Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Monday, January 30, 2023

2012 Timeline Of The Line To Royal City

Guest post by Lauren Scrafford.

The BN operated the Royal Slope as part of the Portland Division, 10th sub branch line Warden to Royal City until the sale of the line to Temple Industries Washington Central RR in late 1986. It was not operated at first until 1982 after the Milwaukee abandonment and sale of properties, though there was residual operations of the line after the Milwaukee shut down. The line from Warden to Othello originally was the 21st sub of the Portland Division of the BN. The Port of Royal Slope had purchased the main line from Othello to the Junction and out to Industrial Park from the Milwaukee for $300,000 and then spent a lot more money rehabilitating the line.

Washington Central operated the line for a period of time after 1986, but eventually refused to serve the line anymore due to lack of traffic. Somewhere I have the figures but there were only about 100-200 car loads most years and if I remember correctly the last year Washington Central handled the traffic there were only 51 car loads.

The Port brought in Yakima Valley or Toppenish, Simcoe and Western to operate the line, which they did for a couple of years. I think the last year they handled 9 car loads.

In 1994 the Port sold the line to the Washington State DOT. Sunfresh bought the former US Army MRS 1 from Toppenish, Simcoe and Western in 1993. I think the last car loads shipped were in 1991.

Sunday, January 29, 2023

2013 Taunton Area Update

Photos by Eric Swinger.

May 2013

Eric says:

"I visited the Taunton Substation this past weekend and discovered two interesting things. First, I met the owner, who is understandable irate about people trespassing and destroying his property. However, he was ultimately kind and allowed us to continue on to photograph it. He's gruff, but I think a pretty nice guy.

"Second, we noticed that they were replacing railroad ties under almost all of the joints. They were also regaging the track over a few wash outs. We saw equipment at the crossing near Taunton and also at the crossing along Crap Creek Road (where it turns north to Royal City)."














Saturday, January 28, 2023

Last Run Of The PCC On The CW?

Guest post by Leland Weiss. 

See his work and photos over at Lost Rail

Here are a few shots of the last PCC operation. This was their first train out on the line after the pseudo-embargo in summer 2006 (if I recall correctly). The first image I'm pretty sure is Hite, the other two are west of there but I'm not completely clear on where. 

There is an interesting story to the photos. I was still in school at WSU and the Watco had embargoed the line out to Coulee City. They even had cars stored on the east end of the line with seemingly no intent to serve any of the elevators. I believe this was at the start of their conflicts with the state of WA, trying to get money to fund repairs to some of their lines. I was under the impression at the time that they were basically holding this line hostage and were claiming that there were no active shippers on the line.

Then, one of the elevators actually ordered up some cars and BNSF spotted them in Cheney. So Watco cleaned out the storage cars and ran this train west out along the line. The farmers were happy to see it back again as I recall. To them, the grain trains were an important part of the harvest and had been missing up to that point.

As they went west, they ended up flagging the occasional crossing (Davenport comes to mind)
as they had deactivated some of the highway flashers.

Well, from there, the state contracted with EWG and the line has been in operation ever since.





Friday, January 27, 2023

Fred "Blackie" Moser Obit

Blackie was my neighbor after he moved to Ephrata after retirement.


BIRTH-10 Oct 1931

Everett, Snohomish County, Washington

DEATH-11 Nov 2013 (aged 82)

Ephrata, Grant County, Washington


Eulogy by VWB Pete Peterson, District Deputy of the Grand Master, District 28

FRED T. “BLACKIE” MOSER

We are here to Honor and remember our friend

Blackie Moser…Husband, Brother, Father, Grandfather, mentor & teacher.


Blackie was born October 10th 1931 in Everett

Washington. He passed on November 11th 2013 here in Ephrata.


He was preceded in death by his wife Barbara of

29 years, a son Michiel and a granddaughter

Mariah. He was survived by the second love of his

life, Norma Burleson, and by children Dennis

Meyers (Karen), Timothy Meyers (Theresa), Misty

Noel (Michael) and Deana Moser (Dale). He was

blessed with 8 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.


He was a Mason with 57 years, 11 months and 3

days in the craft. He belonged to Skykomish Lodge

#259, Ephrata Lodge #167 and Thomas M. Reed Lodge

#225 after they consolidated with Occidental Lodge #72.


