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Omaha Road, The Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha by Stan Mailer
The Omaha Road Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha by Stan Mailer
Hard Cover w/Dust jacket
311 pages
Copyright 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface 7
Chapter 1. Wisconsin Logs and Grants9
Chapter 2. Gopher State Pioneer23
Chapter 3. Omaha in The Eighties 35
Chapter 4. Bayfield - Farthest North57
Chapter 5. Improving the Road85
Chapter 6. Duluth, Superior and Spooner99
Chapter 7. The Problem with Hudson Hill 125
Chapter 8. New Power, New Line, Old Line 135
Chapter 9. West Side Story 157
Chapter 10. Gray Matter 201
Chapter 11. To Park Falls 223
Chapter 12. The Weston Line 241
Chapter 13. To Hannibal and Hughey249
Chapter 14. Sturgeon River and the Fisherman257
Chapter 15. Finale 271
Acknowledgements294
Index 295
Lomomotive Roster 300
SIDEBARS
Daniel A. Baldwin 17
Mason Bogies on the Omaha30
Fairchild & North Eastern Railway 54
The Bibon Connection 74
Logging Roads Along the Omaha78
Omaha Ten-Wheelers 94
The Bonnie Doon 178
Small Power220
Superior & South Eastern Railway226
Loggers and Industry Along the Park Falls Line 232
Affiliated Company Power281
DUST JACKET INTRODUCTION
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway was part and parcel of Chicago & North Western's midwest empire. As country cousin, Omaha Road functioned in concert with C&NW's mainline across Wisconsin, and provided the northern reaches of the empire with access to Lake Superior ports before 1912, a highly competitive exercise. The prize included the historic St. Croix Land Grant, which was sought by aggressive and prominent lumber barons. The railroad contented itself with forest traffic.
The Omaha Road had its origins in West Wisconsin Railway, begun at Tomah, Wisconsin, at that time a springboard community to the northwest after the Civil War. In retrospect, the ten-mile pioneering Tomah-Warren's Mills stretch proved to be a difficult problem solved by legal action. Omaha had its heroes in lawyers and plain men. John C. Spooner defended the railroad and proved equal to the task. In the same framework, C.C. Washburn, Civil War hero, governor and ex State-of-Mainer, wasted little time in developing the flour mills of St. Anthony. As the Minneapolis flour mills gained worldwide prominence, grain became king in Minnesota, and the Omaha became a principal granger road dependent on the commerce.
Daniel Baldwin, entrepreneur of North Hudson, Wisconsin, saw to it that the West Wisconsin Railway came to his land beside the St. Croix River. Baldwin, J.B.G. Roberts and Spooner contributed to Omaha's story. The actual construction was bossed by Jacob Humbird, late of Brazil railroad-building. Humbird hailed from Cumberland, Maryland, and left his name in the Badger State.
The contemporary Omaha, at least in the steam era, ran modest trains and, in the end, carried pulpwood logs. There was the fast track through Augusta and Black River Falls, grounds for the Twin Cities 400 to perform at high speed. It was also Ten-Wheeler land, the wheel arrangement best suited for handling local traffic on remote branch lines, which often required heavy snowplows.
Come along for a trip back to the era of the Omaha Road. It's not so far!
In the summer of 1949, Stan Mailer and a friend visited Elroy, Wisconsin, where several Omaha Road passenger engines were being readied for their northward dash. While browsing among Omaha power at the roundhouse, they noted the on-time arrival of Train 508, double headed with two wiped and polished E Class Pacifies, easing up to Elroy's spacious wood depot. After that episode, Stan looked to C&NW's north country cousin for other clean engines, hard to find late in the steam era.
Another night in Elroy a new surprise appeared. An E-3 Class 4-6-2 built, according to the foreman, to handle heavy night trains. There were just three of the massive 600s, which were the largest Pacifies ever built. Struck by their modern design, Stan found the Omaha to be a more inviting study than plain old North Western.
Another Omaha Road adventure was a trip on the Fisherman, a special train to Drummond, Wisconsin, on the old Ashland Division. An odd assortment of standard weight coaches was deadheading to Drummond behind 1-2 Class 4-6-2 No. 384. A sympathetic engineer allowed Stan to ride the left-hand side of No. 384's spacious cab. Both engineer and engine were close to retirement, and both seemed to be savoring the final trip as No. 384 glided along. Soon, the engineer, locomotive, Fisherman special, and the Omaha itself would be gone.
Stan has been a rail aficionado covering north country subjects for 54 years. After his Wisconsin adventures, Mailer started on Canadian lines, which ran steam until 1960. Another friend organized a trip to New Brunswick, to hunt the last regularly scheduled operation of 4-4-0 power, courtesy of Canadian Pacific. After getting involved with the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, Stan returned to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for graduate work. Stan presently lives in Dallas, Texas.
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