This video shows film taken in the 1960s in Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
We are continuing the story of our group who travel to watch trains.
On this trip, there were six in Fred’s Buick Electra 225: Fred, his sons Elmer and George along with Tom, his son Travis and his daughter Tammy. The boys and girl were teenagers at that time and their fathers were teaching them to film trains.
The group liked the Buick Electra 225 as it had a lot of room – it was 225 inches in length. That’s 18 feet 9 inches! By comparison the current largest Buick is the Enclave at 204” or 17 feet in length which is 21” shorter.
The 225 might be a problem if your garage space is only 18 feet long.
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Trains on this video include:
GN No. 23 – The Gopher – Passenger Train – EMD E-7A
NP – Caboose Hop – GP-9 / GP-9
GN – Caboose Hop – SD-9
C&NW – Transfer Run from Itasca Yard – EMD SW-7 / Baldwin DS-4-410 (re-engined with an EMD 567 Diesel.
NP – Freight – GP-9 / GP-9
GN – Freight – SD-9
C&NW – Freight – Alco RS-3
C&NW – Reefer Block – EMD SD-9
C&NW / Milwaukee Road – Pool Ore Train – FM (Fairbanks Morse) H16-66 / H16-66
Milwaukee – Transfer Run – SD-9
C&NW – coal train – Alco RS-3 / RSD-5 / RSD-5
Soo Line – Local Freight – Alco RS-1
C&NW – Freight GP-9 / GP-9
C&NW No. 211 – The Flambeau 400 – Passenger Train – EMD E-7A
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The video opens at the Duluth station where the Great Northern Gopher is boarding and getting ready to travel to Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The group then stopped at Garfield Avenue Yard and caught two Caboose Hops heading out to get their trains.
In West Duluth, they saw the GN Gopher and a Chicago & NorthWestern Transfer Run from Itasca Yard with an EMD SW-7 and a Baldwin S-12. The C&NW sent many of their Baldwin locomotives back to the EMD factory in La Grange Illinois to replace the De La Vernge engine with an 567 Diesel. The De La Vernge Diesel was rugged but not as reliable and was much more expensive to operate than the EMD 567.
The group then headed to the South of the Twin Ports and filmed two C&NW freights near Superior. The first had an Alco (American Locomotive Company) RS-3 and the second an EMD SD-9.
From there, they headed into Superior where they watched a Chicago & NorthWestern / Milwaukee Road pool ore train, a Milwaukee Transfer Run with an SD-9 and a C&NW coal train with an Alco RS-3 and two RSD-5s. In addition to having their Baldwin diesel engines replaced, they sent several Alco Locomotives back to the factory to replace the old 244 Diesel with the newer 251 engine. Alco had done a lot of work on its diesels and the 251 was much improved.
The group then headed towards Ashland and caught some of the same trains they had seen in Superior on a bridge in Northern Wisconsin.
Near Ashland they saw two EMD GP-9s on a C&NW freight train. They also caught the C&NW/ Milw ore train again and then the C&NW No. 211 – The Flambeau 400 Passenger Train with an EMD E-7A.
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The CN caboose was provided by Craig Wiester
The cars in the Grain Extra were provided by Craig Wiester and Karl Rasmussen
The Alco RS-3/RS-11 was provided by John Hill
The GN caboose was provided by John Hill
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