The Last Decade of the CB&Q on the Racetrack in My Hometown

I lived along the CB&Q racetrack during the 1960s in suburban Westmont, Illinois -- high school, college, and marriage.  I had a decent camera which took good 35 mm slides.  I was a railfan.  I started taking color slides for documentation for model railroading.  I soon took pictures for their own sake.

Westmont is about midway down the Q's three-track race track between Chicago and Aurora.  That section of the Q was called the East End and was dispatched by the East End Dispatcher.  Commuter trains were dominant especially on weekday mornings and evenings.  But there was lots of freight, including locals, and, of course, there were the Zephyrs.

The "Q", along with other roads, was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on March 2, 1970.  The pictures I am going to present in this blog were all taken between the early 1960s and the merger date.

So how to present them.  Well I sorted my slides in a big metal slide box by locomotive number, so that's the way I'm going to present them which put the F-units first and the E-units last.  Freight first and a big windup with Zephyrs and Dinkies.  Actually I end with a few odds and ends.

The Freight Trains

CB&Q F3A 122D headed for Clyde Yard, just outside Chicago with a typical freight of that era of mostly box cars through Westmont on June 25, 1965.  In all my track-side time during the '60s I can't remember a unit train.

That's the eastbound commuter platform a city block or so short of the Cass Avenue grade crossing.  Cass was the town's main north/south street and the only street in town that crossed the tracks.

CB&Q bought its FTs and F3s in four unit sets, i.e., ABBA where "A" designates a cab unit and "B" a booster unit.  The second unit in the picture would have been 122C.  The full four units were 122A, 122B, 122C, and 122D.  Soon the "Q" realized four units were more than sufficient for an essentially flat railroad and broke the four unit sets in half and added an F7A.  So the third unit in the picture is an F7A.  122A and 122B were mated with another F7A.

122D was built by EMD (Electro Motors Division of GM) in 1948 and traded in in 1967.  You will have to look really hard to fine a non-EMD unit in these pictures.

This picture of 128D is the same combination of an F3A, F3B, and an F7A at the same spot but taken in January 1966.

This was the east bound East End Way Freight (other roads would call it a local) on July 15, 1966. The way freight seemed to run weekdays in both directions between Eola Yard near Aurora and Clyde Yard near Chicago.  It had to dodge dinkies (commuter trains) all day.  The "Way of the Zephers" GP7 218 is a EMD product of 1951.  After the merger it became BN 1574 and was retired in1983.

CB&Q began applying the Chinese Red scheme to the Geeps in the 60's.  Here GP7 259, about to cross Cass Ave., works the west bound way freight.  She became BN 1615 and was retired Dec. 1981.  On the rear is not a caboose.  It was a way car.

SD24 #502 heads a freight with lots of power through the Westmont station area. She was built in 1959, became BN 6242, and was retired in 1982.  Unfortunately I never caught a Q SD7 or SD9 leading a train in Westmont.

For me, the GP20s brought in the second generation of diesels.  CB&Q's first low nose geep.  She was built in the sixties (1961), I caught her in Westmont in 1962, she became BN number 2058, and was retired  in 1997.  She was really red!

GP30s were unique because of the curves in their cab roof.   Built the year after the GP20s, we see 942 coming through town with a sister GP30 and a relatively short freight in 1965.

 CB&Q GP30 943, SD9 333, and another GP30 wast east bound with a long freight in 1966.  The GP30s lasted well into the BN era and some survived to be part of the BNSF.

GP30 #955 crosses Cass Ave.  Note the first car has a piggyback!  I surely remember that National Food Store.

Often the East End Way Freight was handled by switch engines instead of geeps.  This and the next picture show EMD model NW2 and both are westbound in approximately the same place just east of Cass.  Both were built just after WWII and retired in 1983 as BN units.  The above was captured in 1964 and below in 1962.

