The Trains and Locomotives: the Milwaukee Road Between Plummer and Spokane

The Trains – and Other Operational Necessities

WB MILW Mainline Trains (as seen in Fall 1973) per Rob Leachman and other sources:

• 261TC: Train originated at Pig’s Eye.  Fords from St. Paul and Chryslers from Belvidere IL, plus fill of Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland traffic from Pig’s Eye Yard.  Train was blocked in Aberdeen with blocks for Plummer, Seattle TOFC, Seattle other, Tacoma, Portland.  Setout Spokane block in early afternoon. 
•  261C:  Train originated at Bensenville.  GM autos from Janesville WI.  Train was blocked in Aberdeen with blocks for Plummer, Seattle TOFC, Seattle other, Tacoma, Portland.  Setout Spokane business at Plummer in afternoons.  Included auto racks (usually 3-5), piggyback (1 orange MILZ to be de-ramped in East Spokane and then drayed to a steady customer in Kennewick, and occasionally a little TOFC for Spokane) and box cars (1 or 2 40-ft boxes of Canadian newsprint for the Spokane newspaper, general merchandise in BN or Milw box cars for Spokane retailers, plus an occasional URTX/MILW icer of meat from Sioux City). 
• 263C: This was the lower priority train that handled mostly boxcar loads.  Train was blocked in Deer Lodge with blocks for Plummer, Othello, Seattle TOFC, Seattle other, Tacoma, Portland.
• Dead Freight (Westbound – former 265 until Dec-72):  Leachman “I do not know anything about what blocks Pig's Eye made for DFW. Nor do I know what, if any, distant blocks were maintained or made by Aberdeen and Deer Lodge.  There were a lot of lumber and paper empties and grain loads going to the Coast on this train, so it's quite possible there was a Tacoma block handled on the rear.”  The train was reblocked at every division point - Aberdeen, Miles City, Harlowton, Deer Lodge, Avery, Othello so that all short work on its division was at the head end of the train.

EB MILW Mainline Trains (as seen in Fall 1973): 

• Adv 262S:  Handled autos assembled in the S.F. Bay Area (interchanged SP-MILW at Portland, destined to Spokane and Butte), Bensenville, Franklin Park TOFC, and Pig’s Eye blocks (mostly KC interchange) out of Tacoma and Seattle.  Train assembled in Tacoma. 
• 2^nd 262S:  Handled Bensenville, Franklin Park TOFC and Pig’s Eye blocks (mostly KC interchange) of traffic out of Tacoma and Seattle.  Train assembled in Tacoma.  Per Rob Leachman traffic could have been split between Adv 262 and 262 in a way so that one train was mostly Chicago blocked to Franklin Park TOFC and Bensenville, while the other train was all Pig’s Eye (mostly KC interchange) on the other.  MILW had enough priority “Long East” traffic to fill two trains, pus enough lumber, plywood, wood pulp and paper to fill two more.
• 264S:  High value train of “Long East” lumber, plywood and wood pulp loads, plus empty auto racks on the rear to keep the TOB down to a reasonable level.  Train assembled at Tacoma.
• Dead Freight EB (Eastbound – former 266 until Dec-72):  DFE stopped to set out at Plummer empty grain, wood chip, cement and lumber cars.  DFE normally was in and out of Plummer in the wee hours before sunrise, so I don't know if DFE typically had much to pick up in Plummer (in theory some of the wood chips from Usk might have gone to Missoula instead of to the Coast, and on occasion there would be milling-in-transit loads going to St. Maries or to Bonner/Missoula).  Leachman: “My IMPRESSION is that 266 out of Black River had blocks rear to head for Pig's Eye and beyond, Othello and beyond, and shorts to Othello in station order. I do not know if it had a Bensenville block, but it's possible.”  The train was reblocked at every division point - Aberdeen, Miles City, Harlowton, Deer Lodge, Avery, Othello so that all short work on its division was at the head end of the train.

In October 1973 MILW suffered a “disasterous rash of derailments” (attribute: Leachman), which is when traffic started to be driven away.

