This is cool lol looks so different. It would be neat if someone had footage like this of the schaumburg branch or the grown over tracks in bartlett back in the days were towns on the line actually still had industries 😂
The hump in south St. Paul (MN) looks vaguely similar to Bensenville-I think the tower must be a similar design with similar colors. What they did to Milwaukee engines with the evil “bandit” scheme was deplorable, especially in light of how long they kept those engines. Those poor Milwaukee diesels; tortured with deferred maintenance and then subject to criminal disfigurement with a spray gun. I’m surprised the engines just didn’t refuse to move anymore. Soo Line could just as easily (and inexpensively) have painted over the Milwaukee lettering with orange which would have simply returned them to their as-delivered look. Pry the heralds off the cabs-paint a black parallelogram SOO under the window and they’d have had a decent-looking engine that paid some tribute to the Milwaukee employees. I grew up on the Soo Line. I admired them as a scrappy little nibbler who did pretty well with return on investment. I lost my respect for the SOO when they acted so stupidly.
The hump tower in Milwaukee, WI (demolished) was also similar in design to the Bensenville tower. I will admit the original Milwaukee Road colors looked great on these MP15AC diesel switchers. It is indeed a shame that the units weren't at least painted in the Soo's "grey" and red colors. Thanks for your comment!
Great to see video from the Bensenville humps. My mom used to take us there when we where quite young to watch trains hump. We watched from Green Street of course, till one day a Milwaukee Road work truck stopped to ask if we needed help and then told us it was not safe to park there. So those days are long gone, so is the hump yard, and the Diesel House! I am currently building a model in HO reminiscent of the Bensenville Diesel House in 1971. Have found a fair amount of the exterior and only three of the interior. One on the interior is from the SOO Line days and the other two are from the Milwaukee Road. Anyway thanks for posting the Soo Line Bandits doing hump action! Do you know of anyone or do you have any video or stills of the Bensenville Diesel House? Inside or out would be helpful, Thanks Again!
Thanks for your comments regarding your watching cars being "humped" at Bensenville back in the day due to your understanding mom. I wish I has taken video or even film shots of the Bensenville diesel shop when it was still operational (especially indoors). I worked in and around that large repair facility moving engines on "relief jobs" and sometimes working flat spots off of locomotive wheels with special abrasive brake shoes. Hard to believe it was torn down as it was built sometime in the early to mid 1950s excluding the old round house. Best of luck with your building a recreation of the Bensenville diesel shop!
Dan, thanks for sharing this--fascinating! I just received a first hand education on how a hump yard works. Also, glad you preserved end-cab switcher ops--they're disappearing fast. Must have been hard to manhandle a giant 1990's video camera while jockeying two "even bigger" MP15's.
John, great to hear you really enjoyed this video! Yes, apparently the MP15s are disappearing from the diesel locomotive rosters of many railroads. I believe my former employer has sold off all its MP15s.
really nice vid... the visibility of the end cab switcher is excellent
Thanks for the upload, it’s interesting to see how things were back then
This is cool lol looks so different. It would be neat if someone had footage like this of the schaumburg branch or the grown over tracks in bartlett back in the days were towns on the line actually still had industries 😂
The hump in south St. Paul (MN) looks vaguely similar to Bensenville-I think the tower must be a similar design with similar colors. What they did to Milwaukee engines with the evil “bandit” scheme was deplorable, especially in light of how long they kept those engines. Those poor Milwaukee diesels; tortured with deferred maintenance and then subject to criminal disfigurement with a spray gun. I’m surprised the engines just didn’t refuse to move anymore. Soo Line could just as easily (and inexpensively) have painted over the Milwaukee lettering with orange which would have simply returned them to their as-delivered look. Pry the heralds off the cabs-paint a black parallelogram SOO under the window and they’d have had a decent-looking engine that paid some tribute to the Milwaukee employees. I grew up on the Soo Line. I admired them as a scrappy little nibbler who did pretty well with return on investment. I lost my respect for the SOO when they acted so stupidly.
The hump tower in Milwaukee, WI (demolished) was also similar in design to the Bensenville tower. I will admit the original Milwaukee Road colors looked great on these MP15AC diesel switchers. It is indeed a shame that the units weren't at least painted in the Soo's "grey" and red colors. Thanks for your comment!
Now under the control of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The Canadian Pacific Railway has pretty much had a controlling interest of the Soo Line Railroad Co. from the Soo's beginning in the 1880s.
Great to see video from the Bensenville humps. My mom used to take us there when we where quite young to watch trains hump. We watched from Green Street of course, till one day a Milwaukee Road work truck stopped to ask if we needed help and then told us it was not safe to park there. So those days are long gone, so is the hump yard, and the Diesel House! I am currently building a model in HO reminiscent of the Bensenville Diesel House in 1971. Have found a fair amount of the exterior and only three of the interior. One on the interior is from the SOO Line days and the other two are from the Milwaukee Road. Anyway thanks for posting the Soo Line Bandits doing hump action! Do you know of anyone or do you have any video or stills of the Bensenville Diesel House? Inside or out would be helpful, Thanks Again!
Thanks for your comments regarding your watching cars being "humped" at Bensenville back in the day due to your understanding mom. I wish I has taken video or even film shots of the Bensenville diesel shop when it was still operational (especially indoors). I worked in and around that large repair facility moving engines on "relief jobs" and sometimes working flat spots off of locomotive wheels with special abrasive brake shoes. Hard to believe it was torn down as it was built sometime in the early to mid 1950s excluding the old round house. Best of luck with your building a recreation of the Bensenville diesel shop!
Dan, thanks for sharing this--fascinating! I just received a first hand education on how a hump yard works. Also, glad you preserved end-cab switcher ops--they're disappearing fast. Must have been hard to manhandle a giant 1990's video camera while jockeying two "even bigger" MP15's.
John, great to hear you really enjoyed this video! Yes, apparently the MP15s are disappearing from the diesel locomotive rosters of many railroads. I believe my former employer has sold off all its MP15s.
Remember bird man nick name for employee.
Yes indeed, the yardmaster seen and heard here.
Interesting
Did you work for cp rail?
Legally I worked for the Soo Line Railroad despite it being 100% owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
@@WAL_DC-6B Are you still there
@@michaelrichardson1898 No, retired.