This morning in La Porte IN, going over the local overpass over NS, an eastbound train was solid John Deere Tractors on TTX flats. I have also seen JD combines/headers traveling east, solid train loads. Massey Ferguson Tractors also shipped by rail headed east. Question does anyone know if these are for export?

La Porte was once the Allis Chalmers farm implement factory. My father work over 35 years there putting together cotton pickers, combines, planters. Prior to farm implements in WWII and I believe the Korean conflict, Chalmers was a tank building plant. Remants of the proving track existed on Lake street up to a few years ago. As a teenager I remember taking midnight spins in 57 Chevys, 60 Fords and a certain 66 Malibu SS for spins around the test track. Off the subject, Chalmers would ship cotton pickers south on the PM/C&O line to Lacrosse IN to interchange with the PRR/C&O/Monon. I lived south of La Porte and can remember seeing the afternoon freight out of Dads kitchen windows with C&O BL-2's heading up the train, thumping across the Wabash line at Magee IN. The Wabash Gary-Montepelier line was 250 feet behind the house and I now live only to the west of Dad's on the same, now vacant ROW. Chalmers also interchanged with the NYC. JD tower in LaPorte, now long gone, controlled the diamonds of the NKP to the east of town and the C&O and the signals for all railroads. The NYC depot in La Porte is saved and is being restored for the Chamber of Commerce, along with the covered walk/way platform with the freight building/REA express. Alas Allis Chalmers, Rumely Oil Pulls were also built in La Porte, the plant is now a pile of scrap. The steam plant still is standing but not for long. The smoke stack was toppled a few years ago due to bricks falling off the top on to the local mall of stores close by. Chalmers has a steam whistle for shift changes, emergencys, curfew time, 10 PM during the week, 11 PM on weekends. What a sound it put out for everyone to hear, it was a sound of prosperity, jobs, and of course the dreaded curfew when you were "CATTIN THE DRAG" on Lincoln Way in La Porte Indiana.

Tom Travis HVRM Restoration

Reading Tom's message got me to wondering which (if any) museums have flat cars set up with farm equipment on them for display. Such a car would also be neat to run on "photo freights."

Les

I can’t comment about recent movements of John Deere Tractors or about specific export points, but I can give a little historical background on where the shipments originate. JD tractors are made in Waterloo, Iowa, although historically some smaller models were made in Dubuque. The Waterloo plant was switched by the Waterloo Cedar Falls and Northern. No WCF&N freight jacks survive, although a streetcar/interurban is preserved and operated in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. This car never served the line by the tractor plant, however, as much of that line was pulled-up years before the car came from Knoxville. Rail shipments were loaded at the plant, with most interchanged to the Illinois Central or Rock Island. The Chicago Great Western came within 200 yards of the John Deere plant, but it rarely got a load. Combines and implement production centered in the Quad Cities. The Oliver tractor plant in nearby Charles City was served by the Charles City Western, also a juice line. Steeple-cab CCW 300 is under restoration at IRM.

There has been great interest in recent years in the restoration of vintage tractors. The John Deere Pavilion in Moline has interesting displays and is now one of the most visited tourist attractions in Illinois. This prompted Caterpillar to build a similar company operated museum isoon to open in Peoria. It would be interesting to see a railroad museum display a flat car load of tractors. Does anyone display their cars under load?

Does anyone display their cars under load?[/quote]

The B&O Museum has a WM flatcar with a large electric generator aboard. The generator is historic as it came out of the Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie, the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States.