MILWAUKEE ROAD ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES - COLOR MOVIE FILMS

THIS IS ONE CHAPTER of an available DVD on the Milwaukee Road power. visit www.cspmovies.com
See the Milwaukee Road’s “electrification” on the old Pacific Extension. Remember the “Quills”, Bipolars, GE Boxcabs and GE “Joes”. Additional coverage includes the Milwaukee Road’s diesels and a nice review of Milwaukee Road’s steam powered trains.
This is Milwaukee Road’s passenger and freight operations in its finest years. We also bring a good section on snow fighting, MOW equipment and practices as well as the frequent wrecks that kept the MOW people far too busy in the unfortunate years of decline. But overall, the Milwaukee Road’s employees always came through in the best tradition of tough and dedicated mountain railroaders.
Don’t miss the comparative electrics on the Great Northern and the BA&P add to the history and scenic views. The copper ore trains that the BA&P actually preceded the Milwaukee’s own electrification. The original electrified BA&P paved the way for Milwaukee’s plans and gave them the impetus to “go electric” -- in many ways.
See highlights of rival Northern Pacific and more Great Northern regional competition of their own specialized electric trains - and, their steam and diesel power.
This video features mostly 16mm, beautiful, color film that captures the essence of the Milwaukee Road’s Pacific “extension” to Seattle and Tacoma, Washington.
This is a fine history of the great Pacific Northwest -- and railroad history in general.
To quote Model Railroad News, “Once again, Charles Smiley’s ‘magic’ resurrects old footage and combines it into a powerful story”.

[@charlessmileyvideo]

This is one never before seen chapter from our movie "Milwaukee Road Scrapbook" available at www.cspmovies.com

[@anb7408]

The plight of the Milwaukee and the PCE to Seattle was a prime example of how NOT to manage a railroad. They inherited a huge amount of traffic as concessions for the BN merger (up to two extra trains each way per day), and they pissed it away with deferred maintenance, and spending the profits elsewhere. Makes me sick every time I’m out west, and see the dirt path that was once the Milwaukee mainline.

[@dougb5202]

Yup, such a shame. Just imagine if they realized what they had. It would have been the most profitable, environmentally friendly railroad in North America, and probably so much so that they would have forced the other competing railroads to go electric. I did the bike trail from the St Paul Pass tunnel down over all the trestles thinking to myself the whole way "I shouldn't be here on a bike, I should be watching doubestack container trains being pulled by electric locomotives."

[@anb7408]

Given that the BNSF and MRL mainlines across Montana are both running above capacity now, the Milwaukee’s mainline would likely be just as busy now. Ironic that it went bankrupt the same year deregulation/Staggers act was passed.

[@user-oy9jm8ku8r]

I am part of the Milwaukee family, from the Rocky Mountain and Coast Divisions. My Grandfather, Father, Mother, Brother, Myself, Niece and her husband all worked the Milwaukee. I don't usually get chocked up but!

[@Jeff-uj8xi]

I got to see the catenary before it was cut down, but sadly I missed the electric operation. It had ceased not long before I was out there. I put the abandonment of the Milwaukee Road electrification right up there with the tearing down of Penn Station in New York City. Both tragic acts of vandalism.

[@A_Lazy_dude]

So did my family in fact my uncle paul (born in late 1969 and early 1970) was asked about the electrical removal and retirement in 1990 when he was 20 years old he said “if my childhood electrics are gone I can see the joes like E70 or those boxes plus it’s a shame that their gone plus we will never forget that electric closure and others we saw here”. Paul is still alive but has recently broken his back now my father(born in 1973) gets to take care of him and he said “your just like the Milwaukee Electrics but I’m the diesels”. And he said in reply “and ma and pa are steam engines”. But for me I’m just surprised that most of the electric engines survived plus I hope one day we get a Milwaukee Road heritage unit

[@AndreiTupolev]

What it could have been if the entire route had been electrified on 25 kv AC when the DC system was worn out. It really could have been an example to the world

[@durandjohnson1321]

I remember the power sub-station in Tacoma had a neon sign,.. "Milwaukee Road".. that would light up at night, wish I had of gotten a photo of it!

[@diesel71]

It seems we were further ahead environmentally 75 years ago with the electrics than today.

[@user-cd5mi2uj3v]

Being a past chief substation operator at cedar falls i didn’t see that there was a operation shortfall. I loved the silent smoke less power. Great job I loved every minute , even the 3400 amp trip outs . Great video F Z

[@MontanaDirtRoads]

I drove and filmed the rout from taft to avery this last summer,i was born the year they died off so never got to see this in action but love the history of this railroad.

[@hartmutlorentzen9659]

Excellent video, Thanks for presentation, from Germany

[@Duececoupe]

😍🥰😎 Yip, I'm a HUGE Milwaukee Road fan boy, deal with it! 😉😆😂 More, moooore, MORE Milwaukee Road please! 🤜🏻🤛🏻 Wouldn't mind more GN, NP, D&RGW, SP and WP either, mountain railroading rules! ✊🏻

[@Hopen111YT]

Epic

[@marvwatkins7029]

These scenes make me all smiley!😉

[@wdd6864]

Another great DVD. I watched it multiple times.

[@charlessmileyvideo]

The Milwaukee Road was one of the most special and unique railroads in our American History. They were always pushing the envelope and dealing with tough times making them even more inventive!

[@craiganderson7565]

Me too … nicely done ; very sad to see what happened to a once great railroad .

