merger were more established and with a lot more organization and capital behind them. The Milwaukee Road had a big gap of 200 miles between their two points of electrification. By the time the 1970's came around, the electrics were worn out. The energized catenary was shut down in 1972. They never had Centralized Traffic Control ( CTC ) on the Pacific Coast extension, with just two trains a day operating over the pass at Plummer Idaho by 1974 this was down to a single train a day in each direction pulled by diesels.

[@gretaleeschmidt]

Worked hard all week and you have a present for me in this video.. THANK YOU!

[@OdySlim]

Hey there Buddy, Good to see you and your Lady again. I love those old railroad tunnels as well. Good find.

[@MountainWestProductions]

Nice to hear from you slim, thanks! Was a pretty cool one, I really like how they all look different depending on RR company at the time. Interesting to see things like this abandoned. thanks, hope todays going well for ya!👋👋👍

[@seabee73]

Love the architecture on the outside of the tunnel. Those explores look fun there. I need to do a road trip next year and check out stuff. Have a good weekend.

[@MountainWestProductions]

Absolutely, thanks for tuning in appreciate you. Hope today going well for you.👋👋👍 A lot to see and share out there. Thank you.

[@sunkhealerpov6597]

Love these videos ! Keep them up!

[@MountainWestProductions]

Thank you, nice to hear from ya!👍👍👋

[@charlesglandon7840]

Thanks again for sharing looking forward to your next adventure .

[@MountainWestProductions]

Thank you Charles, appreciate it!👋👋

[@dannyphipps7652]

I just found your video I was really hoping you would post one I love your content.

[@MountainWestProductions]

I will, thank you for the kind words. Hope todays treating you well!👍👍👋

[@SilverBulletOBW]

End of the road for this line came in 1980, just a relatively short time ago. Hard to believe famous Class 1 latecomers like this, Western Maryland, many others only operated for 70ish years before total abandonment. MILW ran mixed freights thru these passes right up until the end, pulled by the famous orange / black EMD diesels and helper sets, at which point the tracks were immediately pulled up and many sections of the line began to be modified. Today, all that remains of the Pacific Coast Extension is a smattering of rail trails, virgin abandoned ROW, secondary roadways, some private land, some fenced off municipal land, and a number of impassible sections due to modern developments, bridge removals, etc. In particular many bridges are completely gone - some very long metal, but also many short wooden ones, and even many art deco concrete. Shame this had to happen to such a beautiful and well-engineered route, but that’s the nature of corporate America and economic downturns.

[@MountainWestProductions]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Really interesting to see how much the line has been transformed. Awesome to be able to share this passion. Thank you👍👍👋

[@OGRocker1]

Mornin OBJ's.... Roll the vid... Thank you.

[@MountainWestProductions]

Good morning! Thanks for stopping by 👍👋

[@davidneal6920]

Amazing. So that line effectively crossed the Rocky Mountains? 🇺🇸 🇳🇿

[@MountainWestProductions]

yes sir, not the first line to do so but one of the most notable. Huge rabbit hole you can get into following the history of the Milwaukee road. Interesting time in history. 👍👍👋

[@RCN_RVN]

Cool thanks for sharing watching from B.C. Check out the old Kettle Valley Railway in Southern British Columbia if you ever get the chance 🇨🇦

[@MountainWestProductions]

Canada is an area of interest, good tip here. Some fascinating history in B.C. and beautiful country! Thank you👍

[@RCN_RVN]

@MountainWestProductions You're welcome 😊 Hope you get the opportunity one day. There's lots of history here to check out.

[@Outbackjackie]

Wondering if anyone has any guesses as to why there are so many random pairs of shoes left in here?! Found that kind of odd!

[@OGRocker1]

My guess: They are from the deconstruction workers pulling up the tracks... The plates are a part of the tracks, evidence that the rails were pulled, but the project was abandoned before they recovered all the scrap steel... Ties of no value just stacked or left in place... Interesting how this tunnel is so far ahead of the previous two in dilapidation condition... Not built as solid/cheaper ? cool explore Y'all... thanks !

[@Outbackjackie]

@ I didn’t think of that, thanks for replying! Hopefully they had an extra pair 😂

[@MountainWestProductions]

Thanks O.G. hope today’s treating you well. Looks like this was pulled and a bit worried honestly someone is trying to destroy this site. All the fire stuff and accelerant is strange, some odd things left in there also shoes etc.. Never this before. Happy to share, thank you👋👋👍

[@OGRocker1]

@@Outbackjackie I imagine those were their work pair that they changed before they went home. Then left behind at the end of the project... Wore out maybe ? My theory ... Take care Y'all, trust you had a great Thanksgiving. Best wishes toward the Christmas season. 🤙

[@MountainWestProductions]

Thank you, you and yours as well. Sure did had a great time. 👍👍👋