Society of the Military Horse • View topic - Mounted men and a train.

Society of the Military Horse • View topic - Mounted men and a train.

Lost Rail: Doorways

Lost Rail: Doorways: As 16 Mile Creek meanders down the canyon that bears its name, some 1400+ miles from Chicago's Union Station, the give and take betw...

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - Rail Transport in the Persian Corridor

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - Rail Transport in the Persian Corridor



And a look at rail in the Persian corridor during World War Two.

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - Russian Rail Overview

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - Russian Rail Overview



Really interesting look at the Rail of the Soviet Union during World War Two.  The USSR was extremely rail dependent. Everyone was, of course, but they were to a greater extent than most, although the Germans very much were as well.  

Lex Anteinternet: Automotive Transportation I: Trucks and Lorries

Lex Anteinternet: Automotive Transportation I: Trucks and Lorries: Truck Train, May 1920. We have, in this continuing series on transportation, looked at trains , planes , ships , and shoe leather.  We...

Lex Anteinternet: Wyoming Railraod Map, 1915

Lex Anteinternet: Wyoming Railraod Map, 1915:

The Wyoming State Library has published a series of historic maps of the state, including railroad maps.  I'd been hoping to find one for 1915 (book research, which I've been turning to again, which probably makes this blog a bit more like it originally was, and a bit more dull for the few people who actually stop in here), and low and behold, they had one.

1915 Wyoming Railroad Map.

Interesting map, it shows some things that I'd wondered about.

It shows, for one thing, that Casper was served by the Burlington Northern, which I new, and the Chicago and North Western, which I sort of knew, but it was celled the Great North Western in its later years.  It served Casper up until probably about 25 years ago or so.  There's hardly any remnant of it here now, and its old rail line here was converted to a trail through the town.  The old depot is a nice looking office building, but I don't know if that building dates back to 1915.  I doubt it.  I don't think that the Burlington Northern one isn't that old either.

 

Former Chicago and North Western depot in Casper.

 Burlington Northern Depot in Casper.

A really interesting aspect of this is that it shows two parallel lines actually running from where the railroads met in Douglas.  I knew that there were two depots in Douglas, and I knew there were remnants of the North West line east of town, but I didn't realize that the two lines actually ran astride each other, more or less (within a few miles of each other), from Douglas to Powder River, where they joined. The depot at Powder River is no longer there.

 

Former depot for one of the railroads in Douglas, now used as a railroad interpretive center.

 

 The other depot in Douglas, now a restaurant called "The Depot".

After that, interestingly, the Chicago and North Western ran to Shoshoni, while the Burlington Northern did not.  Now, a local short line runs to Shoshoni and links in somewhere with the  BN, but I don't know where. 
Not in Powder River, that's for sure.  The BN still runs north through the Wind River Canyon, however, taking a turn at Shoshoni, which did not at that time, still passing through Lysite as it then did.  No rail line runs from Shoshoni to Riverton, and on to Hudson and Lander like this map shows.  And as with one of the Douglas depots, the old Riverton line is now a restaurant, although I've apparently failed to photograph that one (note to self, I suppose).  It's pretty amazing to think, really, that Fremont County's rail service has really declined pretty significantly in the past century, with Lander no longer being a terminus.  

Rail facilties in Lysite, which are probably nearly as old as the map being discussed here.

Going the other way, the results are even more surprising.  Orin Junction is still there, and is still a railroad junction, but just for the Burlington Northern.  The railroad still runs east to Lusk, but that's a Burlington Northern line today, apparently running on the old path of the Chicago and North Western.  Going south east, that line is still there up to Harville, but from the there what's indicated as a Colorado & "South 'N" line is now a Union Pacific line.

I honestly don't know, and really should, how far south that UP line runs, which shows that this is one of those areas of my state's history like this can really surprise you, and make you realize that you don't know as much as you think.  I know that the BN runs as far south as Chugwater today, and further south than that, but I don't know if it runs into Cheyenne like it once did (or rather the Colorado did).  The main line of the UP runs through southern Wyoming and there's a huge yard in Cheyenne, so presumably there's a junction there somewhere.

The former Union Pacific depot in Cheyenne, now, of course, a restaurant and a museum.

