FORMER GBW RS-2’S ON THE ANN ARBOR $5.00 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 FRV INSIDE: THE HISTORY OF RS-2’S 301 & 303 ON THE ANNIE DRAWINGS FOR MOGUL #56 AND CABOOSE #605 THE GREEN BAY AND WESTERN Presidents Comments HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DENOTED BY *) Fellow GBWHS Members, I would like to thank all of those members, who have PRESIDENT * JESSE FAMEREE once again taken the opportunity to renew their [email protected] membership in the historical society with “Big Ability.” I CONTACT JESSE (920) 255-4456 would like to also take the opportunity to welcome you to Volume 3 of the Green Bay & Western Lines newsletter! VICE PRESIDENT* ANDY LAURENT This publication would not be possible without the hard [email protected] work of our Editor John Hagen and our Membership Director Randy Jacques. These two have done a SECRETARY* MARK MATHU tremendous job putting together this latest issue, and their [email protected] service to the society is greatly appreciated. In the coming year the GBWHS will be working hard to produce the long TREASURER* ROBERT HAINSTOCK awaited Standards Book, a project that would not be 158 HILL TOP DR. possible without the generosity of GBWHS board member GREEN BAY, WI 54301 Ross Rossier, Ross has lent many rare documents that will [email protected] be featured by the society in coming issues and special publications. The remainder of the board, Andy Laurent, BOARD MEMBER* CHRISTOPHER LEHNER Mark Mathu, and Bob Hainstock are credited with working [email protected] hard to produce yet another special run car for the Society and many ideas are being tossed around. Please contact BOARD MEMBER * ROSS ROSSIER Bob, Andy, Mark or myself with your thoughts on what kind 2900 CEDAR DR of car you would like to see produced out of those either PLOVER, WI 54467 commercially available or easily produced in a reasonable quantity. All our emails are on the masthead. I would like to GB&W LINES EDITOR * JOHN HAGEN thank Chris Lehner for his efforts with outreach to local 4017 S. SHANNON AVE., municipalities on the east end of the railroad. Chris assisted SAINT FRANCIS, WI 53235 two centennial committees in procuring the needed (414) 747-7532 information for their projects. Thanks Chris for representing [email protected] the society in its ongoing educational efforts. Finally, I would like to announce a special presentation MEMBERSHIP & ASST. EDITOR RANDY JACQUES Andy Laurent along with member Kevin Johnson and Mr. [email protected] Doug McGee are working on. Be sure to plan for the 2010 annual meeting as a DVD project will be previewed WEBSITE gbwhs.org featuring slides of the GBW taken from the “ROAMER” by the McGee Family. The DVD and a related booklet will be CONTACT US [email protected] available for purchase featuring these never before seen images, and let me be the first to say, you will be blown HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO GBW LINES away by the quality and the historical value of these Written material is best submitted by email or by USPS on images. Just looking at the picture of Luxemburg, I a disk. This does NOT mean that type or hand written observed at least 10 things I never knew existed, nor did material is not welcome, all material is welcome. Typed the others previewing this image!!! It is an annual meeting material can be scanned into an editable document. you do NOT want to MISS. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Should you chose to send a handwritten item, please GBWHS Yahoo Group. www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ remember that the editor (the old, weak-eyed, hunt and gbwhs or send me an email at [email protected] and I pecking editor) must key it into a document. Please keep can get you the needed information. Remember this is such material short and readable. YOUR society, make it great! Photographs, drawings, maps, etc. may be submitted -Jesse Fameree by email or disk. I can accept most formats but prefer tif or jpeg files. I can also use Photoshop (psd) or Corel Front Cover PHOTO-PAINT (cpt) and Acrobat (pdf) files. Use as high a Inset: RS-2s 301 and 303 lead a Michigan Interstate resolution as you can, keeping file size in mind. The higher Railway southbound at SAN switch, September 7, 1980. the resolution the better the reproduction in print will be. Bill Clynes Photo Use at least 150 if possible. Please refrain from using bitmaps as they are huge and not easily edited. You may Top: #251 has just been renumbered from #51 on July 25, send the original photos or other item to me for scanning 1937, and bears the new Green Bay Route herald. Photo: and I will return them using my stamp. If you have Roy Campbell Collection, courtesy