Two models used on the east end I did not capture on film at Westmont were General Electric U-boats and Baldwin VO1000s switch engines.  The VO1000s were used in the coach yards of Chicago Union Station.  Mentioned above I didn't catch SD7s and 9s leading trains.  My camera caught them however in other locations.

 

The Passenger Trains 

With minor exception passenger engines were numbered in the 9900 series beginning with the Pioneer Zephyr now on display in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.  By 1960 all the early units up to the E5s were retired.  While there were active E5s in the 1960s, and they came through Westmont, none did when my camera was around so we will ponder the E7s, E8s, and E9s that pulled the dinkies and the zephyrs.

Here is an express dinky skipping Westmont and other intermediate stops pulled by E7A 9918B on a cold January 4, 1965.  She was built in November of 1947.  Note the power car at the far end of the train because 9918A has no head-end electric power, only a steam generator for heat.  The Budd gallery cars (we called them double deckers) were steam heated and had Waukesha self-contained A/C units. The cars also had a 32 volt lighting system and received current from the  power cars.  The older suburban cars needed steam and had a small generator which ran off an axle of the car for lighting. The headlight for the next local can be seen at the next station west, Fairview Av.

All CB&Q E-units were members of the "Zephyr Pit" next to the Q Coach Yard south of Union Station.  All were rotated in and out of Zephyr Service and Suburban Service.  During the '60s all had steam generators for heating the intercity trains, the older commuter coaches, and initially the gallery cars.  The transition to all-electric gallery cars and locomotives with head-end power was slow and was eventually completed by the BN.

Oops, a B&W snuck in.  But that's OK because it is the eastbound Empire Builder lead by CB&Q E8A 9938A and two sisters on June 15, 1962.   We lived on Park Street in Westmont which was perpendicular to the tracks and would have crossed the tracks right about here if there had been a grade crossing.  With spare time I'd often walk, camera in hand, down to the tracks, cross all three to get to the south side and the sun and wait for what would come.  And something always did.  More often two or three somethings in a half hour.

Westmont is on a subcontinental divide.  West of approximately Park Street water runs into the Illinois then Mississippi Rivers.  East into Lake Michigan and out the St. Lawrence Seaway.   Thus the Chicago River flowed into Lake Michigan and because of all the industry along it and poor sewage treatment it was severely polluting the lake and the fresh water.  Thus a series of canals and locks were dug about 10 miles south of Westmont to reverse the flow of the Chicago River into the Mississippi watershed in 1900.

E8A 9945B and a sister running elephant style take the Empire Builder west on the Zephyr Track on a cold December 23, 1967 afternoon.

Here was a strange dinky because it ran with a baggage car to distribute baggage from intercity trains that arrived in the morning to patrons who took earlier suburban trains to the suburbs.  It didn't last many years.  Note the home-made power car (converted coach) next to the one gallery car.  The date is 1/26/66.  The power is 9946B, and E8A.  Built in 1950, she had an interesting life after her CB&Q service as BN 9946 and then Amtrak 340.

 9947B is heating all the train except the last two cars as she makes her station stop at Westmont.  She also made it to become an Amtrak locomotive.

The California Zephyr, 5 domes, zips through Westmont to make its afternoon arrival in Chicago on June 15, 1963.  BN rebuilt several CB&Q E8s and E9s with head end power for its continuation of the Burlington's commuter service and finished the conversion of the gallery cars to all-electric.

Today, most or all diesel-powered commuter rail operations do not change the length (number of cars) of trains during off-hours thus accumulating many extra miles on empty cars and using many gallons of extra diesel fuel.  It seems to be a trade-off between today's labor costs vs. fuel and equipment costs.  Here E8A 9973 leading a commuter run on Sunday July 5, 1964, and the Q obviously didn't expect many riders and cut the train to one push-pull gallery car. Also some E-units by this time were converted to be able to generate enough power for two or three gallery cars' hotel load.