This map in fact answered a question for me which I had, which is that if you wanted to travel from Casper to Cheyenne on a timely basis, what route would the train take. Well, now I know.  In 1915, you'd take either of the railroads serving Casper east to Orin Junction, and then take the BN south to Hartville.  From there, you'd take the Colorado south to Cheyenne.  From there, the extensive UP lines opened up the path west, south and east.

It's also interesting to see some lines that I knew once existed, but which are now defunct, shown here on the map.  The Saratoga & Encampment, for example, is shown.  I didn't know it was that told, but I should have.  The Colorado & Eastern running from Laramie up to the Snowies is also shown.  I knew that some railroad had done that, and that the lines are still there (a shortline serving skiers was attempted a few years ago, but no longer runs), but I didn't know what line that was.

Very interesting stuff.

Wyoming Railroad Map, 1915

1915RailroadMapWY.jpg (JPEG Image, 5000 × 4033 pixels)

Great Northwestern Depot, Casper Wyoming

This was the former Great Northwestern Depot in Casper, Wyoming.  The depot today serves as an office building, with the nearby rails having previously been featured here in the form of a rails to trails project that now runs through the center of Casper.  I don't know the vintage of the depot.

Lex Anteinternet: Catching the Mail on the Fly

Lex Anteinternet: Catching the Mail on the Fly

Lex Anteinternet: Rail Transportation

Lex Anteinternet: Rail Transportation: Very early locomotive, on display on the back of a railroad flat car. Recently we've been posting a lot about transportation. We&...

Rio Grande Depot, Salt Lake City Utah.

This very classic city train station in Salt Lake City was built in 1910. A beautiful structure, it now houses Utah's state historical offices, the Utah History Center and the Rio Grande Cafe.

The station is probably also emblematic, in some ways, of the decline in passenger rail service.  Only a few blocks off of downtown, the neighborhood can be a rough one at certain times of the day and the presence of police cars in these photographs isn't accidental, a there is a City of Salt Lake police station very near by.  Early in the morning large crowds of the homeless gather as a Catholic relief mission just across the street.

Competing Modes of Transporation. Trains and Planes.

Burlington Northern Train carrying aircraft fuselages in Casper, Wyoming.

Recent comments features restored.

The "Recent Comments" feature has been restored to working order.

Lex Anteinternet: Holscher's Hub: Rental housing, Bosler Wyoming

Lex Anteinternet: Holscher's Hub: Rental housing, Bosler Wyoming: Holscher's Hub: Rental housing, Bosler Wyoming   We've had some thread on nicer older hotels up here, so perhaps its time to sh...

Lex Anteinternet: Friday Farming: Shipping cattle by rail.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday Farming: Shipping cattle by rail.: A practice very much of the past.  Once the mainstay of cattle and sheep market transportation, this has been completely taken over by tr...

Lex Anteinternet: C-Span: Cities Tour. Casper Wyoming

Lex Anteinternet: C-Span: Cities Tour. Casper Wyoming

Lex Anteinternet: The NCSD Bond Issue

Lex Anteinternet: The NCSD Bond Issue: The bond issue goes to the voters tomorrow, May 6.  Please vote yes, if you are a Natrona County, Wyoming voter. Prior threads on the topi...

Denver International Airport Subway

Lex Anteinternet: A Trip Down Market Street, San Francisco, 1906

Lex Anteinternet: A Trip Down Market Street, San Francisco, 1906: A real must watch.  Traffic in the early automobile era.  Thanks go out to John Morgan for this one.

Lex Anteinternet: The light rail revival of Union Station.

Lex Anteinternet: The light rail revival of Union Station.: One of the classic buildings in downtown Denver is Union Station .  The beautiful 1914 vintage was truly a railroad union, uniting a whole ...

The Burlington, the Great Nortwestern and the 33 Mile Road. Natrona County, Wyoming.

These photographs might not seem to show much, but in a way, the illustrate the rise, decline, and rebirth of American rail.

This is the spot where the Burlington Northern crosses the 33 Mile Road in Natrona County, Wyoming.  While not really detectable here, it's also the spot where the Great Northwestern once joined the Burlington Northern, and where there was a spur line into the Casper Air Base.  Some years ago, all that was taken out.