At the time of his passing to that Celestial

Lodge, that house not made with hands, he was a

Past Master of two Lodges having previously

served in several positions within those Lodges,

Past District Deputy of the Grand Master in

District #28 and Senior Grand Deacon of the Most

Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted

Masons of Washington. He was also a member of the

Photography Committee for Grand Lodge. He was a Man who lived Masonry.


He was also heavily involved in the Order of

Eastern Star for over 52 years. He had belonged

to Occidental Chapter #28, Pyramid Chapter #257

of which he was twice a Past Patron, and Oasis

Chapter #191 of which he was Associate Patron at the time of his passing.


He was a member of the Central Washington Amateur

Radio Club, having been a Ham Radio Operator for

more than 50 years. He served as President of the

club in 2012-13. He was usually found on Tuesdays

and Thursdays at Time Out Pizza here in

Ephrata sharing the company of the Romeo’s

(retired old men eating out) and talking about

Ham Radio and other topics. Don’t get me wrong,

there are women at these informal

get-togethers…usually female Hams, but not always.


He was also active in the Sassy Sams, an RV group

that also included many of the Hams in their

number. He was the cook on Sunday

mornings…serving blueberry pancakes, eggs and

bacon. I will definitely miss those breakfasts.


He was also a member of the Basin Carriage Club

where he served as President and Board Member.

His antique cars, a Hudson and a Ford Model T were his pride and joys.


He could usually be found of a Thursday evening

at the Hot Rod Garage enjoying the company of

Mick Qualls and company taking part in the lively

discussions regarding issues relating to Grant

County and its future. He even had his own chair

in the room…a fact I only discovered recently at a Toast in his Honor.


These are some of the statistics of his life, but

they only begin to tell the story of this incredible man.


The following song may well express Blackie’s

outlook on life. The words are taken from the Old

Testament Book Ecclesiastics and put to music by

Pete Seeger. This version was sung by the Byrds.

I’m sure you will recognize it. (Turn, Turn, Turn)


I met Blackie at an Eastern Star meeting sometime

in 2006. He and Norma had sold his house in Lake

Havasu and moved to Ephrata to be near Norma’s

family. I remember being immensely impressed by

the man and by the love the two of them shared.

Over time, we became much better acquainted and

even started to share our souls to each other. I

for one am not generally inclined to do this.

But, such was the character of this man that I

found myself opening up and sharing my life

willingly with him and he with me.


He was elected to become Worshipful Master of

Ephrata Lodge #167 at which time the Brothers of

Skykomish Lodge #259 came over to install him.

That was my first acquaintance with Skykomish

Lodge and I was so impressed with those Brothers

that I knew I needed to join with them. I have

been a Mason for 43 years and this is the only

time I have felt compelled to belong to another

Lodge besides Ephrata. I have never regretted it.

They took me in and made me a part of that

special group of Brothers. I have Blackie to thank for that!


The drives to and from Skykomish and later other

parts of the state, provided the time to really

share with this great and good man. I learned a

great deal about him and his life. In telling the

stories, he taught me a lot about himself and his

philosophy. There was much to think about.


First and foremost, Blackie was Cherokee! He was

quite young when he was sent to live with his

paternal Grandmother in Oklahoma. What a

wonderful woman she must have been. His father

and mother were having difficulties and his

grandmother took him in and provided stability in

his life when he sorely needed it. I remember

Blackie telling me that she would send him to the

White church one week and to the Cherokee

teachings the next so that he would have the

necessary foundations to decide for himself which

way he wanted to follow. He opted for the

Cherokee Way, because to him, it was a kinder way to live.


His Grandmother passed when he was twelve. The

Whites wanted to place him in an Orphanage or

with a White family to try to turn him into their

conception of what he should be. This was common

in those days as the Whites were intent on

turning the Indians or Native Americans as is

politically correct now, into Whites. The

children were sent to Indian Schools, forbidden

to speak their native language and forced to

adopt the White ways. The Cherokee, Navaho and

other tribes were forced into this regime with great harm done to both sides.


Blackie rebelled and hopped a train to the

Northwest to try and find his father, Fred F.

