Iowa Traction to Progressive Rail

o anderson · **Posted:** Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:42 pm

The following is relayed from the IowaInterurbandsAndStreetRailways group on yahoo.

Quote:

Iowa Traction Railroad to Iowa Traction Railway?? Yep thats right folks. Seems
that the take over is fast approaching.

Perhaps I should clue those in who dont already know. The Iowa Traction Railroad
is for sale. Seems the only ones who have the $$ is the Iowa Traction Railway,
well...thats the name of the new rr incorporated in IA to take over, but
actually it is Progressive Railroad in Lakeville, MN.
gage_rod

Quote:

Let me clarify a few things that I know.

I use these terms: 'electric' refers to a straight electric gathering power from
overhead. 'Non-electric' and 'diesel' can mean diesel-electric or anything else
not getting power from the overhead. Steam locomotives are non-electrics.

What has overhead remains an electric railroad. (I did tell the new manager
about the former Niagara Electric GE locomotives rotting in North Carolina.
They are more powerful; more like a geep. I do not know the capacity of the
substation nor the rules/contracts with Allient Energy; the power company.)

Any new spurs less than a mile will also be electric. Longer spurs are
optionally electric. The ethanol plant south of the UP crossing and currently
served by the UP has asked several time about a spur. When Dave quotes a price
and a minimum shipment (or pay anyway), they retreat. This spur would be very
long.

Acquired trackage, such as the old M&StL up to Spring Park, may be run with
non-electrics. The non-electrics have the right to run all the way to the UP or
CP interchanges. Dave would love to see an RS-1 painted in M&StL colors running
on this track. But the gap between the old M&StL interchange and the start of
this track is still owned by C&NW/UP and would give IATR access to the very
active and captive cement plants. (The M&StL had this lucrative business and is
one of the reasons C&NW wanted the M&StL.) C&NW/UP has ripped out all of the
track in this gap. It is not officially abandoned; the FRA could then order a
sale. If the gap is filled, it could be electric or non-electric.

So the railroad looks forward to a long life as an electric railroad. Warning:
I don't know what would happen if thieves stole the overhead or a tornado turned
it into knots. When I was there in October they were busy raising the last
portions of overhead that are under 22 feet.

The future is coming and it contains 600 volt electrics in Mason City.
Thorin

A member of the group questioned if Thorin can verify this last statement with knowledge about the contract, and no reply has been given as of yet.

Interesting things are happening in land of the last electric freight operation.
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/MasonCity/

David H. Hamley · **Joined:** Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:07 pm **Posts:** 705

A correction: Those GE electric locos in SC are from Canadian National's Montreal commuter operations, not Niagara Junction Ry. The only NJ motor to survive is in the hands of a preservation group in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area.

tomgears · **Posted:** Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:54 am

So does this mean the future of this electric railroad is firm for now? Expanding? I don't quite understand the post.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:29 am

David H. Hamley wrote:

A correction: Those GE electric locos in SC are from Canadian National's Montreal commuter operations, not Niagara Junction Ry. The only NJ motor to survive is in the hands of a preservation group in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area.

Ummm...... hold it?

I recall South Carolina RR Museum getting some ex-CN electric MU coaches, but certainly not a CN electric locomotive.

Unfortunately, there was a GE CN electric at the city of Mont Royal, which was supposed to go on static display but sat in a storage yard for over a decade before being scrapped mid-2011:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellergraham/4516805870/

There are still at least two more out there--one on display at Deus-Montagnes, Quebec and one at the Connecticut Trolley Museum. (I'm ignoring the one at the Canadian Railway Museum, which should stay there.)

Frank Hicks · **Posted:** Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:30 am

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

I recall South Carolina RR Museum getting some ex-CN electric MU coaches, but certainly not a CN electric locomotive.

My guess is that he's thinking of this:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=25426

CN had three of these rather modern electrics built by GE in 1950 and at least one or two of them ended up at Motive Power Industries in SC after the Montreal electrification quit. I thought that they had been scrapped but perhaps not.

Gord M · **Joined:** Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:51 pm **Posts:** 104

Frank Hicks wrote:

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

I recall South Carolina RR Museum getting some ex-CN electric MU coaches, but certainly not a CN electric locomotive.

My guess is that he's thinking of this:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=25426

CN had three of these rather modern electrics built by GE in 1950 and at least one or two of them ended up at Motive Power Industries in SC after the Montreal electrification quit. I thought that they had been scrapped but perhaps not.

It is also worth noting that all the CN Mount Royal Tunnel electrics were built for 2400 Volt DC, operation. CN later upped the voltage to 3000 VDC and the line has operated at 25KVAC since 1995.

