June/July 2000

(Volume 5, No. 5)

Editor's Note

You may have noted that this issue covers two months. I plan to only produce two issues during the summer - this June/July issue and an August/September issue. If there is more info that needs to come out before the show, that could change. Monthly issues will resume in October.

                                           Doug Herrmann

President's Soapbox

I have recently read a pair of books about the Milwaukee railroad and periodically read an online exchange where retired employees and fans ask and answer questions. This group of fans exhibits an exceptional loyalty to this railroad which literally went out of business almost twenty years ago. After this two decade passage of time, few signs of its presence and even fewer relies remain to remind us of its existence. One example is a block signal owned by Doug Herrmann; it's a bit large to be moved about easily and would certainly be a distinctive yard ornament. Even the old Milwaukee roadbed is fading into oblivion; on my last trip to Helena, I traveled from Dillon to Whitehall crossing the old route about five or six miles south of Whitehall and noted that is getting harder to locate with every passing year. The distinctive original depot in Butte is being used by a TY station and some portions of the railroad have been taken over by other operators, such as BNSF and independent operators.  The large engine facility at Harlowtown is still there as well as the little electric yard goat, and a Boxcab is on display in the city park. Other buildings, such as the railroad hotel, are being used for other purposes and residents there dream of a Milwaukee Museum some day. There may even be some among us who have to be reminded that there was a railroad named the "Milwaukee". The familiar "Milwaukee" is an excerpt from the official Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific corporate title.

Closer to home, the branch-lines of Eastern Idaho are slowly disappearing. Just south of Sandy Downs, a branch-line which connected Ammon with Firth crossed St Clair road. A Union Pacific Idaho Division employee timetable, dated 1975, lists the sidings on the Goshen Branch as follows: Firth - milepost 0.0, 5830 feet: Goshen - milepost 5.2, 880 feet: Indian - milepost 12.8, 495 feet: Hackman (spur) - milepost 15.6, 200 feet: Ammon - milepost 18.1, 1430 feet: and Lincoln Jet - milepost 22.0. The line was removed (Firth to Ammon) in the mid seventies after fifty years of operation. Very few sections of this line are recognizable at present, the roadbed having been reclaimed by farming operations. The green grain elevator and potato packing shed south of the Sand Creek Golf Course and a few bridges are the only reminders of this short branch.

North of Idaho Falls, the East and West Belt line connected with the Yellowstone branch at Saint Anthony. The Teton flood destroyed the East Belt railroad bridge over the Teton River North of Newdale and weakened the West Belt bridge across the South Fork North of Menan. As a result, operations on the East Belt became an Idaho Falls to Newdale turn. The track between Newdale and Belt, which was a couple of miles north of Saint Anthony, was abandoned. Operations on the West Belt became a Saint Anthony to Egin turn from the north and an Idaho Falls to Menan turn for the south end. The railroad bridge at Menan is still in place unused, but approximately 10 miles of track north to Egin was abandoned. One other little known branch was built from Sugar City west to the Henry's Fork for seasonal use during harvest, this little  branch lost its importance when roads were improved  and trucks became more common.

This short review serves to remind us how easy it is for these things to be forgotten unless someone assumes the task of preservation. The layout we have under construction could do much toward preserving the railroad history of Eastern Idaho.

                                                               Leo Harker

Business Meeting Reminder

In order to have a legal business meeting, it is necessary that we have a quorum present, either in person or by written, signed proxy. At present a quorum is defined as 8 members in good standing. So please be sure you are in good standing, and make every effort to attend the business meeting. If you can not attend and you know this beforehand, you can always authorize another member to act as your proxy, just give him or her a written statement and sign it. Proxies will be collected by the secretary at each meeting. Help us to conduct our business in a timely manner.

                                                        Doug Herrmann

Photo Gallery

Larry Lane is working on setting up a photo gallery along the west wall of the clubroom. If you have any old pictures to contribute or suggestions on what should be included and how it is arranged, discuss it with Larry. We hope to have some representative photos of the area in the display.

                                                         Doug Herrmann

Timetable

Union Pacific Steam (3985) Schedule 2000

This schedule is repeated from the last newsletter for reference .