Moser who worked for the Great Northern

Railway. I believe that he arrived in the

Auburn/Seattle area where he was discovered by

one of the employees of the Great Northern

Railroad. He was questioned by this man who then

discovered whom he was looking for. The man told

him to wait right there. Shortly thereafter the

man returned with his father who happened to be

at this train yard that day. There began

Blackie’s lifelong relationship with the

railroad. Some things are just fated! This was obviously one of them.


He and his father became much closer then. I

remember Blackie telling me of his time in

Everett. Because he was Indian, he suffered much

torment from the other kids. I took it that a few

fights ensued and his life was a living hell. But

still he persevered. Learning had become a beacon

for him…a way to express himself. Blackie was a

very intelligent man whose quest for knowledge

was a driving force in his life.


I know that he and his father lived in Skykomish

while his father worked for the Great Northern

there. It was one of the highlights of Blackie’s

life. Blackie also went to work for Great

Northern, eventually becoming the lead engineer in that district.


One time, Blackie and his father went elk

hunting. The terrain was very steep and they

hiked in quite far. Blackie spotted a bull and

was about to shoot it when his father said “Shoot

him if you want Buckie, but we’ll have to eat him here”.


Somewhere in this time, he won a scholarship

provided by the Great Northern to go to Princeton

to study Mechanical Engineering. He got his

degree and obtained his certification as a Professional Mechanical Engineer.


He worked for the Alaskan Railroad for a time

before going into the Army and the Korean

conflict. He drove trains for the Army at this

time. Blackie was probably at his best in the cab of a locomotive.


One night, he was driving one of those trains

when North Koreans infiltrated a fuel dump and

set it on fire. Vern Corkins happened to be on a

ship in the harbor when the barrels of fuel

exploded while Blackie was driving the train

though that area. It was definitely a memorable

time. It was only many years later that they

discovered their proximity to each other at that time.


Blackie returned to the states and joined the

Northern Pacific driving trains until their

merger with Burlington Railways in 1995. That

relationship became untenable and Blackie

retired. He then worked for the Mount Rainier

Railway until his final retirement.


Blackie grew up in the steam era, first with

coal-fired and then with oil fired steam engines

and only later with diesels. Steam, I think, was his first love.

Not only an Engineer, but a machinist as well, he

made several steam whistles for friends and if I

could find one of them, I would love to have one.

The music of those whistles invades you soul and lives there forever.


He would set up dipole antennas when staying in

motels overnight so that he could communicate

with the world while traveling with the railroad.

His tales are one of the reasons I am now an

Amateur Radio Operator. He was an inspiration to

others. I am one of those others.


He loved Astronomy and wanted to pass on that

love to others. Skykomish High School had an

Astronomy class but no telescope. Blackie gave

his old telescope to the school when he purchased

a new one. He was that kind of man.


Blackie was a very passionate man. The death of

Barbara nearly killed him. If it hadn’t been for

the support of his Eastern Star Sisters and

Brothers and his Masonic Brothers, he would have

likely, by his own admission, embalmed himself in

alcohol. But, eventually, he found solace in

Norma. Blackie and Norma’s husband Doyel had

worked together for many years…the two couple had

known each other and been friends for a very long

time. Doyel passed in February and Barbara in

June of 1993. It took a while, but they finally

came together and found a love to sustain

themselves through the rest of their lives.


Remember that Blackie was Cherokee. Women are

highly revered in their culture. Women own the

land. A man will build her a house and protect

her, but when she places his moccasins outside

the door of that house, they are divorced. Thank

you Norma for keeping his moccasins within your home.


There are two men who have been major forces in

my life…my own father and Blackie Moser. I honor

them both and regret their passing.


I think Blackie knew that his time on this earth

was short. One Thursday evening about nine months

before his passing, he shared the following poem

with the folks at the Hot Rod Garage. The poem is

from the Makah tribe, but could easily have been written by Blackie himself.


I give you this one thought to keep -

I am with you still - I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awake in the morning's hush

I am the swift, uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone -

I am with you still - in each new dawn.


This is Blackie Moser K7FTM over and out.



Thursday, January 26, 2023

New Life For An Old Locomotive

Newsletter courtesy of Bill Virgin. 

January 2012

Bill had reached out to me to use my photo of the 557, which I quickly granted in exchange for a copy of the newsletter. 