MILW Spokane Area Trains

• Train 63/64: MILW Plummer Turn (Spokane to Plummer): ran between Spokane and Plummer - usually at night.  It sometimes ran during daylight: Leachman example was when they ran out of crews and had to dog-catch the Metaline Falls job.  Delivered cars to mainline at Plummer: “The Turn lined up pick-ups for 262 (priority loads of plywood and lumber, empty TOFC) 264 (empty auto racks, more lumber) and 265 (grain, wood chips and cement going west and a little lumber going south via Portland SP), then collected the setouts from 261 and 263 and returned to East Spokane.” (Leachman).  Train typically ran with 3-4 U23B/U25B/U28B/GP9ph3 in 1973.  Leachman photo of a rare daylight move at East Mica from 1975:

•  291/292:  Ran from MILW yard Spokane to Metaline Falls, Metaline Falls to Spokane.  Departed Spokane at 2230.  Arr Metaline Falls 0340.  Back on duty 1600, back to Spokane 2215.  Worked the entire 22^nd Subdivision of the Coast Division.  Used two or three 4-axle Coast Division locos (U23B/U25B/U28B/ and occasionally GP9ph3) for power prior to recession, then two around 1975 and later.  Internet photo at Metaline Falls from 1981 or so:

• Coeur D’Alene turn: Ran from MILW yard Spokane to Coeur D’Alene and return.  Ran Spokane – Dishman – McGuires (on 22^nd Subdivision - Metaline Falls line).  McGuires to Coeur D’Alene is the 23^rd Subdivision of the Coast Division.  Used one SW1200 for power.  BN local trains 95 and 96 are present in the MILW ETT, MILW trains ran extra.

• UP Locals 387/388 to and from Kellogg ID (routed Spokane – Dishman - Manito – Plummer – Kellogg): A big train with 5-6 units for power in 1972.  Down to 4 in 1975.  Train ran from UP Spokane – Mica – Manito – Worley – Plummer – Kellogg.  Train 388 ran by ETT 1.5 hours ahead of MILW Plummer turn headed toward Plummer (train 64).  On the return, UP 388 to run approximately 15 minutes behind MILW Plummer turn returning to Spokane (train 65).  Both railroads likely set up operations this way to avoid train meets.  Leachman photo in 1975:

• UP Locals 391/392 to and from Tekoa and Ayer WA (routed Spokane – Dishman – Manito – Tekoa):  Until Spring 1972, train handled odd cars and autoracks since these cars would not clear the Spokane passenger station umbrella sheds.  Otherwise handled cars to and from Palouse towns on train route.  Leachman photo of 392 in 1975:

MILW Locomotive notes: 

• 261C, 261TC, Adv262, 262: 3 SD40-2 
• Dead Freights: GP40/GP40/SD45 – SD45/SD45 locotrol sets or GE lashups of 3-4 units, such as 3 U36Cs, U33C/U30B/U28B/U28B, U25B/U28B/U25B U33/36C, etc. 
• FP45s sometimes replaced SD40-2s or SD45s
• After the electrification was discontinued one or two of the time freights each way ran with Locotrol too.

UP Locomotive notes:
- Trains 387/388 and 389/390 ran with mixed GP30/GP30B/GP9/GP9B in 1973.  If I were to push to 1974 era, I could add GP38-2s as you can see in Rob Leachman's photos above.

What is next?  Lots more research on MILW cars and locos, train lists, actual caboose assignments, track layouts, Spokane MILW industries, etc.  Also, I'd like to dig up lots more photos of trains, depots, cabooses, industries, etc.  Finally, basement prep and some track planning.  Thanks for reading.  Lots to do, but it is exciting for sure. 

This information was assembled with the assistance of Rob Leachman, Matthew Sugerman, and Dan Holbrook. Thanks guys!

The Towns: The Milwaukee Road from Plummer to Spokane (in Fall 1973)

This is part 2 in the overview of the Milwaukee Road from Plummer to Spokane.  See the post from yesterday for an Introduction, and the pros and cons.