After that, however, the BN rebuilt their line with modern taller, and uniform, rail, reflecting increased rail traffic in the area.

Up on the hill an abandoned farm house looks down on the long lasting scene. The farm ground is still farmed, but the farmer no longer needs to live there, and hasn't for decades.

Union Pacific Depot, Rawlins Wyoming.

This is the Union Pacific Depot in Rawlins, Wyoming.  The depot was built in the late 19th Century.  Post cards from the early 20th Century show the depot with a nice lawn next to it.

Rawlins is a major Union Pacific town with a substantial rail yard today.  Indeed, in some of these photographs you can see a Union Pacific train in the yard.  But passenger service is long gone.

 The depot as viewed from one of Rawlins' main downtown streets.

The Union Pacific gifted the depot to Rawlins which has converted it into a train museum, a fitting use for a structure that played a major role in the life of the community.

Holscher's Hub: Wind River Canyon

Holscher's Hub: Wind River Canyon

Railroad displays at Anna Miller Museum, Newcastle Wyoming

The Anna Miller Museum in Newcastle Wyoming is a local museum hosed in what was formerly the stables for a unit of the 115th Cavalry, Wyoming Army National Guard.  The museum has a small railroad and mining equipment display outside of the building.  As it was closed when we visited, I do not know what is contained inside the museum.

Mine locomotive.

Mining equiment.

Arminto Wyoming

This is what is left of the sidetrack at Arminto Wyoming, and of a hotel along the rail line, which was located where the grove of trees stands.

While now it would almost be impossible to tell, this location once shipped more sheep per year than any other spot on earth.  It was the epicenter of the local sheep industry, and the busiest sheep shipping point on earth.  It remained a significant sheep town well into the second half of the 20th Century, but  the railhead fell into disuse when trucking took over in livestock transportation, and ultimately the collapse of the sheep industry following the repeal of the Defense Wool Incentive in the 1980s completed the town's decline.  The famous local bar burned down in this period, and today the town is a mere shadow of its former self.

More on the history of this location can be found on the entry on this topic at Lex Anteinternet.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ray Galutia very generously provided us with photos depicting Arminto in the  1940s from his personal collection  I'm going to link these photos, which are historically valuable, in here, and also over at Lex Anteinternet, in those instances in which the topics aren't on railroads.  There will be more of those interesting linked in photos posted there.

I'm also going to repost this entry as a new current one, given that it's been updated to such an extent.

Again, many more of Mr. Galutia's fine photographs have been posted at the Arminto entry on Lex Anteinternet, so please check those out if you enjoy these. And heartfelt thanks to out to Mr. Galutia.

Diesel train taking siding for a steam engine at Arminto, 1947-1949.

The location of this photograph, from 1947-1949, is actually quite close to the ones posted immediately above, except it's from a different angle looking back on the town.

Pumping water to a train.

Lex Anteinternet: What people read

Lex Anteinternet: What people read: We've had this blog up for a couple of years now, with the first posts being in 2009 . There were none in 2010, but we really took off in p...

Looking at the BN from the old Great Northwestern

Photographs taken from the bed of the old Great Nortwestern line, rails now removed, of the Burlington Northern line that runs nearby.

Depot in Lewistown Montana

This depot in Lewistown Montana has been nicely preserved and converted into a number of other uses, including a sporting goods store, a restaurant, and a gas station.  Given that automobiles displaced trains to some extent, there's a bit of an irony there.

Steam powered rotatry snow plow, Hanna Wyoming

This is a steam engine in a specialized application, that being a rotary snow plow.  This snow plow engine is located in Hanna Wyoming.  The flags and artillery piece in the background are part of the Hanna Wyoming VFW Memorial Park.  The memorial in the foreground is the Carbon County Miners' Memorial.

Medicine Bow Union Pacific Station, Medicine Bow Wyoming

This a classically styled small town railroad station, located in Medicine Bow, Wyoming.  It's now a museum.

View with the Virginian Hotel just in the background, showing the typical arrangement between train stations in hotels in the days when long distance transportation was generally by rail.