I don't know when the newsletter was discontinued, but a casual search of the interwebs didn't turn up anything, other than  Mr. Virgin passing in 2020.




Wednesday, January 25, 2023

NP Doodlebug Near Deep Creek

Thanks to Mike Denuty for digging this one up somewhere.

1951 timeframe.



Monday, January 23, 2023

16th Anniversary Of This Website

Today is the 16th year "of occasionally posting my findings of ferroequinarcheology."

That first post in 2008 wasn't much more than the above sentence. Since then I've concluded this is my online filing cabinet, and you all get to rummage through as you see fit.

Thanks for everyone's contributions. There are too many names to properly list them all, but you all are important.

THANK YOU!!



Sunday, January 22, 2023

Dedicating The Royal Road To Prosperity

Courtesy of Michael Sol.

From the July-August 1967 "The Milwaukee Road Magazine."








Friday, January 20, 2023

Life In Smyrna

    Guest post by Dave Morgan.

    In the 1950's and 60's my folks owned the store and post office at Smyrna, having acquired it from F. G. Charbourne. The store was normally open only a couple of hours a day, but the folks would open it any time someone showed up, as it was across the road from the section house. It was on the south side of the road, and the old school was just west of it, and had a teachers cottage. Both the school and cottage still exist, and the cottage has been continuously occupied since then. Just west of the school, Bill Underhill had a small farm, about 15 acres, and was well known for the cantaloupe produced there.

    Bill Underhill worked also at the school, as a janitor keeping it clean, and also operating the coal stove in the basement to keep it warm in winter. He also was the person who took the mail, after it was bagged, down to the depot for pickup by the passenger train. He would pick up the mail the train dropped off, and deliver it to the post office the next morning. I remember this as always happening at night, so the mail was probably carried by trains 17 and 18, as they went by in the middle of the night.

    My mother in law now owns the property where Bill Underhill lived. The section house was torn down by Jim Booher, who by the late 60's had bought Nate Lewis's farm, and was living there. The old store still exists, but has been move about half a mile west, and now sits up against the base of the hill.

    Since there were no telephones until some time in the 50's, the store was the local gathering place for people to meet and catch up on the latest news and gossip. Dad commonly kept a running bill on a little IOU type pad for many of the local families, and they would pay periodically. Some had keys to the store, such is the Shrum and Chadbourne families. They might sometimes go to the store for food items when it was closed, and add it to their bills themselves.
     
    Trains 15 and 16 did not stop at Smyrna, but 17 and 18 would if there was someone to get on or off. People who arrived in the by train in the middle of the night would commonly come into the section house and go to sleep downstairs on the couch until morning. In the morning dad would go downstairs and find out who had arrived, if we did not already know who was coming.

    The school at Smyrna only went to grade 8, kids in high school had to board out to other locations to go to high school. I was the first in my family that did not have to do that in Smyrna. So my older brothers and sister, and the Chadbourne girls, had to go elsewhere to high school. The community was of course small, and everyone knew everyone. When the kids would write home from high school, it was pretty common to just address the letter to "Mom, Smyrna, WA". Mom, who was the postmaster, knew the kids handwriting, so knew whose box to put the letter in. Such was life back then.

    Another thing I wanted to mention, but forgot to write, was another job Bill Underhill had. When the school was closed at Corfu, then the kids from that area were bussed to the Smyrna school. Bill Underhill also was the bus driver. Then one year they closed the school at Smyrna, as there were only 4 students. I was in the 4th grade, and that year we all went to school at Beverly. Then in the 5th grade, with irrigation coming to Royal Slope, the population began to pick up again, and the school in Smyrna opened again. Work began on a larger grade school in Royal City, and that opened part way through the year I was in 7th grade. That closed the schools that had been operating in Smyrna and Royal Camp. I don't remember about Beverly. There was still no high school, but kids from the school district were taken by bus to Othello, in neighboring Adams county.

    I will tell how my parents came to acquire the Smyrna store and post office. It was owned by Forrie and Florence Chadbourne. They were at the house one evening playing bridge, and Forrie mentioned he wanted to sell the store. Dad inquired about how much he wanted for it, and then what sort of down payment. Forrie said he wanted $8 down payment. Dad thought he was kidding, and went and got $8 and gave it to Forrie. But Forrie was not kidding, kept that $8, and the folks quickly came to realize they now were the new owners!