An overview of the towns – the “geography”

To understand the layout potential, here are the major layout design elements the layout would include:

Plummer: A wye was located here on the MILW.  UP’s line from Kellogg joined in at the East leg of the wye so trains could run over the MILW line toward Manito to then get on UP to Spokane.  There was one traditional industry in Plummer: a stud lumber or planer mill at Plummer that was switched by UP and was located off of the abandoned UP line to Tekoa (1955).  The mill was owned by the Plummer Indian Reservation and was supplied with mostly 50ft boxcars and 53-6 flatcars.  UP and MILW interchanged cars to and from each other at Plummer: Leachman said there was “milling in transit” veneer and plywood occasionally interchanged there to St Maries Plywood and then re-shipment to Eastern points (but most UP-MILW interchange was done at East Spokane).  Plummer had continuous train order office coverage.  Here is an internet photo of Plummer turn arriving from Spokane taken by “cz17” – with mainline across front of image and rear of wye in background.  Also, the lead GP9 is sitting on the switch to the UP Wallace Branch:

Worley: Located on the MILW between Plummer and Manito, this is site to several grain elevators and a double-ended industry track.  This is where grain hoppers and boxcars were spotted and pulled – by the MILW Plummer turn.  Google earth shot from 2011:

Mozart: Located 1 mile West of Worley on the MILW between Plummer and Manito, this is site to one grain elevator and a double-ended industry track.  This is where grain hoppers and boxcars were spotted and pulled – by the MILW Plummer turn.

Manito:  Here is where the MILW tracks meet the UP line from Tekoa. Here is a Leachman shot of the UP Kellogg Local returning to Spokane.  The train is presently on MILW ROW and will enter UP at the junction switch in the foreground.  The line at right is the UP branch toward Tekoa.

Mica:  Siding located here.  Also, a UP served brick plant is located here. Shot of a MILW road train cresting the grade here (likely a detour - this was not a regular occurrence during my planned era although was in 1976-77) (source: Ebay):

Part of the route between Mica to Spokane includes a 6 mile canyon with a steep grade of 1.7%.  Leachman photo of EB train 387 (Kellogg Turn) from 1975:

Dishman: Where the wye is located between the UP line between Manito and Spokane, and the MILW leg toward Coeur D’Alene and Metaline Falls.  Rob Leachman photo from 1975:

Spokane:  MILW had a “modern” 1950s built 9 track yard in Spokane, with 2 support tracks and 2 engine facility tracks.  All double ended.  MILW’s main score in Spokane was building the auto destination unloading facility at the yard.  At the time auto business was highly lucrative and MILW served it well by being a direct carrier right from Chicago as well as interchange cars from SP that originated at assembly plants in California with SP-MILW interchange at Portland.  UP had rights to switch the unloading facility as well and likely served it daily, since both these carriers mostly marginalized BN in the PNW for auto traffic.  Rob Leachman has estimated the split of cars as 66% MILW and 33% UP.  Dan Holbrook photo from loco facility – April 1974:

North of Spokane yard

North and East of the MILW yard is a spur that has several shippers on it, including a large grain elevator and a pea producer.  There was a former NP now BN industry spur that crossed the MILW spur at grade near Northwest Pea and Bean.  Possible BN ops added on.  Need to understand what these industry names were - looking for help here as well.

Metaline Falls Branch:

MILW branch to Metaline Falls began at Dishman.  Rail mileage was 120 miles to Metaline Falls.  Rob Leachman said that he recalls the train being 25-30 cars when he saw it at night. 

• Dishman to Newport – no online business.  Cusick had a Diamond Match sawmill that closed in the 1950s.
• Newport: had a mill?
• Usk: Woodchips loaded here to go to Tacoma.  Lumber loaded here to go East.  Lumber on flats and in boxcars.
• Ione: had a mill?
• Metaline Falls: Lehigh Portland Cement had a large cement plant (closed prior to 2000 but they used the silos for cement storage brought in by old 3 bay hoppers – owned by Lafarge).  Cement loads were generated in MILW and BN coverd hoppers and were either interchanged at Spokane or went West at Plummer.  Report of DRGW hoppers supplying coal, and Rob Leachman said inbound MILW coal came from “somewhere east of Deer Lodge”. 

The next installment will talk about the train symbols and locomotives in more detail.  Thank you for reading.  This information was assembled with the assistance of Rob Leachman, Matthew Sugerman, and Dan Holbrook. Thanks guys!

An Overview: The Milwaukee Road from Plummer to Spokane (in Fall 1973)

(With UP and BN interference, where accurate)

Introduction:
This post is the first post in a series of what I am thinking about modeling in my approximately 14x26 foot space (including a furnace).  I would appreciate any comments, corrections, and addendums.  As these come I will correct the text here.  Also, if you are reading and can help with photos, train lists, and prototype track layouts, your assistance would be most appreciated since I am new to MILW modeling, and I have not yet met all of the MILW followers.  Thank you in advance!

