Here’s a birds eye view in the Chicago and North Western railroad’s locomotive backshop located in Chicago, Illinois. Jack Delano photographed this scene in December of 1942.
C&NW Locomotive Backshop
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Conductor Boarding His Caboose
Jack Delano also spent some time visiting the Illinois Central facilities while in Chicago. It’s November of 1942, and Jack spied this conductor hopping aboard his caboose as it was pulling out of a yard track for it’s southward journey. He’ll likely settle in place at his desk, with a cup of hot java handy . . . there is still paper work to do during the ride.
Smokebox Inspection & Repairs
Jack Delano visited the Chicago and North Western railroad’s locomotive backshop in December of 1942. Shown here are a couple workers doing inspection and repairs to a steam locomotive. Opening the smokebox was an important part of the inspection, as it enabled the mechanic to see the tube ends for the boiler, as well as the exhaust components for the steam cylinders. The worker on the left appears to be an electrician performing some work on a class light.
Water, Sand and Fuel
Steam locomotives have a voracious appetite, and they visit the servicing facilities quite often. Here we see a line of the beasts as they replenish their supply of water, sand and coal. This is the Chicago and North Western’s coaling stage in the Proviso yard located in Chicago, Illinois. Photographer Jack Delano captured this image in December of 1942.
Site Improvement
Several things have been going on in the background in recent weeks. You might recall the problem I was having a while back with “Unwelcome Subscribers” to this blog. Happily the fix I implemented seems to have solved that problem, hopefully for good.
Last week I took another step to help provide a bit more security to the site by adding something called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL for short). This is a standard security protocol for establishing encrypted links between a web server and a browser in an online communication. You will likely recognize this by the https prefix on the site web address.
This changes the blog address (as well as the primary Louisiana Central website address) by adding that “s” to the http. If you use your old link to the site, you should be automatically re-directed to the new address. However I’d recommend that you update your link to the new one. I find that the new link will get you there a second or two faster.
In my testing last week I think I got the bugs squashed, but if you happen to encounter something else, please let me know.
In other news, the 7th annual Train Day at the Library event took place yesterday at the Jones Creek Library over in Baton Rouge. I had the privilege of assisting with the organization of the show this year, and we were rewarded with a record attendance. To be sure, nothing that I did caused that . . . I give all that credit to the absolutely gorgeous day we had, plus the reputation that the show has been building on for the six prior years.
Though not aimed at hard-core railfans and model railroaders (the general public is the targeted audience), the show does draw in many of those folks, and that’s good because I think it has helped to entice more actual display participants to the event. The library has also been thrilled with the attendance, and continues to request the show each year. Hopefully, that will continue.
Hanging the Markers
It’s a cold January day in 1943, and a crewman is hanging the marker lamps on his caboose in preparation for their run. The location is likely the Chicago and North Western’s Proviso yard in Chicago. Photo by Jack Delano
Easing Out on the Throttle
Back to our series of images by photographer Jack Delano: we’re in Chicago, Illinois and it’s November of 1942. Mr. Delano captured this view of a C&NW engineer about to ease out on the throttle of his fire-belching steed.
The U.P. “George Bush 41”
Word was floating around that the Union Pacific’s #4141 was parked over at the U.P. yard in Addis, Louisiana today. This is the locomotive that pulled the funeral train of the late President George H. W. Bush to Texas during his recent funeral. Naturally I felt compelled to investigate, so my friend Ron Findley and I headed over across the Mississippi River late this morning. Arriving in Addis, we found the prize, along with locomotive #1943, the “Spirit of the Union Pacific”.
Here’s the U.P. #4141, the “George Bush 41” parked at the edge of the yard for all to see:
This locomotive is an Electro-Motive SD70ACe, and it was manufactured in Canada in June, 2005. Below is a close-up view of the cab. The Bush Presidential Library plaque is seen on the side of the hood.
The weather in this area has been terrible lately, with thunderstorms and such almost daily. But today we were rewarded with sun and beautiful blue skies . . . perfect weather for a bit of railfanning.
The 4141 was paired with another interesting locomotive, an SD70AH #1943, and it’s named “Spirit of the Union Pacific”. This locomotive pays tribute to our military.
And below is a close-up view of the rear of the 1943. Note the POW-MIA remembrance.
This pair of locomotives is indeed an impressive sight, and I’m thrilled that we were fortunate to see them. Even though the U.P. has published that the locomotives are touring their system for their employees to view, they were very hospitable to the crowd of “civilians” that encroached upon their property today.
Thawing the Air Pumps
It’s a frigid winter day in December of 1942 at the C&NW’s Proviso Yard in Chicago. Jack Delano spied these engine-men attempting to thaw the air pumps on their steamer. Burning a bit of cotton waste against them hopefully will do the trick.
New Meets the Old
One of those new newfangled diesels meets a steam locomotive at the Chicago Union Station. The time is January of 1943, and that modernistic train is the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy’s Denver Zephyr. This train ran between Chicago and Denver, with service commencing in 1936, and running until 1973. The route was 1,034 miles and the train generally covered the distance in 16 ~ 16-1/2 hours.
Photo by Jack Delano
C&NW Caboose #12432
Jack Delano has recorded a worker putting the finishing touches on a rebuilt C&NW caboose down at the rip tracks. The location is the Proviso yard in Chicago, Illinois, and the time is likely early 1943. Number 12432 has probably never looked better, and I’m sure it’s conductor is ready to move back in!
Washing the #3034
Jack Delano has ventured down to the locomotive servicing facilities to see what goes on there. And here we see Viola Sievers washing down the running gear of C&NW steamer #3034 at the end of its run. Washing the locomotives was not only for the pride of the fleet, but also so that the machine could be properly inspected for problems and defect.
With the war going, the manpower shortage created thousands of jobs for the women, and they stepped up to even the toughest and dirtiest jobs that had to be done.
