Happy 65th (sapphire) anniversary to one of our favorite contributors! Gary and Justine Ostlund
just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. This photo was taken on their wedding day, October 4, 1958, in Haines, Alaska.
Category: General Post
Posts that don’t fall under other categories
Article by Chris Dees, Photos courtesy of Coffeeville Company – Brookfield, WI
During the expansion of railroads in the 1800s across the country, the town depot was considered one of the key social gathering places of its time. On July 24, 2023, the 1867 depot in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, Wisconsin reclaimed that status as the restored depot reopened as The Coffeeville Company’s newest location. In November of 2021, the depot was moved 300 feet across the street from its original location on Brookfield Road and North Hills Drive between two railroad tracks. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation says for nearly a decade, the city of Brookfield worked to save the 1867 train depot. It is believed to be the city’s second oldest surviving structure.
After purchasing the depot from Kansas City Canadian Pacific Railway for $1, the city moved the depot to its current site to serve as a Waukesha County trailhead for the new Fox River Bicycle and Walking Trail, and to return it to its historic social status as a community gathering place with a privately-run café. “We are extremely lucky to come into 1800s train depot and do this again,” says Jack Kulwikowski, the founder and owner of Coffeeville Company. For the last two years, this has been a passion project for Kulwikowski. This is the second location for the coffee company that first opened in Jackson in a restored log home built in the 1800s. “Coffeeville Company was born to bring historical excitement and restoration to the community,” says Kulwikowski.
The depot has been beautifully restored, including the waiting room (now a dining area), mail sorting rack and ticket office which give the coffee shop a great historic feel. Outside, railfans can sit and watch the trains roll by along the CPKC mainline while enjoying breakfast, lunch or just a nice cup of Joe.
Another commodity forfeited to trucks. A special Northern Pacific Railway train loaded with sheep, leaving Blatchford, Montana over 90 years ago. Blatchford is on the mainline between Glendive and Miles City. Most railroads got out of the livestock shipments in the 70s. Part of the problem was those thousands of stock cars were unusable for anything else about eleven months out of the year.
That passenger car is a “drover” car, transporting the owners and handlers of the stock. There was a requirement that stock must be off-loaded, fed and watered, if the transport time exceeded 36 hours. Thus, the owners and shepherds on board.
When we were in Butte, MT., in the late 60s the cattle trains loaded in SW Montana could make the trip to slaughter houses in Omaha, just under the 36 hours, with little time to spare. There still was a drover car as the stock needed to be off-loaded, and sorted at the slaughter houses. One year I had the opportunity to ride along, invited by an owner. This train from Dillon, MT was a joint effort by about a dozen stockman owners and their cowboy handlers. After some thought about: being confined in a drover’s car or a string of cabooses, uncertain dietary sources, undoubtedly too much booze, and I don’t need to tell you about what’s on their boots…. Then, how do we get home?, a charter bus. uh uh. – Gary
Our goal is to put one of the Last L&N Steam Engines in the world back to work pulling excursion trains for our museum, as well as educate the public regarding the heritage of Kentucky’s Railroads and the people who built them.
The L&N 152 needs both boiler and running gear work. Please visit the Crew 152 Facebook page for the most up to date information and photos.
This information is also available on the KRM website and Facebook pages.
Restoration work continues on steam locomotive 152.
- A volunteer removes old bolts from the firebox.
- Below is a view inside the firebox.
- Below right, driving wheels are ground down to repair cracks.
This multi-trip, three-day event will operate Friday, January 20th, Saturday the 21st, and Sunday the 22nd.
Trips will feature day-long train rides, multiple photo opportunities, and onboard appetizer and non-alcoholic drink service each day. One day will be behind steam locomotive Sugar Express No. 148 and the other two behind South Central Florida Express diesel locomotives. Three-day packages will be available for $400. Ticket sales begin October 5th.
For more information go to https://sugarexpress.com/rare-mileage-excursion/
Evansville Western Railway, Inc. (“EVWR”), seeks temporary overhead trackage rights over an approximately 11.7-mile line of railroad of Illinois Central Railroad Company (“CN”) between Sugar Camp, Illinois (Milepost 61.9), and Dial, Illinois (Milepost 73.6).