While I am no stranger to researching different railroads and locales around the Pacific Northwest (read my previous post for more about that), perhaps this is a concept that I can make stick.  I have spent far too many hours and dollars researching different modeling concepts.  I am finding alot of spark with this one though.

Background

The Milwaukee Road’s Pacific extension has always been an interest of mine, but I was under the impression that it had very little operating potential, and therefore would not make a decent modeling subject.  Long trains on mountain passes with electrics and diesels MU’ed together is definitely cool, but the lack of operation in terms of switching and blocking always has been something that has kept me from focusing on that, even at a time when there is a plastic Little Joe on the market (with new boxcabs likely as well).  The same lack of operation goes for Marias Pass and other cool mountain railroads.  Milwaukee in “the gap”, the 212.2 mile stretch between Avery MT and Othello WA where the electrified infrastructure was never completed, however, has a few more modelable vignettes worthy of consideration.  My attention is currently on Plummer ID, where all MILW trains picked up and/or set out cars.  During passenger days, trains left the Milwaukee mainline at Plummer and went out of route to serve Spokane WA.  Half of the route toward Spokane was on Milwaukee rails, and at Manito Milwaukee trains entered UP rails for the run into Spokane.  At Spokane, Milwaukee trackage rights continued on the UP “Washy” to Marengo, where trains rejoined the Milwaukee transcon to proceed toward Othello.

Plummer is also interesting from a UP perspective because in 1955 UP was able abandon a portion of their Kellogg branch from Tekoa to Plummer in favor  of trackage rights over the Milwaukee Road from Manito to Plummer.  UP had  extensive  zinc and lead traffic that originated in the Kellogg-Wrdner area, so, a daily UP train came through Plummer as well.  The vision I see for Plummer would be for it to make up the upper level of a potential layout, with the mainline operating in a large circle from staging to Plummer and back to staging.

For freight operations, all cars that go to Spokane were setout at Plummer.  The Spokane blocks were picked up at night by the “Plummer turn” and were brought to Spokane to be switched.  This train traveled the combined UP and MILW infrastructure between Spokane and Plummer.  At Spokane, cars were switched to the tracks of one of 4 different jobs (discussed later) in the very modelable 9 track yard.  In that yard, cars were switched to and from local industry jobs and locals, as well as blocking for Plummer setouts.  Additionally, the jointly served UP-MILW auto ramp was there.  The vision is that Spokane would make up the lower level of a potential layout.

Additionally, depending on space, several towns between Plummer and Spokane might be included.  These towns would be MILW or UP switched depending on which railroad it was on.  More on that later as well. 

A map to familiarize the reader:

Benefits and Drawbacks to this prototype

First, the benefits:

