The Cadillac & Lake City began as a tourist RR on a former PRR branch in Michigan, operating an 0-4-0T, a logging 2-8-2, and even leasing a CPR G5 4-6-2 from Steamtown for one season. It also had this little critter, probably of Plymouth origin.

http://algomacentral.railfan.net/images ... _MI_8-.jpg

After the Michigan operation quit, the RR moved, name and all (but minus the steam engines) to the former Rock Island Colorado Springs branch in Colorado, where they ran passenger and freight trains for a few more years, before that line was also torn out in the early 1990s.

C&LC 7 is a Whitcomb.

Not every "critter" is a Plymouth.

Hello All.

I just picked up a fair collection of C&LC postcards including two showing the 127(8) from Steamtown USA. Others show the mike and the tank engine

For the experts out there, what year(s) did the 127 run on the C&LC?

Also, on a recent AMTRAK trip, while passing through Galesburg IL, I saw a coach, painted blue, lettered for the C&LC which appears to have been recently re-painted, displayed near the CB&Q 4-6-4. Has this coach been added recently? Are there other pieces of C&LC eqipment nearby?

Dave Crosby

Dave,
Are you sure it was in Galesburg, IL? There is a former SP diner (Golden Trencher, maybe?) at the museum at Mendota, IL, where "Q" 2-8-2 #4978 is displayed. It was blue and lettered for C&LC. There is also a restored Milwaukee Road branchline combine at that facility.

Don C.

Dave,

The 127 was operated on the C&LC during the seasons of 1970 and 1971. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1971 and the locomotive was returned to Steamtown after that. I worked as the dining car steward those two seasons.

Alex

Now, the burning question is, does Dave Crosby's collection of Cadillac and Lake City post cards include the one of the AT&SF diner interior showing Alex as steward?

Alas, no interior postcards on the C&LC, but there is one with a crew member leaning out the doorway of the blue C&LC coach.

Now that I think about it, the blue C&LC coach was in Mendota alongside the station. Riding the CZ, it seemed like everytown had a Q steamer in reasonable condition. They all looked the same after a while.

Dave Crosby

I know exactly the postcard you are talking about, Aarne--I bought it at the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern RR a few years ago. Funny thing, the WK&S actually has some old C&LC postcards for sale in their gift shop. Evidently they bought the C&LC's remaining gift shop inventory back in the 1970s and still have some items for sale today.

Just saw the Polar Express movie this evening--whata flick! It's nice to see railway preservation receive some attention on the big screen. Especially liked the know-it-all kid who could recite the technical data on the 1225 from heart. Sounds like a number of posters on this board ;-) Since the film opened in November, has the Steam Railroading Institute received an upsurge in visitation or attention? Please share--I'm very curious.

If I have learned one thing from the film, make sure you keep extra cotter pins in the cab. You never know when that grapevine throttle might work loose. And Lord only knows what that crew would've done with a broken water glass ;-)

K.R. Bell

Kurt,

Know the card with GA Huff, bought it at the same place, along with a C&LC tool chit tag, which I use as a key ring for my switch keys.

Partner and I presently own ex ATSF 1550, which is a twin to the C&LC LC diner, that went to the Algoma, and reportedly got burned out. We hope to getting around to restoring it one of these years. Interior still has all of the aluminum Hopi decorations, never saw Amtrak.

Funny thing about getting all of this stuff from out in the hinterlands later in life--I grew up three miles due south from end of line of C&LC in Falmouth, Michigan. GA gave me my first extended Diesel ride with Joe Rogers as engineer on the Michigan Northern to get back to Calvin College in Grand Rapids (from home near Cadillac) back in 1978.

Steve Zuiderveen

[quote]Especially liked the know-it-all kid who could recite the technical data on the 1225 from heart. Sounds like a number of posters on this board ;-) Since the film opened in November, has the Steam Railroading Institute received an upsurge in visitation or attention? Please share--I'm very curious.

But did you notice the "know-it-all" kid got the builder wrong. He said the 1225 was built by Baldwin when any "foamer" worth his salt knows it came from the halls of Lima.

It's impossible to say if the "Polar Express" press notices caused an upturn in visitation to the Steam Railroading Institute, since there are no pre-movie figures to compare with. Our opening pretty much coincided with the movie. No doubt the movie P.R. jump-started our promotion, but the museum is only beginning to establish itself and it will take a while to see if we can do better than other small museums in out-of-the-way towns.

The big impact seemed to come from articles in the Detroit papers. These were the product of a very expensive press-agent contract. Articles got into all the regional papers, many of them very good articles. These seemed to be responsible for a lot of museum visits and the instantaneous sell-out of our 10 days of "Polar Express" trips at $55 for adults, $30 for kids, and $1,000 to hire the PM caboose to accommodate about 10 people. (This car had lain derelict for a long time, but now has a nice interior restoration with all the details, including kerosene lamps and coal stove. No tub of stew, though.) It was something of a shock to drive up to these excursion operations and see 220 to 280 paying customers streaming in. The fare also included about an hour and a half at an indoor ausement park and Christmas festival at a county fairgrounds.

I believe we anticipated and surfed the wave of P.R. pretty well. Note that it took some investment in P.R. on our part to fully exploit what the movie company was doing. Incidentally, the tender is presently lettered "Polar Express(TM)" with the permission of the movie company.

The last of these trips was run at 10 degrees F., a new adventure for us.

The full impact of the movie and these articles remains to be seen. The proprietor of the Owosso Taco House told me that when he travels and says he's from Owosso, people now respond with, "That's where the Polar Express is!" So maybe this has literally put us - and Owosso - on the map.

I'm told the movie writers knew it wasn't a Baldwin, but felt that "Lima" sounded too weird, like something having to do with beans.

If you read Aarne's posting previously he explains why the kid said Baldwin and not Lima. Beside, who cares! The general public isn't concerned and it's not worth losing sleep over. The 1225 is the prototype for the movie engine but the engine itself is not in the movie. So a little bit of artistic license isn't so bad. When one starts to nitpick over minutae it's time to step back, take a deep breath and say, "hey, it's not worth arguing about." Otherwise, it's time to get a life. Enough said.