South Shore Coach 23 and stored IC boxcars, Van Buren St., Chicago, IL, November 1977 (Beyer Patton) Illinois Central Highliner 1524, Van Buren Street, Chicago, IL, November 1977 (Beyer Patton)
I like that wood-plank platform. Not as cold-looking as the concrete or asphalt one finds these days.
I like the old ICG cars and DMU. Don't see many images of old ICG boxcars, and even fewer of ICG DMUs; didn't know they had any!
The D in DMU stands for diesel, like Budd cars. So, they never did. Sorry for being picky. And they don't have any MU cars, or rather, they didn't when the Canadians swallowed them. When I rode those gallery cars in the eighties, they had been transferred to the RTA (like the CTA, but regional). I don't think those gallery cars were that old then; maybe a decade and a half? They couldn't have worn the IC martini logo for very long. That's what it always looked like to me, anyway...
The new IC electric cars began to deliver in 1972 and into 1973. A terrible crash between old and new occurred 10/30/1972. https://www.trainboard.com/highball...tral-chicago-wreck-of-october-30-1972.133012/
A lot of unhappy people when this service went away. Ever since then, there has been effort after effort to get something re-established. This route served most of the State's larger population centers. The High Line only hits Whitefish and Havre.
Amtrak 10-6 Sleeper 2676 "Silver Ravine" at La Crosse, WI, November 1977 (Beyer Patton) Amtrak 10-6 Sleeper 2670 "Silver Terrain" at La Crosse, November 1977 (Beyer Patton)
Be great to get this train back, even just for the scenery! Highly doubt BNSF will reopen Homestake just for this though, since they'll get they're trackage back soon. But rolling thru Missoula, Helena, Bozeman, and even Livingston would be great for those cities.
Unfortunately, thru passenger service, is always gonna be seen by the major carriers as, "in the way" of money making revenue traffic. You have to figure every non passenger train will need to re-crewed at least one time, depending on location, volume, and current of traffic. Of course a good dispatcher would eliminate most if not all of these delays and re-crews. It has been hard to find a good dispatcher for many years. Almost all dispatching is done by computer program, watched by carbon based humanoids, which means all trains get delayed copious amounts, while everyone says "that was the best the computer could do it". Current dispatchers are not the real problem, the carriers have them baby sitting 2-3 times more trackage than they should manage.
Homestake is so far gone that re-opening it would be the same as if building the route from scratch. There is no revenue to be had. The only use is the ballast pit on the east slope. As an alternate route, there is not enough traffic on MRL, yet, to justify that idea. $$$ versus value in making such an investment= Nope. Maybe some day. And that would be interesting to see. Nobody is going to rebuild it just for passenger use, unless funded by the taxpayers= BIG $$$ needed from us, for something which would not pay back enough for even a few chuckles.
The scene at South Bend, IN, November 1977 (Beyer Patton) South Shore Combine 109, South Bend, IN, November 1977 (Beyer Patton)
I don't understand it all, but CSS&SB's original ROW through South Bend is gone. The former NYC main is close by the station as seen in the slide and has been in use as South Bend's primary ATK/CSS&SB station since the early '70s. The station also supports a connection with a twisty branch to the South Bend Airport that was added in the '90s sometime. I think the classic old downtown station survives in South Bend and there is/was planning on how to return it to use, but it gets complicated and very expensive because it was accessed via street running.
Train Time at Silverton, June 1974 (Beyer Patton) Silverton Railroad Caboose 17, Silverton, CO, June 1974 (Beyer Patton)
At Silverton, CO, June 1974 (Beyer Patton) D&RGW K-28 2-8-2 473, Durango, CO, September 1974 (Beyer Patton)
I have a very similar photo from two years earlier. https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?media/d-rg-2-8-2.120226/full&d=1436200527
That's the kind of place that makes one feel small, and awestruck at the sheer beauty of the scenery. Add a train to the mix, and you get a winning combination.