Hiawatha at 81

Here are those pictures of the Olympian Hiawatha lounge ashtray. It seems someone painted over the chrome on the base with silver paint . I haven't scraped it all off .. I did a few small scrapes on the base & post and they are chrome under the paint.

RoyBoy posted:

As a kid, we would take the city bus to downtown Minneapolis to use the new library. Seeing the solarium cars backed into the Milwaukee's sandstone stub terminal permanently etched the Milwaukee Road onto my memory banks. Repairing a playmate's prewar 250E sealed the deal and made it my favorite railroad.

Coincidentally, I happened to be in Minneapolis weekend before last and went down for a visit to the old terminal. Here are a few shots. Among other things, there was a nice collection of several dozen original Milwaukee Road advertising posters framed and displayed on walls inside, along with a number of cabinets filled with memorabilia on display. The train sheds have been converted to event space, but note the receptacles (whatever they're called) to exhaust the steam engine smoke (I assumed that's what they are) are still in place in the ceiling.

Southern Crescent 2 posted:

Here are those pictures of the Olympian Hiawatha lounge ashtray. It seems someone painted over the chrome on the base with silver paint . I haven't scraped it all off .. I did a few small scrapes on the base & post and they are chrome under the paint.

Wow, that sure is a great collection piece of the famous RR.  What a nice find for you'...

They don't make them like that anymore'...

That ashtray looks just like the ones in the restored Skytop that runs behind the 261. I haven't ridden it, but I got a walk-through tour during a Brooks Stevens retrospective at the Milwaukee Art Museum several years ago. 

Nice ashtray, what a great find. Enjoy.

breezinup posted:

Coincidentally, I happened to be in Minneapolis weekend before last and went down for a visit to the old terminal. Here are a few shots. Among other things, there was a nice collection of several dozen original Milwaukee Road advertising posters framed and displayed on walls inside, along with a number of cabinets filled with memorabilia on display. The train sheds have been converted to event space, but note the receptacles (whatever they're called) to exhaust the steam engine smoke (I assumed that's what they are) are still in place in the ceiling.

 

The "receptacles" are called smoke jacks.  I presume that the tables under the receptacles constitute the smoking section...

Nice find...Smoke stands in service.

Loving this thread! God, we need GGD to make some Hiawatha passenger cars!

Southern Crescent 2 posted:

Here are those pictures of the Olympian Hiawatha lounge ashtray. It seems someone painted over the chrome on the base with silver paint . I haven't scraped it all off .. I did a few small scrapes on the base & post and they are chrome under the paint.

What a glorious example of "Art Moderne"!  Once upon a time details mattered.

Is there a primer or a list of the different Milwaukee road liveries and vintages somewhere? I have been wondering about this for some time. It would be nice to know what available liveries are:

-from what years, introduction to phase out

-freight vs passenger

-what ones are contemporary with each other

-what ones are fantasy

-what ones are equipment or locomotive specific

breezinup posted:

RoyBoy posted:

As a kid, we would take the city bus to downtown Minneapolis to use the new library. Seeing the solarium cars backed into the Milwaukee's sandstone stub terminal permanently etched the Milwaukee Road onto my memory banks. Repairing a playmate's prewar 250E sealed the deal and made it my favorite railroad.

Coincidentally, I happened to be in Minneapolis weekend before last and went down for a visit to the old terminal. Here are a few shots. Among other things, there was a nice collection of several dozen original Milwaukee Road advertising posters framed and displayed on walls inside, along with a number of cabinets filled with memorabilia on display. The train sheds have been converted to event space, but note the receptacles (whatever they're called) to exhaust the steam engine smoke (I assumed that's what they are) are still in place in the ceiling.

 

Beautiful! Great pictures! I never got inside the place as a kid.

So glad they saved it. When I lived there, it seemed like everything old was targeted for the wrecking ball and no one cared for any of the beautiful old buildings downtown. I actually watched buildings being demolished by a wrecking ball.

Sand blasting and saving the sandstone courthouse was a turning point, it seems. It went from coal black to a lovely rose/tan color.

Great thread and thanks for sharing. I have seen a few images that I have not seen before.

Thanks everyone.

Charlie

SANTIAGOP23 posted:

Loving this thread! God, we need GGD to make some Hiawatha passenger cars!

WOW', these are beautiful Locos!*

Are they Erie Built's or C-Liners.  Never saw these before in O G/Scale.

What brand are they?  Or did you custom paint them yourself?

The locomotives in the photos are EMD E-6. The models are by Lionel. I have a set. They are decent runners but kind of fragile. 

The Erie Built was boxy-looking. It used a modified Alco PA body shell. The C-Liner resembled an F-unit and was mainly a freight locomotive, although there was a passenger version (I think). 

I have a photo of the passenger version.  I'll see if I can pull it of my other PC and post it here..

It's a small pix.  But I think it is a C-Liner with a passenger consist'...BTW.  Great Lionel set'..I wish MTH would have offered a Milwaukee Road paint scheme on the C-Liners they came out with in 2015. 

Here's another version, the Standard Gauge Hiawatha made by JAD Lines

According to Jim Scribbins' book "The Hiawatha Story," no C-Liners pulled Hiawatha trains. The Milwaukee Road did have a few C-Liners, but they were all CFA-16-4 lead units, not the CPA-24-5 passenger locomotives.

Quarter Gauger 48 posted:

SANTIAGOP23 posted:

Loving this thread! God, we need GGD to make some Hiawatha passenger cars!

---

WOW', these are beautiful Locos!*

 

Are they Erie Built's or C-Liners.  Never saw these before in O G/Scale.

What brand are they?  Or did you custom paint them yourself?

Thank you, buddy! The models are in fact Key Model Imports, 2 rail O scale! Factory painted and a joy to watch. 

OMI put out some fantastic looking Hiawatha Erie builts in the 90's, too bad I was merely a teenager back then. 

    C- liner ?

Quarter Gauger 48 posted:

    C- liner ?

No, Erie Built. 

SANTIAGOP23 posted:

Thank you, buddy! The models are in fact Key Model Imports, 2 rail O scale! Factory painted and a joy to watch. 

Thank you, buddy! The models are in fact Key Model Imports, 2 rail O scale! Factory painted and a joy to watch. 

OMI put out some fantastic looking Hiawatha Erie builts in the 90's, too bad I was merely a teenager back then. 

Thanks. I assumed they were Lionel, didn't know Key had made them. Key Models are a little out of my league pricewise, not to mention that I don't have the room for the curves you need on a 2-rail layout! Those are some beautiful models. Nice custom paint job.