You are looking at the front and rear of the Nebraska Zephyr taken at about Park St. That's either observation car Juno or Jupiter. This train set, which originally was one of the second pair of Twin Cities Zephyrs.  One of the sets, with fewer cars, is now at the Illinois Railway Museum and has recently run down this very track.  Unfortunately we have no way of knowing if it is this set. Look at all the head end (cars between the locomotives and the passenger cars).  They are carrying mostly mail and Railway Express.  Captured May 20, 1962.

CB&Q E9A 9993 is in charge of the April 29, 1962 Morning Zephyr from the Twin Cities (afternoon when it passed Westmont).  Budd Domes, Silver E-units, that was the Burlington image in the 1960s.  9993 was among the last passenger locomotives built for the Q in 1954.


Westmont is a commuter stop.  Oh, the way freight stopped there to pickup and set out freight cars.  But only commuter trains stopped, and not all of them either.  The census of 2010 put Westmont's population at 24,685 but the station serves a much larger area north and south of town.

About 17 miles from the Union Station bumper post, this midday train's cab car faces east.  With all gallery cars, the locomotive was on the outer end for easier servicing in Chicago,  The conductor checks his watch before giving the highball on January 26, 1966.

Because of track work, or maybe the way freight got in the way, the station stop was made from the middle track.  Detraining and boarding took extra time and delayed the train this fine Westmont June day in 1965.

Let's look at one more big inbound commuter train.  The gold circle to the left of the Burlington Route emblem on the noise of the diesel was for the centennial of the railroad running between Aurora and Chicago.  The first four older coaches had ice air conditioning and were steam heated by the steam generator in the locomotive.  As mentioned they had a generator on an axle and batteries for internal lighting.  The next car, the gallery car was steam heated but needed electricity for lighting provided by the last car, the power car.  Inbound not too dinky May 20, 1964.

Here is one of the power cars.  Originally a "combine", part baggage and part coach, the diesel generator was placed in the far front of the car.  The roof vent is obvious however the door cut in the side to slide the diesel in and out is not except upon close inspection.  The two big hinges help.  Generator cars were unique to Q commuter trains because the diesel locomotives were all in the pool and would be also assigned to intercity trains.   Other railroads used diesel locomotives dedicates to commuter service thus the steam generator could be swapped out for an electric generator called head-end power (HEP).  Amtrak's first order of cars were the first all electric intercity cars and its diesel locomotives had HEP.  As noted, BN wasted no time upgrading the Q's locomotives including HEP conversion.  Amtrak locomotives handled the intercity trains.

Some Odds and Ends

Periodically run-through power from western roads would roll through Westmont to Chicago.  If you like GP30s, here are four Rio Grandes returning home on January 26, 1966.

I'm sure I was elated in April of 1962 when I caught this brace of Great Northern F-units heading back to the Pacific NW.  Must have been a Sunday since the commuter parking lot is nearly empty except for the family station wagon.


More GP30s, the middle two cabless, are returning with tonnage to Union Pacific tracks on August 30, 1968

UP Geeps Chicago bound with a Q unit tucked in third, roll through the commuter stop in August of 1969.

And there were passenger extras.  Here's one on June 25, 1965 with a GN Super Dome and GN and NP business cars.

And finally steam.  During the 1960s two CB&Q steam locomotives, 5632 and 4960, pulled fan trips, most of which were based out of Chicago and went through Westmont.  Here is one headed by 4960 returning to Chicago on July 5, 1964.  Luck us who rode a few.  4960 still operates periodically on the Grand Canyon Railroad, unfortunately altered to look more like a passenger engine.  I don't understand that blotch on 4960's front.  I'm sure it is not dirt on the slide.

Now you have seen how the last decade of "my" CB&Q looked in Westmont.  I hope you have enjoyed the ride.

Endnote

When I posted the existence of this blog to the Train Orders Nostalgia & History Forum I received many comments, several with corrections which I have made.  But I want to especially thank CJV in Aurora for several clarifications on the heating and lighting systems of the gallery cars.