1. Car variety: Allows operation of transcontinental mainline trains, with connections to many railroads at each end, and therefore the most car variety. Local traffic that terminates/originates at industries on the layout and in the Spokane vicinity is also nicely varied. I am especially enamored with Pullman grain hoppers and MILW owned many varieties of them, and some foreign road cars were operated as well. My recent fascination with MILW house cars, especially boxcar rebuilds, has energized my interest and desire to build model. 
2. Rail Service Design interest - Multiple handlings: Freight cars can be handled multiple times on the layout. As opposed to previous concepts where cars came from staging to be spotted, most MILW cars from the outside rail world will have to be handled 4 times. For example: 1 – setout by road train at Plummer. 2 – picked up at Plummer by the Plummer turn and setout at Spokane. 3 – switched at Spokane yard into new train by yardswitcher. 4 – Depart Spokane to industry or staging. This can be accomplished by only modeling 2 towns with staging, a very rare feat in the combination of prototype ops and model railroad design. 
3. Multiple railroads: While MILW operations are the focus of this concept, there are two UP local Washington Division trains that operate over some of the territory, as well as BN industry and transfer job activity in Spokane. Additionally, UP actively switched the lumber mill at Plummer and it is assumed this would be part of the layout.  
4. Tangent connections: Because the car variety is strong, many if not most Tangent Scale Models cars can be justified on the layout without stretching realism. This was a concern with the Palouse branchline or Camas Prairie concepts. I simply want to enjoy most of the cars that are produced as a part of Tangent Scale Models - a mainline railroad is the best way to do this. 
5. Suited to a small basement: Previous concepts that include a mainline require multiple towns to be convincing, and the only rail activity in these towns are a few local industries and perhaps a branchline (Belgrade and Manhattan MT respectively, for example). 14 foot long passenger trains and 18+ foot long freight trains with long stretches of mainline between them do not work well in my space, even if they are in a mountain district. 
6. …yet expandable: If space permits in a future basement, this concept could be expanded to include one or more of the following:
1. • From Spokane: Coeur D’Alene: served by UP, BN, and MILW (with BN and MILW sharing right of way), this town has lots of interesting operating potential, although most traffic is mill traffic.  Couer D'Alene is 10 rail miles from the Metaline Falls branch. Further research required. 
   • From Spokane: Metaline Falls branch: Metaline Falls and Usk were the primary shipping towns on this line… see details below.  Branch is 120.1 miles long from Spokane.
   • On the mainline East of Plummer to St Maries: 19 prototype rail miles on a mostly 1 percent grade with a large log dumping operation at Ramsdell.  At St. Maries, there was a major mill and other customers as well as a small yard and local activity – 2 jobs originated here including the run down the 24th division branch to Clarkia and Bovill.  It is another 50 miles to the crew district at Avery (where “Little Joe” electrics were added for the Eastbound run toward Montana).  Also, there is a signature bridge at "Pedee" that was a railfan favorite, plus the landmark wooden trestle across Benewah Lake.
   • On the mainline West of Plummer in the “gap” – there is incredible scenic variety including the Palouse, scab-land, and the beautiful basaltic rock area above a lake in the middle of nowhere – this portion of the railroad is non-signaled west of Sorrento Tunnel which of course would be operationally interesting.
   • UP toward Kellogg ID – zinc and lead, chips, lumber, and grain on this railroad, with big lashups of power prior to the 1975 downturn that hit this line hard.
   • UP toward Tekoa and Colfax – and Pullman and Moscow (with BN potential)
    
7. Locomotive variety:  For the MILW, the locomotive variety is strong with SD40-2, SD45, GP40, U25B, U28B, U23B, U33C, U36C, GP9, and SW1200 classes being the strong players, with several minor types as well.  Thanks to the influx of new GE models in the late 2000s, it is possible to model all of these and standardize on smooth running KATO, Atlas, and Proto (GE only) drivetrains.
8.  Cabooses: Who would have thought that 2 out of the 3 major MILW caboose classes from that era would be available reasonably as RTR plastic models?  While I see one major issue with the Walthers ribside model that is tough to totally fix, a workaround is likely possible.
9. UP potential: As a former UP employee my interest in UP ops has increased over the past decade, especially with the cool locomotives and cars present here and the “play” potential the two UP locals add to this layout concept.
10. Reciprocal switch industries: At least one reciprocal switch industry is present on the layout; the MILW auto facility in Spokane was also switched by UP, which adds more play potential as well.  There may be others in the Spokane industrial area as well.  
11. Minimal signaling: ABS signals are in place on the Plummer to Manito MILW stretch, and the UP Manito to Spokane stretch.  This would require (hopefully) minimal detection to keep things simple.  Trains are listed in the timetable so a dispatcher would not be necessary although depending on the amount of real estate included could make things more interesting.  ABS signals were not in place west of Plummer in the gap. 

Now, the Drawbacks:

1. No F units: While F units have become a love of mine, at this point I believe I can let this go.  UP F units were present on the locals on layout in 1972, but at this point I am thinking 1973 so there is probably too much fudge factor there for me.   
2. No BN:  Ever since going to Colorado’s joint line in 1984, I have been a devoted BN fan.  My interests in the BN system have ranged from branches to mainlines, from WA to IL.  The list is long, some of which was documented in my first blog posting.  I will want to include as much BN interchange traffic  as possible in the Spokane part of this layout, but the MILW is undeniably cool and very modelable, and features many of the things I love about BN: GP9s, SD40-2s, and Pullman grain hoppers. I also get a lot of my BN ‘fix” at Dan Holbrook’s layout so the MILW represents something fresh and fun.

My next series of posts will include details about the geography (the towns), train ops, locomotives, and cars.  Stay tuned...and thanks for reading!

I was tempted to purchase this placard from a caboose or locomotive... but I didn't... yet!