Milwaukee Road Early 80's

[Spikre]

 
   there wasn't much left of the Milwaukee by the early 80s.
   the 68 to 72 period was much more interesting,the FP45s
   topped the loco fleet.
   plenty of F-Ms, some Alcos and Baldwins left.
   and the not well loved GE fleet.
    just seems much more interesting here.
         Spikre
         

[Ali Kenneth]

Spikre,

Totally agree with you that earlier may be more interesting but for some reason i am drawn to the early 80's, immediately post staggers. I find the Milwaukee, CNW and Rock Island fascinating, especially immediately after the rock collapsed and every other road seemingly had a fleet of patched RI blue stock.

It might be that i started rail fanning in the UK in 1981 and i view that as a golden era as a result.

Alasdair

[kalbert]

Early 80's was a crazy time around here. You could see multiple generations of equipment in multiple generations of paint schemes and patch outs any time you turn around. There was worn out old first gen stuff, recently rebuilt and painted first gen, some of the second gen was getting pretty tired and looked worse than the first gen stuff it was bought to replace, second hand stuff was too good to pass up (especially for CNW), and some were even buying brand new. Basic infrastructure in various stages of deferred maintenance or abandonment makes for a lot of weathering and detailing opportunity. To me this is the the interesting stuff!

[jnevis]

 
Just to help   SP GP9 and MILW U25B at the Portola museum.

[randgust]

While I was intrigued by the Pacific Extension and the electrification, I didn't really get much enthusiasm for the Milwaukee until I spent some time in Tacoma.    That Tacoma hill.... holy smokes!    That's one of the roughest pieces of railroad I've ever seen in my life, that's where they had to use the slugs to make it and a 90-degree curve at the bottom to kill you if you make the slightest mistake on the descent.   Any real railroaders that had to handle that hill on a daily basis with worn-out stuff on an undermaintained track, I take my had off to - those were the real deal.

See http://wx4.org/to/foam/big_rr/milw/tacoma/tideflats_gulch.html

That hill was also the undoing of the "Ferroequis" conversion of the Reading 4-8-4 to oil.... another story.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I think there is a certain appeal to the MILW in the 80' specifically because it was such a lost cause. Like the final days of the Rock, and pretty much any point of PC, the bad track, broken infrastructure, "retired on duty" equipment and the ghosts of the once great past make for a great story to tell through your modeling. It's a great challenge, and something that I think is more interesting than watching shiny new equipment on perfect track. And yes, I do think it's a better subject than my Boston Line, but I model what I know.

[wcfn100]

If it wasn't for basically a coin flip decision between the Milwaukee and CNW back when I was around 12 years old, I'd be modeling the MILW.  But I'd have to set it back to at least '77, before the 'reorganization'. Plus having shots of FP45's running the Lake Street Depression in '77 doesn't hurt. 


Jason