June 10 – 13    Cheyenne to North Platte (display 2 days) to Cheyenne

July 15             Cheyenne to Laramie to Cheyenne for UPHS convention

July 20 – 23     Cheyenne to Denver for Denver Post. Round trip 7/22, then back to Cheyenne

July 30             Depart Cheyenne for Los Angeles taking about a week en route; on display at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAWT) during the Democratic National Convention; then return to Cheyenne via the same route, returning late August.

Rocky Mountain Rail Report, Bob Kieiger, UP Steam Crew

The Power of Steam

In case you have any doubt about the power of steam, see the accompanying photo. Steam can be powerful even when condensing. I do not know what company was involved, but it is impressive.

RE: Pressure Vs. Vacuum

Fascinating photos if you've never seen this type of failure.

Please share with your staff and educate them as to the "physics" at work if they don't understand.

Interesting pictures of what can happen when you block in a tank car being steamed out. Please forward to whoever can benefit by the lesson to be learned.

To all users of pressure vessels:

A great reminder that though many of our vessels are pressure rated, many will not withstand significant vacuum. Vacuum can be created by simply draining a vessel without venting or by steam cleaning and not venting to the subsequent condensing steam creates an extremely strong vacuum. The hotter or higher pressure of the steam, the stronger the vacuum. Even the condensation of a hot hydrocarbon with low vapor pressure can have similar results if the system is not gas/N2 blanketed or equipped with a vacuum breaker.

Regards,

Kevin, Polypropylene Plant Manager

The tank car in the attached photos is not one of ours. It is a general purpose LPG car that was being steam cleaned to prepare it for some maintenance work. The job was still in progress at the end of the shift so the employee decided to block it in. Problem was there was no vacuum relief, the car cooled, the steam condensed and the car imploded.

Article and photo contributed by Alan Udy

Other Railroad Lines

The Union Pacific has always been the only railroad in eastern Idaho, either directly or indirectly. Other railroads, however, considered building in the area, much to the consternation of the Union Pacific. When the Utah & Northern built north from Utah through eastern Idaho to Montana, it was financed and controlled by the Union Pacific. The Oregon Short Line, which constructed their line across southern Idaho, was also controlled by the Union Pacific, and both the Utah & Northern and the Oregon Short Line were merged to form the Oregon Short Line & Utah Northern Railway Company in 1889, and then into the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company in 1891.

In addition to these two main lines, branch lines were constructed in eastern Idaho under separate corporate names, but they, too, were controlled by the Oregon Short Line and the Union Pacific. It was not until the Belt branches were built that the Oregon Short Line directly built the new lines. The St. Anthony Railroad Company and the Yellowstone Park Railroad Company were typical of the branch lines built by the Oregon Short Line. Union Pacific officials nominally owned one share of the branch lines, and the majority of shares were owned by one of the officials for the Union Pacific. The railroad also surveyed other lines and considered alternative routes over the years. In addition, the other railroads; the Chicago and Northwestern and the Western Pacific, also considered constructing in eastern Idaho. They went so far as to perform surveys and purchase land in some cases for their proposed routes. By the time this was done, however, the era of railroad expansion was over, and nothing came of their proposals.

It is interesting to note the other railroads which operated in the state of Idaho over the years. In the Idaho Public Utilities Commission annual report ending June 30, 1915, the commission noted that only one new steam railroad had started operations in the previous twelve months, the Intermountain Railway Company, which ran from Centerville to Arrow Junction in Boise County. The 28 mile line connected with the Government Reclamation Service Railroad, and was planned to be a logging railroad, transporting logs from the Boise-Payette Lumber Company holdings to the new mill at Barber. Passenger and freight service were both provided.

In the same year the Ogden, Logan and Idaho Railway Company completed their electric line from Wellsville, Utah, to Preston, Idaho, a distance of 40 miles. It paralleled the Oregon Short Line most of the way, and operated eight trains a day in each direction, providing freight, passenger, and express services. Also in the same year, in May,1915, the Lewiston-Clarkston Transit Company began operating their electric line between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington, a distance of two miles, one of which was in Idaho.

In the annual report of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission ending June 30, 1925, the following lines were noted as operating in Idaho:

Steam:

 Electric:

Thornton Waite

 

Potlatch Corporation: Historical Photogaphs © 1999

Material Needed

Please send any material you would like to have placed in the Eagle Tracks newsletter to the editor.