Merrill Publishing questions on format or anything else regarding material you wish to submit contact me by email, phone, letter, Bottom: GB&W Caboose #605 as it would have looked smoke signal or whatever and I will be happy to assist after it received its new underframe in 1949. you. -John Hagen, Editor Original Computer Drawing by John Hagen Page 2 GREEN BAY AND WESTERN LINES ANNIE’S MICHIGAN INTERSTATE ALCO RS-2 LOCOMOTIVES HUGH HORNSTEIN THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE “DOUBLE A” NEWSLETTER OF THE ANN ARBOR RAILROAD TECHNICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESENTED HERE WITH THEIR PERMISSION INTRODUCTION Our interest here is with the four RS-2s, two of which were to come to the Annie. The Green Bay numbered their RS-2 By 1979, the Michigan Interstate Railway Company units 301 through 304 (builder’s numbers were, was in its second year of operating the bankrupt Ann Arbor respectively, 77914 through 77917.) As a result of these Railroad. Traffic was growing, and the company began a acquisitions, all steam was off the roster by 1952. search for more power. The road enjoyed good luck with Fast forward twenty-five years. By the late seventies, its RS-1 locomotives from Alco, but these units were the Green Bay Route was well into second generation relatively light and produced only 1000 horsepower. power and many of the earlier units were past their prime. Management felt the RS-2 at 1500 horsepower or the RS- The road began selling the early units, if possible, or 3 at 1600 horsepower would serve the road better than scrapping them. additional RS-1s. While a fair number of RS-1 units were available in the used locomotive market by this time, far THE MICHIGAN INTERSTATE ERA fewer RS-2s and RS-3s were for sale. Fortunately for the The 1960s and 1970s were decades of rapid and Michigan Interstate, the Green Bay and Western was in radical changes in the railroad industry. Merger mania the process of acquiring a fleet of secondhand 2400 swept the industry as it struggled to survive. Many of the horsepower Century 424 units from several eastern smaller roads either fell under the control of larger roads or railroads for its increased traffic demands and was parting were abandoned. The Ann Arbor was not immune to the with its RS-2 fleet. changes in the industry. After years of ownership by the THE GREEN BAY AND WESTERN RS-2S Wabash Railroad, itself largely owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Annie was sold to the Detroit, Toledo and During the steam era, the Green Bay and Western had Ironton. The reason for the sale was that the Pennsylvania repeatedly gone to Alco for its steam locomotives, and so and the New York Central were merging to become the as the line began replacing its steamers, it was logical that Penn Central, but the Interstate Commerce Commission it should return to Alco for the company’s diesels. In would not allow the Wabash to become part of Penn October of 1938, the Green Bay and Western purchased Central. The Norfolk and Western wanted the Wabash its first diesel, a 600 horsepower Alco HH-600 (BN: with its traffic and routes but it did not want the Annie. 69085), numbering it 101. Finding it to their liking, in Thus, the Wabash was sold to the Norfolk and Western, January of 1941 the railroad again turned to Alco for the and the Annie was unloaded onto the Detroit, Toledo and purchase of an S-1 (BN: 69403), another 600 horsepower Ironton. unit, for their subsidiary Kewaunee, Green Bay and Annie’s Upper Peninsula subsidiary, the Manistique Western; its number was to be 103. and Lake Superior, was abandoned in 1968. Two years Although both Stan Mailer’s and Ray and Ellen Specht’s later, the Interstate Commerce Commission allowed the histories of the Green Bay and Western are silent on the Annie to discontinue her Frankfort to Menominee carferry route. In 1973 the Ann Arbor declared bankruptcy, and on matter, it would appear that the railroad sought another S-1 April 1, 1976, the company ceased to exist. Conrail, the for itself and had set aside the number ‘102’ for that unit. successor to the Penn Central, took over operation of the Unfortunately, the conflicts in Europe and Asia increasingly property on that date. The State of Michigan then involved the United States, and the demands of the military purchased the railroad, lock, stock and barrel (or track, for railroad power prevented the Green Bay and Western cars and locomotives, if you will) from the Detroit, Toledo from receiving their 102 until after the war was over. and Ironton and arranged for it to be operated by the World War II both “proved” the advantages of the diesel Michigan Interstate Railway Company under lease.