Hi all just wanted to say Hi and introduce myself. I was born and raised in Oelwein and my Dad worked for the CGW till the merger in 68 then he went to the ICRR till he retired. Any way just wanted to say Hi and I really enjoy reading about all this history, some of it I even remember. Scrapdockson:tb-biggrin:
Welcome aboard! I would love to see more chat about the CGW. If you have an interesting memory, could you share it? :thumbs_up: Boxcab E50
Scrapdockson, welcome to Trainboard! I will second Boxcab's invitation to share any memories you have of railroad history, especially if you can recall some of your dad's stories, "back in the day." :tb-biggrin:
Just North of the old CGW depot in Oelwein, there is a viadict with a 9'9" clearance that cars drive under because there was too much train trafic in that area to have the cars wait for the tracks to clear. Anyway My Dad who started to work for the CGW sometime in the 50's always told a story about how it rained so hard in Oelwein one time that the run off water filled the viaduct to the top. I was born in the late 50's and i've seen some pretty heavy rains there but never did it come close to filling the viaduct. Well back in oh I guess it must have been bout 1978 or 79, I was at work at a creamery about 12 mile from Oelwein and it was raining cats and dogs. My wife called me on the phone and told me I better be thinking about coming home because the highway patrol was closing roads because of flooding. So I called my boss and asked him what he wanted me to do, and he said we better close up the creamery and head home. Well when I got to oelwein there was water everywhere and I lived in the house across the street from the old CGW depot (now Oelwein's city Hall) which was also about a block east of the viaduct. Well when I got home I looked at the viaduct and sure enough it was full to the top with water which took about 2 hours to drain off. If any one has any pictures of that old viaduct could you post them I sure would like to have a copy of one. I don't think it will be long before they tear it down, last time I saw it, it was getting in pretty bad shape.
Oelwein Viaduct I hope this worked. O'k click on the image to get a larger size. North is to the top of the Picture. Mike
Viaduct I remember as a kid there used to be bout 8 sets of track going over the top of the viaduct. Never really had much time to count though cause the railroad agents were always running us off.:tb-rolleyes:
Interesting to see where you've noted your home is situated. If only the clock could be rolled back at least 40 years.... The trackage at lower left- Isn't that the line to Des Moines and KC? Boxcab E50
actually if you were heading toward the top left of the picture you would be going to the Minniapolis St. Paul direction. The Des Moines, Kansas City - Chicago Split is further down the way in the opposite direction. I'll get another picture for you Scrapdockson
Ok. Looks like I was in the wrong area. Was that area I'd noted formerly part of a wye? Industrial trackage? Boxcab E50
The place you're talking about is the southern part of the yards and where the rails start spliting in order to go the large shop or the paint shop or the small 2 door shop the CNW operated
Welcome to Trainboard! I used to live 1/2 mile from the CGW main in south Des Moines, and remember the single-note BLAAAT of the switcher that came up from their yard to switch local industries. In August 1968 (right after the merger), the company my Dad worked for sent him to Oelwein to do a siding install on a house on the west side of town. We all went, since school had not yet started, and I remember seeing a lot of F-units and hearing train horns all day. Dad didn't get much help out of me, I'm afraid...... Fast-forward to May 1981. I'm on a week-long railfan trip out of Arkansas, having driven up to Oelwein via Omaha/COuncil Bluffs, Boone, and Waterloo/Cedar Falls. The yard in town was chock-full of diesels in storage- I walked thru several F units there, and shot pics of many old EMDs. AT the diesel house, I spotted & shot a bunch of Geeps, all sporting fresh CNW green & yellow.