 

Trains Through Ashland, Virginia

Let's Get the Chamber's Fluff Out of the Way First

"Developed by the railroad as a mineral springs resort, the origin of the town dates back to the late 1840s.  Officially incorporated on February 19, 1858, the town was named “Ashland” after native son Henry Clay’s estate in Kentucky.

"With the relocation of Randolph Macon College to Ashland in 1868, the town evolved from a railroad resort to a small college town.  The construction of  U.S. Rt. 1, and later I-95, further shaped the Town character and development.

"Today, Ashland is a community of seven square miles and 6,000 plus residents that enjoys prosperity fueled by the College, a growing private sector and a strong regional economy."

Well, It Was Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Land When I Took My First Stint of Pictures in Ashland Beginning Fall 1968 Through Summer 1972

This is the Silver Star which ran between New York City and Miami.  The RF&P handled the train between Washington, DC (90 miles north of Ashland) and Richmond (17 miles to the south).  As the picture shows, the RF&P's tracks ran in the median of the main north/south street, Center Street.  This is the southbound Silver Star heading for Miami on September 18, 1968.  The diesel/electric locomotive is an E8A built in 1949.

I was in Ashland for four years teaching at Randolph-Macon College which is conveniently located adjacent to the tracks.

At that time the railroad that handled the passenger trains south of Richmond was the Seaboard Coast Line (SCL).  Often its power was used on the RF&P portion of the run.  We are looking at the southbound Everglades, a New York City to Jacksonville train, on March 2, 1969.  Snow was relatively rare in Ashland and the mailbox adds a touch of color.  The Pennsylvania RR which handled the trains north of Washington DC was electrified so for trains the diesel/electric locomotives were exchanged for an electric locomotives while the train was in the DC terminal.  Visa versa southbound.  SCL 575 is also an E8A.

Freight was also hauled through the middle of Ashland by the RF&P.  Here three of their units (GP40, GP7, and GP40) do the honors down Center Street in January of 1970.

Amtrak came into existence on May 1, 1971 and reduced the number of passenger trains running through Ashland by more than a half.  This is Amtrak's Silver Star in May of 1972.  Initially Amtrak had no equipment so it negotiated with the railroads to use/buy their locomotives, baggage, and passenger cars.

Lighting was interesting along the tracks.  Tall trees cast dark shadows in the summer and more lacy ones in the winter.  Northbound trains seldom had sun light on their noses.  I was happy when I got back the slide of this telephoto shot of  the northbound local freight because of the neat lighting.
 

One Day The Southern Railway Detouring Trains Through Ashland

In Virginia, their mainline from the South to Washington DC roughly parallels the RF&P.  It passes through Charlottesville and must have been blocked.

I caught this detour from the Southern Railway moseying through Ashland in August 1969.  The white flags mean was an "Extra".  It's a backlit northbound.  The first unit is a GP30R.  It was wrecked and put back together with a GP35 body and Alco trucks from a trade-in.  Here's two more photographs of the train as it passed by.

I also caught a couple of Southern passenger trains detouring through Ashland.  I wish I knew what southbound train this F3A is leading.  It's late evening.  Could be the Crescent ... but F-units?  The detour could have messed up the power pool.  Here is a second shot.

Here's a northbound with piggybacks (truck trailers on flat cars) on the end.  Lighting is late afternoon or evening.  Don't know how late the train is.  My guess it is the Piedmont.  And a second picture.

Auto Train

The Auto Train concept was conceived by a private company (Auto-Train Corporation) and the first train ran in December 1971.  The trains ran daily in both directions between Stanford, FL (central Florida) and Lorton, VA (just south of DC).  It carried passengers in passenger car comfort and their automobiles in freight car auto racks overnight between the end points.  Initially quite successful, Auto-Train added a second route into the midwest.  That route became problematic, pulled down the company, which folded in April 1981.  22 months later Amtrak started a similar service between Lorton and Stanford which continues daily.

