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Re: Would container traffic have saved the Milwaukee Road?
Author: George Andrews
Date: 04-03-2013 - 20:56
I recall an article in The Milwaukee Railroader magazine a few years describing the RRs' efforts to raise the cantanery wire throughout the Electrified Districts of Lines West. This was in anticipation of Milwaukee Road hauling tri - level auto rack cars. The clearances in most of the tunnels was increased by lowering the floor, though some tunnels did have the wire hangers raised. Some tunnels did not require any modifications, a tribute to the modern construction. On a few bridges where the wire could not be raised ( mostly through truss bridges and a highway bridge or two ), the track speed was lowered to allow for the pantagraphs to squeeze down under them.
A funny side story concerning hauling Tri - levels under hot wire : The 1st few batches of autos arrived with a pile of ashes where the car radio used to be, as the radio antennas were not lowered before transit !!! OOPS...
Because of their greater overhead clearances The Milwaukee Road had the majority of the finished autos business into Seattle ( actually Kent),WA. for quite a few years. I don't know if the overhead clearances would had to have been raised again to allow for double - stack containers. Pulling the plug on Lines West Electrification in 1972 ( Coast Division ) and 1974 ( Rocky Mountain Division ) would have allowed for increased clearances by removing the trolley wire and cantanery supports. And yes, double - stacks would have been suspectible to cross winds while crossing the Columbia River @ Beverly, WA., just as piggyback trailers were. The Milwaukee installed an anameter on the bridge, wired into warning lights at Beverly (Westbound) and Boylston (Eastbound).
Whether The Milwaukee Road Lines West could have been saved by double - stacks is questionable to me, in light of the massive amount of money that would have been required to completely rebuild the track structure with or without the stacks. Remember also that double stacks really didn't take hold on the railroads until the late 1980's; too long to hang on for The Milwaukee Road I'm afraid.
A funny side story concerning hauling Tri - levels under hot wire : The 1st few batches of autos arrived with a pile of ashes where the car radio used to be, as the radio antennas were not lowered before transit !!! OOPS...
Because of their greater overhead clearances The Milwaukee Road had the majority of the finished autos business into Seattle ( actually Kent),WA. for quite a few years. I don't know if the overhead clearances would had to have been raised again to allow for double - stack containers. Pulling the plug on Lines West Electrification in 1972 ( Coast Division ) and 1974 ( Rocky Mountain Division ) would have allowed for increased clearances by removing the trolley wire and cantanery supports. And yes, double - stacks would have been suspectible to cross winds while crossing the Columbia River @ Beverly, WA., just as piggyback trailers were. The Milwaukee installed an anameter on the bridge, wired into warning lights at Beverly (Westbound) and Boylston (Eastbound).
Whether The Milwaukee Road Lines West could have been saved by double - stacks is questionable to me, in light of the massive amount of money that would have been required to completely rebuild the track structure with or without the stacks. Remember also that double stacks really didn't take hold on the railroads until the late 1980's; too long to hang on for The Milwaukee Road I'm afraid.
