I wish I could've seen it around 91. but then again- it's almost too sad to see all those dead SD45s and Geeps. Pretty much what happened is- CNW and CGW literally covered the exact same area, and (for the most part) the Northwestern was built better (aka. less distance 'tween key cities) So, naturaly, most of the CGW lines did not survive. The customers along the ex-CGW Oelwein -St.Paul line were devestated in '81 when C&NW decided to abandon the line- the customers (mainly grain dealers) tried forming their own shortline to maintian service, but nothing became of it. The CGW - CNW merger could be considered beneficial, as Oelwein was the only area hit this hard (and the lines going out of it)
I was first at Olwein in the early 90's. It was a great thing to see the Transco repaints of the CNW units; i.e. the SD-40-2s. I went there again in 1993 and saw my favorite CNW loco, the 6832, freshly painted, and next to the tower. Took several pictures of it, videos, and the other locos that were in the paint line. It was merely by luck that I saw it there; it was quite an unexpected surprise. If you are ever there, make sure you go to the old museum; the people there--a lot of CGW employees-- have a lot of stories that they are more than willing to share. They are going the way of the WWII vets, which means that you can't delay long.
