Hello all. Geared Steam directed me this way from another forum and I am amazed at the great MILW information here. It will take me weeks to even scratch the surface.... (Thanks for the pointer Geared Steam!) I am interested in information about the MILW Avery yards and terminal as well as the Elk River branch line out of St. Maries. I've seen a number of pictures about the east yard at Avery, but not much on the engine facilities or the west yard. Here are some of my initial questions: I've seen a track plan for Avery in N Scale magazine a decade or so ago that included a coaling tower. In one of Michael Sol's excellent documents I also found a reference to coal storage at Avery. Given that the steam engines coming into Avery were oil-fired and everything else was electric, does anybody know why the railroad was storing coal? What was the west yard used for and was it electrified? I've seen some obscure references to it as the "log" yard for all the lumber. I'm a lifelong armchair modeler, but am now angling to do an n scale layout around Avery and St. Maries probably based in the 1930's. The information y'all are sharing is tremendous and I feel like a kid in the candy store. Hopefully I can provide some info that others on TB need as well. Thanks!
Firstly, welcome aboard!! Even though Avery was an electrified town, it had its share of steam locos from The Gap that needed servicing. Back then, though, weren't all MILW steam locos oil-fired? If anything was coal fired, caboose stoves, service facilities were likely coal-heated, etc.
Welcome to TrainBoard! Steam engines at Lines West startup used coal. Conversion to oil came about at least partially due to the big forest fire of 1910. Because of concerns about starting another fire. Then there was cost associated with transporting it across the system. Thus you could find the remnant brick or cement bases for the oil tanks, which many mistake as former water tower supports. Electrification actually extended slightly west of Avery. To allow motors the ability to switch the yard. Boxcab E50
I would also like to welcome you to our little hiding spot I am sure you can tell by now, these guy's know everything. I can't help you to much out west, my domain is based in the Wisconsin territory.
As it did at harlowton, on the other end of the electrification. To allow boxcabs to switch the town, the trolley was extended a mile up the North Montana Line towards Lewistown.
Thanks all for the welcomes and the info. You guys run a great group here. :tb-biggrin: It sounds like there probably was a coaling tower originally at Avery, at least until the conversion to oil? Did they leave the structure there after the conversion? Also, from an old picture and topo map I can see what I believe is the oil tank near the roundhouse, but there's also a very large round tank north of the engine terminal tracks, looking like the tank's almost buried in the hillside. Was that the water tank for the steam engines? It also sounds like the west yard was under catenary as well, was it treated as one big yard? From what I've discovered so far it seems like the engine facilities separated the 2 yards and only 2 or maybe 3 tracks connected the yards. And did the Boxcabs do the switching or did they have a separate switching loco? And I read that Avery originally had a 12 stall roundhouse, but from the topo map and a picture with the roundhouse fuzzy in the distance it looks like the roundhouse had been truncated to maybe 6 stalls plus a longer stall for the electrics. Does this sound right? There was an icing facility in Avery as well, just NW of the depot I believe. Was it a big facility, or just for topping off? Were there locals run from St. Maries or Avery (besides the Elk River branch runs I mean)? I've been looking for trackplan of Avery online (i.e. free) but haven't found one yet. I'm going to try the MILWest group and MILW Historical Society when I have $$. Sorry for all the questions, I'm just very curious about all activities around Avery so any info is greatly appreciated. I don't have a MILW library yet, so any guidance on books about the MILW in ID would be great too. I grew up in Boise back in the 70's, but never made it up North and left before I was old enough to really pursue my love of trains. Thanks again for the warm welcome and the info. I really have enjoyed reading everything in this group and specially BoxcabE50's experiences and seeing HemiAdda2d's tours.
