" KING OF THE RAILS " GENERAL ELECTRIC MILWAUKEE ROAD EP-1 / EF-1 ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES XD14204

[@leroyjones6958]

In the summer of 1979, I rode Milwaukee Road freight from Milwaukee to Tacoma, WA. The trip took 7 days. A few weeks later the entire line west of Miles City, Montana was abandoned forever. I was the last passenger to travel over the entire route. In the places that had been electrified, there was still plenty of reminders if that lost civilization. I saw all of those sights shown in this film. I rode over every trestle, through every tunnel, watching out of my boxcar's door. Those old powerhouses were still there. Abandoned. Windows broken. It was a last ride. A sad ride. But I did it while it was still possible to do. Just barely though. Those memories haunt me now. Memories of a journey to a lost civilization.

[@pcnetworx1]

😢

[@DATDesign]

Fell asleep and woke up to this playing at 1:15 AM. The imagery combined with the cool ambient music was a trippy place to be. Felt like a time traveler.

[@johnt.4947]

I always enjoy the music selected for these films.

[@jaminova_1969]

It's very surreal, almost dream like!

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

@@jaminova_1969 this music is suspenseful.

[@jeffreycoulter4095]

A great bit of historical perspective from 1915. Many of the old electrical powerhouses remain in Idaho and Montana. Much of the old railway right of way is a bike, hike, and equestrian trail

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I biked over the Hiawatha Trail (Sept. 2024) starting in Montana into Idaho. A distance of over 15 miles with spectacular scenery.

[@kentcourtney5535]

As a kid, I thought we would be electrifying a lot more of our nation’s railroads. Europe certainly did. We should continue to electrify our railroads. A centralized energy distribution system sending electrical power over wires makes more sense than having thousands of diesel units generating their own electricity on the spot. Now, consider the thousands of trucks, which add to our pollution through individualized energy production. Even from the standpoint of physics, trucks make no sense. Our great grandfather’s had it right. Railroads are the most sensible distribution system for freight and passengers.

[@thatrandomguyfromcaliforni971]

I dought electrifying all the mainlines will happen, battery electric locomotives are already being tested and it looks like those are the locomotives that will replace the diesels, At lest for now. But then the Siemens charger locomotives meet the tier 4 environmental standards, so maybe diesels will carry on, but honestly who really knows.

[@vancepomerening4794]

The music is so wonderfully surreal. Contrast to today's high impact advertising.

[@erbewayne6868]

The Milwaukee supplied it's own power as commercial power didn't exist in the territory the railroad ran, including substations transmission lines, personal and equipment.

[@PaulWannenburg]

Music to slash your wrists by. Tesla was not the only individual to do the mathematics required for AC calculations. Steinmetz was GE’s boffin and gave us j notation to simplify mathematical calculations we use today. DC calculations are far simpler.Tesla unfortunately suffered in life.

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

59 years after this film, the MILW surrendered its electric locomotives in favor of diesel power.

[@tubi333]

Why?

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

@@tubi333 Early signs of bankruptcy.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@tubi333 The continuation of electric operations by the Milwaukee Road beyond June, 1974 would have been prohibitively expensive for the railroad. This would have required replacement of the worn wooden poles supporting the overhead wiring on the two separate sections, new electric locomotives and probably updating of or replacement of the 22 substations that provided the electric power. The railroad simply didn't have the money to make this possible. Diesel-electrics were a much less expensive alternative.

[@tubi333]

@@WAL_DC-6B thank you 👍

[@kedarseetal1975]

The Milwaukee actually ended up spending as much money purchasing diesel locomotives as it would’ve spent modernizing and unifying jt’s two electrified divisions into one. They also did this at the height of the oils crisis in the 70’s and only made half as much off the scrapped copper from the overheads as they expected. GE even offered to finance the electrification project but they turned it down. Bad management killed the Milwaukee. Had they chosen to continued down the electric route they might’ve still been a competetive railroad for decades to come. Full dieselization turned out to be one of many nails in the coffin for a once great and innovative railroad

[@gmills5763]

Almost like viewing a lost civilisation. With the passing of the Milwaukee Road, it probably is.

[@vancepomerening4794]

Certainly the most civilized thing in Montana. Milwaukee Road abandoment was like losing part of the circulatory system of an animal.

[@jamesslick4790]

"The Continental Divide" is when I had to sell my Lincoln to pay off my ex. 😜

[@seanmccann8368]

The introductory notes and images would bring to mind Gordon Lightfoots great work "Canadian Railroad Trilogy".

[@lwilton]

The MILW did not own electric generating facilities. The two hydroelectric plants shown belonged to commercial electric utilities, and the MILW bought power from them. The utilities ran 100KV line to the MILW substations. The MILW then distributed the 3KV DC along their lines. In some cases this required running pole lines across hills and valleys at some distance to, or even far away from the actual track layout.

[@Greatdome99]

Montana Power was one of them. Owned by the same stockholders as the MILW, hence a 'sweet deal.'

[@Snowy167]

People really do be going places and moving things

[@raymondscottbehnoud8986]

Hey CERN we want our copper back

[@paulcrumley9756]

Music? What music? Talk about a one-trick pony. . . the "composer" only knew about one note, I think.

[@MrSvenovitch]

music is horrendous

[@tom7601]

Yeah, I like it too!

[@jamesslick4790]

10:45 G.E. of ALL companies points out 100,000 Volts of ALTERNATING CURRENT! Of course they're not gonna mention WESINGHOUSE or TESLA. Hell that any large, fast trains could be safely controlled AT ALL were because of Westinghouse's air brake AND electric switch and signal gear!

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

I did not know of Tesla having anything to with the Milwaukee Road’s electrification. I thought GE supplied all the electrical infrastructure and the boxcab passenger and freight motors (that’s what the locomotives were called) under one contract for a long mainline in Montana. I thought GE then did the construction of the lines to the Pacific coast. What part did Tesla play in all that? I’m really curious. Be specific-I’m sure this is news to all people interested in the Milwaukee Road’s electrification and who, according to you, have been lied to for over a century by GE and the Milwaukee Road.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@douglasskaalrud6865 Tesla invented the alternating current electric motor and Edison (GEs founder) actively fought against alternating current.

[@713davidh42]

We don't get to see the locomotive until almost halfway through the film. It comes off as Jack Welch-type propaganda even before he took over General Electric and tossed whatever ethics there was with American business into the gutter.

[@1witt]

This commentarysection is now property of Germany

[@hauntedhose]

Yes it isn’t

[@tubi333]

And what is our benefit of the new reign?

[@1witt]

@@tubi333 nothing.. I was just first in the Video

[@tubi333]

@@1witt But the official language is now German, I guess.... oh sorry: Die Amtssprache ist jetzt wohl Deutsch 😂