St. Lawrence & Atlantic (LLPX) GP40 #3208 in Rainier, Oregon, in the summer of 2005

St. Lawrence & Atlantic #3208 is a 3,000-horsepower GP40 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in January 1967 as Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific #375. This was one of a group of seven GP40s that the Rock Island was rebuilding to Dash 2 standards in its Silvis shops when the railroad went bankrupt and shut down in 1980. Before the shutdown it was completed as GP40u #3002. The last two of the seven were unfinished. Chrome Crankshaft acquired all seven locomotives along with the shop in 1981, and finished the remaining two locomotives.

The seven locomotives were sold to Toronto’s GO Transit in 1982. This locomotive became GO Transit #721. As they were not equipped with head-end power generators, they had to operate with HEP cars rebuilt from F-units. In 1994 they were retired and traded in to EMD for new F59PHs. EMD put the locomotives in their lease fleet and this locomotive became EMDX #205. 

In 2001, EMD transferred the locomotive to Locomotive Leasing Partners (LLPX), a partnership with GATX Leasing, and the locomotive was leased to the St. Lawrence & Atlantic as #3208. Despite its St. Lawrence & Atlantic paint scheme, there was a tiny "LLPX" on each side of the cab under the road number. St. Lawrence & Atlantic was taken over by shortline operator Genesee & Wyoming in 2002.

Genessee & Wyoming transferred the locomotive to the Portland & Western Railroad in April 2004, where it was considered a GP40-2, even though it lacks all the Dash 2 external spotting features like the water level sight glass, rear cab overhang, and vertical shock absorbers on the trucks.

This locomotive appeared on the Portland & Western’s Astoria Line in the summer of 2005, where I photographed it parked on the trestle over Fox Creek in Rainier, Oregon. I took several pictures, expecting that it would either leave soon to never be seen again, or be repainted. Soon after these photos were taken, it became Portland & Western #3006, with large P&W heralds applied over the St. Lawrence & Atlantic black and yellow paint, and would remain that way for nearly a decade before finally being repainted in Genesee & Wyoming’s standard orange & black paint scheme in 2013 or 2014. 

 

Incidentally, the St. Lawrence & Atlantic yellow and black paint scheme is not dissimilar to the Pullman green and yellow paint scheme used by the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway, which operated the Astoria Line prior to the Burlington Northern merger of 1970, and had ordered similar-looking GP38s just before the merger that ended up being delivered in BN Cascade Green. If you don’t look too close, this locomotive is almost a glimpse of what might have been.

Great Northern 2-8-2 #3059 in Williston, North Dakota, in May 2004

Photo by Cliff West

My dad, Cliff West, took this pictures of Great Northern O-1 Class 2-8-2 #3059 from the train during the westbound Empire Builder’s station stop at Williston, North Dakota, in May 2004. The Great Northern had a total of 145 O-1 Class 2-8-2 Mikados built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in four groups between August 1911 and February 1919, and the last of them were retired in April 1958. Built in February 1913, #3059 was one of the last 15 in operation when it was retired in December 1957, and is the only survivor. It was donated to the City of Williston and placed on display in Railroad Park on August 2, 1958.

Portland & Western GP39-2 #2305 Dallas in Rainier, Oregon in Spring 2004

Photo by Cliff West

Portland & Western GP39-2 #2305 Dallas is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3604. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993 and later transferred to the Portland & Western.

Photo by Cliff West

Its paint job features banners reading “Celebrating 10 Years 1993-2003” commemorating the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Willamette & Pacific Railroad. My dad, Cliff West, photographed it with a local freight train at the short trestle over Fox Creek in Rainier, Oregon in the Spring of 2004.

1997 MSOE Society of Model Engineers New Member Orientation Program

These pictures were taken at various locations in the Milwaukee area during the Milwaukee School of Engineering Society of Model Engineers New Member Orientation Program in December 1997, and were saved from the SOME files. All of these locations have some connection to trains.

Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory

The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, more commonly known as the Mitchell Park Domes, consists of three glass conoidal domes designed by Donald L. Grieb Associates and built between 1959 and 1967, covering 45,000 square feet. During the winter, one of the domes features a garden railway display.

Southridge Mall Train Ride

This train ride operated inside the Southridge Mall in the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, Wisconsin. The Southridge Mall opened in 1970. This train (later repainted to resemble Thomas the Tank Engine) apparently operated until 2012 before being replaced by a trackless train in 2013.

Watertown Plank Road Overpass

This bridge in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was built in 1910 by the Cleary-White Construction Company of Chicago for the Milwaukee, Sparta & Northwestern Railroad, as part of a 9-mile double track line that opened in 1911 from West Allis north to Butler, location of a 21-track yard with a capacity of 1500 freight cars intended to relieve congestion from the yards in downtown Milwaukee. The 175-foot 7-panel riveted Parker through truss main span was built by the Pennsylvania Steel Company of Steelton, Pennsylvania, and carried the railroad over the route completed in 1855 by the Milwaukee & Watertown Railroad, a predecessor of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Four approach spans built by the American Bridge Company of New York extend the bridge to a total length of 490 feet, crossing Underwood Creek and Watertown Plank Road, which began as a toll road in the 1830s. In 1912, the Milwaukee, Sparta & Northwestern Railroad was taken over by the Chicago & North Western Railway, which was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1995. Meanwhile, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad was purchased by the Soo Line Railroad in 1985, which was subsequently absorbed by its parent company Canadian Pacific in 1992.