Engine No. 18 is cut off from the train on the main line to switch the house and industry tracks, including the W.W. Cargill elevator at Whitehall, Wisconsin.
This postcard view looking east shows a 4-4-0 locomotive with a cut
of cars on the "house track" -- a track which ran behind small
town depots and could be used to unload less-than-carload freight
directly into the depot without blocking the main line (although in this
case the main line is also blocked by freight cars!). The postcard
image by J. M. Colby is dated May 22, 1909. The dominant
structure on the skyline is the W.W. Cargill grain elevator; Cargill had
similar structures in other
locations along the railroad, coal docks
in Green Bay and was an investor in the 1890s extension of the Green
Bay Route to Lake Michigan. The original wood depot is visible in
the distance; it was replaced by a classic brick depot
in 1914 which still stands today. Steam locomotive GBW #18 was
originally built for predecessor railroad Green Bay & Minnesota in
1879. The 4-4-0 locomotive was extensively rebuilt in 1905.
Although the locomotive itself was scrapped in the late 1930s, the tender
lived on for a few more years behind engine #23, usually on the Waupaca
Branch. Whitehall was always an important location along the Green Bay
& Western - the westernmost operating division was named the
"Whitehall Division" and in the later years of steam
power Whitehall was the home to one of the railroad's three refueling
locations.
A big "thank you" goes out to Scott Janz
for sharing this and so many other photos on this web site!
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