These temporary overhead trackage rights are necessary to permit EVWR to load Unit Coal Trains at Pond Creek Mine near Dial until the Sugar Camp Mine reopens following its closure due to a mine fire and the unrelated, but necessary relocation of long wall mining equipment.
The closure has removed millions of tons from the market, and these temporary trackage rights will permit EVWR to load Unit Coal Trains at Pond Creek Mine near Dial until the Sugar Camp Mine reopens. The temporary trackage rights will expire no later than July 15, 2022.
Get your pictures soon!
Submitted by Chris Dees
Dear members, we had the drawing for the Lionel Ready to Run train set at 4:03 pm today. The winner was ticket number 195, Mr. Chris Whittaker of West Louisville, Kentucky. Chris said he would take the train set.
Thomas Scott Johnson
June 2, 1949 – August 6, 2021
GREENVILLE – Thomas Scott Johnson, 72, of Greenville died Friday, August 6, 2021, at 11:35 a.m. at Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital in Greenville. Thomas was born June 2, 1949, in Hammond, IN and was retired from Research and Development for Ahlstrom. He was preceded in death by his parents, Paul and Alice Johnson.
Survivors include his wife, Georgeann Evitts Johnson; daughter Dawn (Jayme) Grundy; son Wesley (Taylor) Johnson; grandchildren Payton Grundy, Taylor Grundy; grand-dog Molly; and sister Pauletta Dillard.
Keith has asked me to pass on to everyone that it’s been decided to cancel tomorrow night’s chapter meeting due high covid rates and also because he said 6 of our members may have been exposed during a gathering, so we’re being cautious.
We’ll take a look at the September meeting as the date gets closer.
I’ll judge the July 2021 photo contest in the next day or so and announce the winners.
Be safe out there!
Congratulations to the winners in our May 2021 Chapter Photo Contest! They were, 1st Place, Bill Grady, 2nd Place, Cooper Smith and 3rd Place Bill Grady. Our next contest will run from July 15 -31st, 2021 and your entries need to be submitted no later than August 7th to jim@jimpearsonphotography.com. Each dues paying member may submit two JPGs.
Past Chapter presidents Rich Hane and Rick Bivins joined our current Chapter President Keith Kittinger for an impromptu clean up day at Kentucky Innovation Station (Old L&N Depot in Madisonville, Ky) where we hold our monthly meetings of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS.
The grounds were much in need of mowing, weeding and the bushes were unruly. Rich did a fabulous job of bringing them back to form while Keith maned the weed eater and leaf blower. Ricky mowed and trimmed.
We all three cleaned up the resulting debris. It feels good to give back a little to our gracious host, Kentucky Innovation Station on June 9, 2021.
The Oriental Limited is slowly easing by No. 5012, having just exited the original Great Northern Cascade Tunnel in Washington State. Cameras were poised to record the last westbound train over the old snowshed route. But, instead of a happy group of tourists on the back platform of the observation car there was a solitary passenger bundled up against the chill.
This unhappy circumstance was remedied by replacing the lone passenger (by photo retouching) with Wenatchee’s Apple Festival Queen and her Ladies in Waiting before release to the press. The next westbound Oriental Limited will pass through the newly completed 7.79 miles tunnel, several hundred feet below. That tunnel opened on January 12, 1929.
The Oriental Limited was the Great Northern’s premium passenger train prior to introducing the streamlined Empire Builder in 1947. And you thought photo-shopping and spin-control was something new…!
Submitted by Gary Ostlund. – Pix’s by Lee Pickett, Index, WA ., as seen in Charles & Dorothy Woods book: Great Northern Railway a Pictorial Study
President Keith Kittinger adds a helix to his HO scale model railroad. This route will lead to the new Morganfield Branch.
An employee of the L&N Railroad in Paducah, Roy was instrumental in fighting the abandonment of the L&N trackage between Paducah and Murray. In 1981, he incorporated the Western Kentucky Railroad Company in an attempt to purchase the line. Although negotiations were unsuccessful, his efforts delayed abandonment and gave time for Jack Dunigan to create the J&J Railroad from Hardin to Murray. – Submitted by Chris Dees