Gord

JimBoylan · **Posted:** Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:06 pm

CN in Montreal was high voltage DC, probably 2,400 Volts. However, they did try to use some Butte, Anaconda & Pacific electric locos, which were a different high voltage, probably 1,500 Volts D.C.

tomgears · **Posted:** Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:35 pm

Equipment aside what is the deal with the continued operation of the electric railroad? Didn't they allow a tourist operation to run on their tracks at one time?

Jim Vaitkunas · **Posted:** Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:31 pm

Back in the late 1980s and into the 90s, a local Mason City group calling themselves the Iowa Trolley Park attempted to establish a museum and trolley ride on the western end of the Iowa Traction's Mason City to Clear Lake mainline. Their steel building carbarn is maybe 1/4 mile east of I-35 in the town of Clear Lake, Iowa. In late 1993 I drove up from Des Moines on a Saturday and took a ride on their North Shore Line car. It was slow because of less than ideal track but it was fun. Me and my son were the only two riders that afternoon because the weather was beastly.

The Iowa Trolley Park stopped running on the Iowa Traction's railroad soon after my visit and intended to build a short loop around their property. The loop never was completed and the group folded sometime in the late 1990s.

Today, SF Muni No. 1146 still sits on the east side of the steel barn building slowly rusting away. See photo.

A fellow name Stan Gentry now occupies the steel building and is using it to build a replica of the Virginia & Truckee Lyon 2-6-0 steam locomotive. See photo of the engine's frame with a wood mock-up boiler sitting on it. The tender is in the background.

Thanks!

filmteknik · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:08 pm

B. A. & P. was 2400 VDC.

Steve

electricrailwayman · **Joined:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:54 pm **Posts:** 1

Frank Hicks wrote:

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

I recall South Carolina RR Museum getting some ex-CN electric MU coaches, but certainly not a CN electric locomotive.

My guess is that he's thinking of this:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=25426

CN had three of these rather modern electrics built by GE in 1950 and at least one or two of them ended up at Motive Power Industries in SC after the Montreal electrification quit. I thought that they had been scrapped but perhaps not.

Two of the former 1950s vintage GE electric locomotives survive, rebuilt into diesel-electrics by Motive Power Industries. Actually the frames and trucks were kept, while the hoods, cabs, high voltage electrical equipment, air brake valves and traction motor/gears were removed, possibly scrapped. MPI added everything new above the frame. One loco operates near Roanoke, VA, while the other is employed by Tyson Foods, somewhere in SC? Not sure what happened to the third unit.

Ray

o anderson · **Posted:** Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:13 pm

According to IowaInterurbansandStreetRailways on yahoo groups:
The Iowa Traction Railroad is OUT and Iowa Traction Railway is now IN....

Quote:

Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:57 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"gage_rod" gage_rod
I'm posting in order to give heads up on the pending sale! Progressive Rail IS purchasing the Iowa Traction Railroad and will be operating it as the Iowa Traction Railway.

They filed with the STB last day of August. The closing on the sale will be last day of September. So...October 1st 2012 with be the 1st day of business for the Iowa Traction Railway.

It as taken 4years of back and forth from both sides of the table to get to this point but they are here and this will be either the end or a new beginning for the "last real electric railroad in the US"!!

Good, bad or otherwise it IS going to happen! So...stay tuned!?!

John Richards
Employee
Iowa Traction Railroad

Whether or not they operate with electrics, the historic infrastucture *should* remain, according to Mr. Richards...

Quote:

In the purchase agreement they have to keep the overhead up. If they do not wish to continue with electric operations then it is to be donated to a non-profit with trackage rights.

With the price of fuel, it seems that electric operations makes more sense.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/milantram/sets/72157621279069632/with/3710156722/

railfan261 · **Joined:** Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:30 pm **Posts:** 226

A member of a mailing list I'm on who works for PGR told the list when the news came out that PGR plans to keep the electric operations going.

JimBoylan · **Posted:** Sun Sep 16, 2012 8:45 pm

The Iowa Terminal - Mason City & Clear Lake single truck trolley snow sweeper 3, which had been involved with the Trolley Park, is now, after some complicated horse trades, running at Railways to Yesterday in Pennsylvania.
The corporate charter of the Mason City & Clear Lake has been saved and is now called Middletown & Hummelstown!

o anderson · **Posted:** Mon Aug 19, 2019 2:53 pm

Vandalism has hit the Iowa Trolley Park.

The latest sad story of museum vandalism, this group is suffering broken windows on depot and PCC, reported 8/18/19.
https://www.kimt.com/content/news/Iowa- ... 68041.html

(Post moved to this thread based on suggestions of others).