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Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, Chicago & North Western Manly Iowa, September, 1974 Many of the photos that you see on Wx4 were generated during a Staff cross-country bicycle journey. Though we had chosen bicycles to railfan America (actually, the only transportation that we could afford), we certainly were not purists and weren't above accepting a ride if offered, as was the case one cool day in Iowa. As we sat under a tree waiting out a shower, up rolled a brand-spanking-new Rock Island maintenance-of-way hi-railer. Its two young inhabitants greeted us with smiles and asked us if we wanted a lift. Well, let's see: northern Iowa is far from flat from a cyclist's perspective; it's raining; we're working a strong headwind...
below: Manly yard lead track
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"Pretty good" was a relative term. While the branch lines were a pathetic sight, conditions at Manly merely bordered on pathetic. It was at about this time that , at another RI shop (just where, we no longer recall), a locomotive derailed while parked - the ties simply gave way and the rail rolled over. Manly looked like a plausible candidate for an encore. While most of us older employees endured rapid post-1980 retrenchment on our respective railroads, it must have been particularly tough and sad for the Rock people to come to work each day and watch their railroad slowly rot away around them. |
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earlier times
ilast addition: 1-1-20 |
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above: New Union Depot, ca.1910 - Wx4 collection below: Governor Alf Landon's Des Moines to Minneapolis Presidential campain train stop at Manly, 1936 - Acme photo |
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