    One time dad was working in a RR cut on the track between Smyrna and Beverly. In one day they killed 13 rattlesnakes. He had bad dreams about them that night.

    Then mom used to tell about Neil when he was young. He came back to the house from the store across the road, and had a dead rattlesnake with him. Mom asked him how he killed it, and he said he jumped on it. That would be typical Neil. When he was working the extra board out of Othello, he caught snakes and milked the poison to sell. One time one of them got loose in his car, and he did not know it. He was parked downtown, and gone getting lunch or something. The snake climbed up where people could see it, and the police got involved. He got instructed that he should not be bringing rattlesnakes into town.

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Working at Wheeler In The 1960s

Story by Gary Dinsmore, as a response to this from Mac McCulloch:

"I have a 1968 Idaho Division train brief off Dan Bolyard's website about the Wheeler Turnaround Local, train 1234-1235 between Pasco and Adrian. The brief includes statement "This train supplemented during beet and potato harvest with road switcher at Wheeler and Turnabound local Pasco to Connell."

"Does anyone know anything about the seasonal road switcher at Wheeler? I suspect this job went to Adrian in season to deliver empty cars and get loads of beets from GN at Adrian. Can anyone confirm? Anyone know official or unofficial name of this assignment in the 1960's?

" I intend to use info for a sentance or two in a book John Langlot and I are writing about the GN in the 1960's and his career. John worked the GN beet local for at least one stand in the 1960's."

 

Gary replied:

I arrived in Wheeler WA on September 25, 1963. Here is a link to a news paper account of a big explosion there.

Edited link to what Gary initially sent, as his was a dead link now.

I was filling a temporary position as Operator for the fall sugar beet harvest that was about to start. Before the day was over my job had been eliminated and reinstated by Mr. Westine, the train master. The reason it was reinstated was the U&I officials declared that they would open as usual. However, there would be no sugar storage facilities, and every ton of sugar produced would be loaded and shipped within about 24 hours.

There were at least two ramifications. One the sugar loading tracks needed to be switched at more frequent intervals, so a 16 hour seven day a week switcher job was created. The crew actually worked 15 hours and took "beans" at the end of their shift. It was an extremely popular job. The crews could fill their time cards for the month in just a few days and then take the rest of the month off. We saw mostly the top of the seniority list.

The beet car trains moved according to need and were a daily occurrence. That may well have been your Wheeler to Connell turn around local. I know at least on one occasion I rode the caboose to Connell and back. This became a source of embarrassment for me. This train set out empty beet cars at each siding. At one such stop I was in the cupola watching the activity on the ground. The brakes were releasing and I was listening for the slack. I heard it coming, ripping down the train and I ducked back inside. I wasn't quite fast enough and the window frame snicked my glasses and sent them spinning out of the window onto the ground. I quickly wrote down the number of the beet car adjacent to the location, and next morning I sent a note to the agent and asked him to search the ground nearby. The local that evening brought me an envelope with my glasses, no worse for the wear.

The switcher would make up the train in the afternoon and push the whole thing out the main line north of town. The local would arrive and pull through the storage track with loaded beet cars, empty sugar hoppers for the bulk sugar and fifty foot double door box cars for bagged sugar. Nothing but the best! I would take up a position at the wye to the plant lead in the afternoon as the switcher pushed the train. I could scribble car numbers for my train list as fast as the crew would push. In fact they were inclined to push at the dead slow so as to help me. The plant lead was the top of a long hill out of the plant. Then the main line continued on a slight down hill slope. One day I was on station scribbling furiously when the slack came ripping by and a knuckle whistled by my head. After that I stood a bit further away.

The average beet car train was over a hundred cars. I must have scribbled a million car numbers that winter.

Monday, January 16, 2023

EWG Hanson View

Photo by Gary Durr.

May 2017

Grain isn't the only thing that the EWG(Eastern Washington Gateway RR) hauls... on this beautiful spring day C-40 #9129 hauls an extremely long string of Bare table cars East Bound through Hanson Washington. The cars have been in Storage all along the EWG line for more than a couple of years, and they are finally getting called back to service... They will be brought to Geiger Jct. and there the 9129 unit will be traded out for two big UP units, for it's final leg into Cheney Washington, where it will be interchanged to the BNSF and eventually forwarded to Union Pacific.