Welcome on board from Europe! (Yes, there are Milwaukee fans over here, too!) I can only say a few things that I know from books as I was there personally for the first time in August 2009: Yes the roundhouse was truncated. If you do a picture search on Google it might turn up a few pics. The icing facility is on a pic, too. To help you search for ressources, start here (if you haven't done so already): Milwaukee Road Archives Milwaukee Road West You'll find many links to other informative sites there. Use them and enjoy hours of reading! However, a book you ought to get is "The Milwaukee Road in Idaho", 2nd edition by Stan Johnson, from the Museum of North Idaho. It contains track plans of Avery and St Maries. It's not free but for the information it contains you might call it that. My layout is also depicting the St Paul Pass in N scale, here are a few pictures: CMStPP Gallery - RailImages.com Michael
Welcome to the Train Board,glad to have you aboard.This is a great group and a wealth of information. I model the River Line Division from Ottumwa,Iowa to Savanna,Illinois and am thinking of going to Bensenville,Iliinois.
Hmm. Well, if an edit function does not allow such action, you can delete and re-upload within a post, if desired. Most important is that you already know what it really was, once. Boxcab E50
There was an outfit in Billings that had track blueprints, including Avery, available for sale. What happened to that is a bit muddy. The story is that a private party now has them? My information was those were donated to the Montana Historical Society by the Milw at closing. So how they could be divested like that, is puzzling. But you could contact Billings and chase it down. I have a roll print about 16 feet long of Avery to Roland. Buried downstairs. Got it about 25 years ago from a private source, no longer available. Might be lucky enough to find it, later... Boxcab E50
Yes. As the rotary plows were still coal, and some steam still coal. Yes. That tank was water for all the RR side of Avery. They switched with whatever was at hand. I remember logs in the yard east of the depot. They had tonnage reductions. Or would fill trains as needed. Yes. MRHA may have something. I do not know. If the Milwaukee Public Library had not cut back due to economics, the Milwaukee Road Collection is there. Might be what you seek hidden there. But we must wait for them to get funding and re-open... Boxcab E50
Just wanted to add my "Welcome!" to the chorus! Great to have another Milwaukee Road junkie among us! :thumbs_up:
Thanks for the book reference CMStP&P, I'll see if I can't order it from the Museum of North Idaho. I also loved the pics of your layout. How long is your version of Avery yard? I'm hoping for about 11-15 feet for mine some day.... BoxcabE50, I really appreciate your feedback on the questions I had. Having someone who was actually there is amazing! Thanks! I'm slowly building my understanding of this section of the MILW and will post more info as I get it.
I'll have to try and track that down as best I can remotely. It's not likely that I'll be in Montana anytime soon! I'd love to see that roll print if you come across it, what a treasure! I was also disappointed to hear about the MPL. I was hoping to contact them for technical drawings of the boxcabs, see if there was any possibility of scratching one.... Guess I'll have to wait on that now.
I don't recall ever seeing any blueprints/erection drawings of boxcabs. Hopefully some exist. Maybe GE has something in archives? My mind is saying that late 1960's, early 1970's, someone drew up these motors, for an article in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine? Might be worth looking there? Track stuff: http://www.selbys.com/ You want to contact their Billings store. The contact used to be a fellow named Neal Gray. There should be an 800 number. Hopefully, someone there can help guide you. Boxcab E50
It was mentioned earlier in this tread about Micheal Sol's website here. It is a wealth of information as far as company documents (construction reports, etc) For knowledge of MILW, spend some time and do some reading, I find it fascinating some of the reports I have read about actually building the Pacific Extension (PCE) Micheal seems to scan several docs a day and posts them, so go back often for new stuff. I scoured the site last night trying to find any prints of Avery, came up empty, but like I said, he adds items all of the time. One report I found very interesting was a letter from an engineer for the NP, who was working up the Big Blackfoot drainage, he sent a letter to James Hill, reporting that the MILW was laying track up the Big Blackfoot to access the lumber, and had plan to go one to Great Falls. There was a response from JJ Hill, I haven;t read it yet :thumbs_up: Very neat stuff. GS
In an earlier post, N Scale Magazine was mentioned. During their first year of publication, they had a multi-part article on a potential Milw layout. It was written by Kirk Reddie, and based on something I was thinking about at that time. His idea was multi-level, sized to fit my available space, which was roughly 10' by 13'. We long since sold that house and moved.... Boxcab E50
I wonder if Mr Sol reads Trainboard?, if so, thank you for the latest update on your website. An new article has been uploaded here. It has pictures and diagrams of the Avery yard. Good stuff :thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