The first picture below is the original Auto Train just north of Ashland in March 1972.  The auto-racks are first and the passenger cars last.  Amtrak did it oppositely with the passenger cars first as the next two pictures show.  Dates are May 2007 and May 2013.

And the auto racks behind the passenger cars in May 2013.  Big train!

Last Runs

Even before Amtrak the Seaboard Coast Line was attempting to discontinue poor performing passenger trains.  Here's a couple trains it did.

The first two pictures are of the Sunland making its last run on September 9, 1968.  It was a Washington to Tampa train.  Not many passenger amenities in its last years.  Who would want to ride it?  Few did.  Thus it was a money looser and the Interstate Commerce Commission allowed the Seaboard Coast Line to drop it.

 

And this is the last run of the Silver Comet passing Mile Post 13 on the RF&P on May 8, 1969.  It was a New York to Birmingham train via Atlanta with connections to New Orleans.  To try to justify the train the Seaboard Coast Line added priority freight on the end of the train as did other railroads during that period.

A Look at a Few Freight Trains Passing Through

Led by an old guy, RF&P 102, A GP7 built in 1950 leads two newer Geeps and a Road Switched down Center Street in July of 1969.  And below we see 102 with sister 103 doing local switching in September of 1969.  The industrial spur they are on has been removed.

With a GP35 up front, the fourth unit is a passenger unit.  With the number of passenger trains diminished, passenger horsepower was used regularly on freight trains.  This is from August 1969.

My guess here is that the Seaboard Coast Line freight units did not have cab signals compatible with the RF&P signal system so a RF&P road switcher was added up front.  This is May 1972.

Through a series of mergers, the RF&P became part of CSX Transportation on July 1, 1986.  Quite soon RF&P power was roaming around the eastern United States and CSX power hauled freight trains through Ashand as these next four January 1994 pictures show.

Here's Amtrak's Southbound Silver Star Marches through Town in the Spring of 2007

First the telephoto lens shot (note the lens flair from the head light on the baggage car), then the normal lens shot, and finally the turn around shot.  The photographs were taken in 2007 and the lead locomotive was built in 2001.

Amtrak's Carolinian heads north from Charlotte, NC in the next two shots with the Randolph-Macon College Campus to the left.  I also captured the southbound Carolinian the same day (third shot below), January 8, 1994.  The Carolinian's northern terminal is Boston and the locomotive in the first two shots was built in 1981 and in the third shot in 1979.

Here Are Some More Passenger Trains

Train 86, The Everglades was photographed north of town in September 1968.  The lead locomotive is an early passenger diesel electric, a SCL E6, built in 1942.  The second unit is an RF&P E8 built about 10 years later.

Ashland has a neat little depot which was turned into the town's Visitors Center after Amtrak took over and only one train each way called.  Now the State of Virginia funds several additional Amtrak trains and with a few others make Ashland a stop.  But the depot remains the Visitors Center with no ticket agent or baggage handling.  The train arriving is #93 to Richmond, a State supported train.  The rainy evening was May 17, 2013.

With the older RF&P paint scheme, locomotive 1003 heads Train 21, the pre-Amtrak Silver Star on August  4, 1969.  The four cars between the locomotives and passenger cars, the head-end cars, include two cars of Railway Express packages (today's FedEx equivalent) a U.S. Mail Car possible with mail being sorted on-route (if so it was a Railway Post Office (RPO)), and the baggage car for the passengers' baggage.  The far end of the train is just leaving the track on Center Street.

This is a State supported train from Newport News stopping at the depot on that rainy May 7, 2013 evening. 

A foggy day make interesting pictures.  This is the Silver Star in 1968.

The Everglades with Seaboard Coast Line power in 1968.

And a Conclusion

And to end this blog, a hi-tech freight train.  Actually this is a CSX work train.  The cars carry ballast (stones for the track) and have batteries to open the doors along the bottom of each car to drop the ballast.  The solar panels seen on each car keep the batteries charged.