Sunday, January 15, 2023

CBRW At Grow

Photo by Roger Hepkema.

The Columbia Basin's Wheeler job has run beyond Wheeler to reach the remainder of the MILW's Moses Lake branch. Seen here at the wye, the train will now head a mile east on the old branch mainline to reach the fertilizer distributor at Seiler (at the east end of the stubbed branch). It's just a few minutes from sunset on 10-16-2013.



Saturday, January 14, 2023

1989 Othello Yard View

Photo by Gary Brown.

August 1989

Gary says:

"This was a very sad scene to come upon as I came down Main St. and arrived at the yard crossing. MILWAUKEE ROAD-Othello,WA was gone. Anyone who had not been here prior to about 1977-78 would never guess what had once graced this yard . What a loss Othello had suffered with the passing of MILWAUKEE ROAD LINES WEST."



Thursday, January 12, 2023

1975 Othello Roundhouse View

Photo by Gary Brown.

Gary says:

"Othello was a new scene on Milwaukee Road West to me at this time. It was a place I would fall in love with, returning several times in the 70s."



Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Unloading At Highline Grain

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

Yesterday, 1/26/2021, I was assigned to train HG26-1, unloading 72 grain loads brought in by our scoot train. Some breaks in the unloading process gave me the opportunity to shoot some pictures.

 

We have unloaded about 25 cars and a "lot change" situation gave me some time for outside pictures. This view looks north.


 

Same spot, but looking North East with the Highline Grain elevator shown on the right.


Another view, looking North East.


Looking south. The bridge under I-90 is in the distance. The inner loop, used by BNSF unit trains is on the left and curves to the east. The track on the far left (note the derail at the very edge of the picture) is a stub track, mostly used to set out any bad order cars.


 

 Looking east across the stub track at the Highline elevator.


 

We are at the tail track of the wye and I had to align that switch for the west leg, where my train is sitting, before proceeding. Another "lot change" situation delayed unloading the next car and gave me the time to get the switch without having to pause the unloading activity.


We have finished unloading this 72 car train and I have pulled forward enough to clear the unloading shed. This gives the Highline crew the ability to sweep the floor of stray grain and do their clean-up.

 

Another view from the same location above. We are right in the switch at Four Lakes, where the Highline spur switches off of the CW main.


 

For those who might be interested, here is the official WSDOT (Washington Department of Transportation) track plan for the Highline Grain Facility.


 

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Milwaukee 5608 At Boylston

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

U30B 5608 leads a Westbound at Boylston. It was a nice fall weekend in October 1975. My dad and I had spent the night sleeping in his 1964 VW camper. We heard a couple of eastbound freights during the night, their GE engines wide open thumping away with their distinctive 4-cycle sound. In the morning this westbound showed up. Couple of GE's on the point, then an SD45, another GE, and what looks like an SD40-2.



Monday, January 9, 2023

1970 Moses Lake Depot

Courtesy of Gary Durr.

Gary says:

"Here is a great picture of the Milwaukee roads depot at Beautiful down town Moses Lake, Washington in September 1970...This is now part of the CBRW railroad an Eastern Washington Shortline...but back then it was the Milwaukee roads 20th subdivision of the Washington Division...Thought that it might be of some intrest to this group... Photographer unknown... Gary Durr Collection."



Saturday, January 7, 2023

1972 Taunton Wreck

Photo by Mark Danielson.

Mark says:

"In August of 1972 a few cars loaded with wheat fell into a coulee just east of Taunton, Washington. The wreck was blamed on heat expansion of the rails, causing them to bow. After they took the cars away and fixed the tracks, I watched them suck up the heaps of wheat with a giant vacuum cleaner."



Milwaukee Ice Reefer At Othello

Photos by Dave Morgan.

Dave says:

"Photos of ice car 79000 in Othello, WA.  The car was built in Feb 1935, and photographed here in Dec, 1970.  Normally at section crew locations, before electricity, there was an ice house.  The Milw. provided ice for the crews to use in their ice boxes.  Refrigerator cars were also iced in Othello."