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Soo Line Locomotive # 2719 pulls her train at Track Speed north of Lublin, Wisconsin, on Monday, May 22, 2000. She's headed for Spooner to pull excursions on selected weekends this summer. 06 |
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# 2719 rests near the depot in Ladysmith after her trip up from Owen. After successful excursions out of Chippewa Falls, she's headed north over rails that once saw Soo Line varnish between Chicago and Duluth-Superior. 07 |
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# 2719 pulls her train north past the depot. She will be backed down onto the Barron Sub for servicing before continuing north. 08 |
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# 2719 has uncoupled from her train and pulled forward to where she can be fed by the local Fire Department. The crew performs an oil-around and general inspection. 09 |
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Others have gathered to seeand photograph the spectacle presented by this beautifully restored Soo Line Passenger Steam engine. 10 |
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The crew is summoned for a group picture. 11 |
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...kinda like herdin' cats... 12 Left to right:
Gary Bensman (Diversified Rail Services),
Dennis Holmes (former WC Pilot, "Homer"),
David Peterson (Chairman L&TPF, and fireman from Stanley to Owen, Ladysmith to Hayward
Junction),
Randy Lambertus (President L&TPF, and fireman from Chippewa Falls to Stanley, Owen to Ladysmith,
and Greg our WC conductor.
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Finally! 13 Left to right:
John Terral, (owner of Ladysmith newspaper),
Mike Manwiller,
Gary Bensman,
Dennis Holmes,
Dave Peterson,
Fred Kappus,
Ken Ristow,
Randy Lambertus,
Greg the WC conductor. |
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Service completed, 2719 gets up to speed as she races north out of town. 14 |
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Here she comes! 15 |
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Beauty!!! 16 |
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Too bad all the cars aren't heavyweights. These first two lovelies belong to WGN. 17 |
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Look at them guys, lounging on the rail of the baggage car. Don't they have real jobs? 18 |
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There she goes. This is the last I'll see of her until we catch up on the Omaha Road (OK, Wisconsin Great Northern now). The entire consist is made up of WGN baggage car # 112, WGN coach # 32, CVRX coaches # 422, 426, 429, 425, 428, and 421, Wisconsin Central gondola # 54150, and CVRX caboose # 101. 19 |
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Here we are on Wisconsin Great Northern tracks. The big Pacific has pulled her train through Hayward Junction and started down the old Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha line bound for Spooner. 20 |
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The bridge between Spring Brook and Trego makes a handsome backdrop for 2719. 21 |
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Thanks to directions from Jason and Scotty, who are flagging the crossings for the WGN, I'm able to get some interesting shots. 22 |
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This track has probably not had any major maintenance since well before the Omaha Road called it quits. Still holds a good-sized locomotive, though, but not at the speeds we might like to see. 23 |
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At Trego Junction, 2719 sets out the first two cars of her consist. This is the former Omaha line to Superior. 24 |
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Back on her train of Chippewa Valley streamliners, 2719 makes a good bit of smoke as she heads southward again. 25 |
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It's probably been a long time since the smoke of a coal-fired steam engine belched into the air of north Spooner. 30 |
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If i'd been standing here 50 years ago, I'd have been run over by a train! 31 |
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WGN operate their excursions out of a building just north of the Spooner depot, which is now a very interesting museum. 33 |
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Hard to believe that all this green grass covers the old Omaha yard. 34 |
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Spotted for the evening, our Wisconsin Central pilot engineer, Dennis "Homer" Holmes, climbs down from the cab, looking for a ride home. 35 |