[@losh330]

The right of way for the Milwaukee Road passes right through the campus of Central Washington University which I may transfer to this autumn. Not too far away, there's a bridge that still has the catenary poles in place. I'm definitely going to go check that bridge out if i end up attending CWU.

[@jslasher1]

Part of me died the day that the ICC approved the request by the Milwaukee Road that their "Olympian Hiawatha" be discontinued from Seattle/Tacoma to Minneapolis/St. Paul. The trade-off, was that their train [ by then, unnamed] would operate from Deer Lodge, the division point, to MSP with a diner, touraluxe sleeper and chair car. If the ICC had employed some common sense [the Seattle World's Fair was but a year away], they would have ordered the Milwaukee Road to operate the service once weekly, with the original equipment, over the entire route.

[@rockguitarist931]

Scrapping their electrification equipment at the height of a recession wasn't a great idea, either, if I had to guess I would say that the plan to modernize the electric operations would've worked but some pencil pusher probably hated the idea of taking a loss to invest in what would eventually become profitable.

[@durandjohnson1321]

Let alone.. the government wouldn't step in and do it's job!

[@rockguitarist931]

@@durandjohnson1321 yes, God forbid that we lose a single railroad in the northeast but we can forget about that one going out to the Pacific ocean or wherever.

[@Tom-xe9iq]

Sadly, MILW RD was a late player to the Pacific Northwest: there was the Hill Lines and UP. Early on, they had extremely disastrous forest fires in Montana that almost sank the MILW RD! In the end the cuts on track maintenance made the MLW a joke. Derailments brought them to their knees. With the BN merger, there was no room at the table for MLW. All they could do was pick up the scraps. In the end, they pulled up tracks and erased the MLW from the Earth.

[@anb7408]

Milwaukee was granted a very large amount of traffic from BN due to merger agreements. Deferred maintenance and pissed customers handed the traffic right back to BN in the end.

[@user-mr3ct1dm9p]

Let's not forget, that along with the competition from other RR's, the MILW was also fighting its own management.

[@johnweber6612]

Great video

[@darylcheshire1618]

the 5500 HP rating makes a mockery of the English Electric VR L class of 2400 HP, although the Gippsland terrain is mostly flat. The Ls were also expected to run passenger trains at mainline speeds, so not an ideal freight loco.

[@charlessmileyvideo]

5500 was amazing for back then! The Milwaukee Road was ahead of it's time in so many ways. Futuristic even now!

[@marvwatkins7029]

So sad and tragic.😢

[@oregonwesternrailroadprodu5239]

14:00 this is hands down my favorite segment from any of your dvds “milw scrapbook” and “milwaukee road west” are what got me into the milwaukee and i have you to thank mr. smiley

[@NormanSilver]

Thank you Charles. They are missed.

[@jimihendrix991]

The Crime of the Century...

[@anthonyxuereb792]

How sad and how could it just disappear?

[@ncascadehiker]

12:49 - I think that lumber mill might be Missoula, but not sure. This footage is fifty years ago already.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Fascinating all round, not least because of the unexpected sighting at6:31of - is that a Simca?? That's about the least thing I'd have expected to find in that kind of location

[@charlessmileyvideo]

I actually got to drive one of those owned by a young lady I knew. It could barely make 25 mph up some hills on the highway. Add to that... the brakes didn't work much on the other side of the hills. Yikes!

[@durandjohnson1321]

@@charlessmileyvideo Wow!

[@johnuhelski8613]

Great vid , Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension was a great success , but it was just too late ....

[@charlessmileyvideo]

They had a super vision, but times were tough back then! They are still a favorite of ours!

[@anb7408]

The PCE was still turning a profit until the day it was abandoned, despite all the slow orders and an idiot pencil pusher in accounting double entering the deficit of the line in the profit/loss annual report. Piss poor management caused the demise of this line, not it being “late to the party” with the transcons.

[@rockguitarist931]

@@anb7408 Many railroad operations have fallen prey to poor management, either because their profits were squandered or their potential was never realized.

[@user-mr3ct1dm9p]

​@@anb7408THANK. YOU!!!!!

[@EpicThe112]

Impressive had Milwaukee Road merged with Erie Lackawanna you would have seen this happening an electrified Transcontinental Railroad 3kv DC Hoboken to Seattle Washington. That meant Little Joes climbing the Saddle Rockies and Watchung Mountains the section for it is Summit to East Orange. Which of the railroads could have brought it out modernized its electrification? If Amtrak bought them out in 1971 the main line would have been upgraded to use Northeast Corridor Trenton to Boston New Haven Providence Boston South Station 25kv 60hz wires. Also the Milwaukee railroad Powder River Basin Electrics would have been 3kv DC unless upgraded to 25kv 60hz if their current management was replaced by the ones that are experienced in railroading

[@zaklex3165]

The demise of the Milwaukee's road electrification system was the failure to allow GE to build new electric locomotives and upgrading the system while at the same time closing the gap which GE had proposed during the 70's. If that had happened the Milwaukee would still be around today, or at least have been able to hang around long enough to merge into another railroad.

[@johnweber6612]

There was not enough business to support four railroads between chicago and the pacific northwest, milwaukee was the weakest with or without electrics

[@zaklex3165]

@@johnweber6612 Actually there was, especially as soon as the Powder River basin coal mining boom hit, and had the Milwaukee managed to keep their infrastructure in shape they could've carried more over head traffic...there's a study out there showing how they would've survived and prospered.

[@erbewayne6868]

Ask CEO , president ,v p and land co VP about what happened.

[@danielboone3770]

😃😍😍😍

[@charlessmileyvideo]

We agree daniel the Milwaukee Road is the best!