Kudos on your video and thank you for putting this together. I have visited the site several times and taken lots of close up photos. They have definitely done some reorganization of the site since I was there in 2014. Whatever they're up to I wish them good luck. Any effort to save this incredible collection is worthwhile.
I think I got meet you through Trish that evening when the Impress was at the CP yard, she showed me this area. I couldn't believe my eyes. Thanks for sharing and just subscribed
Yes The Depot FB page around March 1st this year. At that time Mike Kirk was very interested in Milwaukee Road cabooses. Thank you for the rest of the info!!
The turntable is quite likely from the Milwaukee Road Marquette Yards. There was a large roundhouse and turntable there for many years. To my knowledge, PDC never had a turntable. I grew up in the Marquette, IA/Prairie du Chien, WI area in the 50's and 60's.
Wow! A fair amount of the former Milwaukee Road's famous rib sided, bay window cabooses in primer gray. Thanks for sharing! I bet they can be purchased at a reasonable price. Just that the moving of them would be very expensive. I hope they all or at least some find homes in towns where the Milwaukee Road used to operate as is the case with some towns already.
There used to be a small Art Deco radio station building beside that antenna next to the loading facility. It was removed after the 2001 flood if I recall.
The turntable bridge actually was shipped across the river from the railyard nearby in Marquette some time in the mid/late 90's. It was still in the turntable pit until they filled it in, tore up the roundhouse foundation slab and moved the turntable to St. Feriole Island where it's moved a couple times. The passenger cars and some of the older wooden boxcars + the tankcar sat over by the old hotel on the island and were a bar and ice cream store. Floods kinda put them out of business and then the lot was moved to the grain elevator just south of the island. That's where the cranes sat as along with all the old caboose. I always assumed they were all stock the Wisconsin Southern inherited at some point as they work that line. It's all been rotting away for decades sadly.
There seems to be more cabooses them than when I was working in the area about 6 or 7 years ago. We replaced a bunch of the grade crossings in the park area there for the WSOR.
The turntable came from Marquette, Iowa. One of the Dillman's had the idea of having a tourist train going around St Feriole islane on the one time Milwaukee Road tracks plus new track. Another pipe dream.
Years ago they used unload coal from the barges to power the UW power plant in Madison. One of the cranes and passenger cars have been moved from the south of town to the loop before the sand plant was built.
I've heard that due to train robberies along the southern border, where the burglars disable the computer on the back of the train bringing the train to a stop, then break into selected cars or containers, they are thinking of bringing back cabooses but putting them in the middle of the train and having an armed guard or two riding inside. They would need cabooses such as these with the side bay window. A cuppola on top would not be of much use.
Originally, the caboose and a couple of the p. cars sat on the tracks next the station to the MR. As I recall in the caboose marked bar car there was a bar and in the two pcars there was a cafe. It never did much business and when the station building was built it went away. The way cars sat in an old fertilizer building on the now bypass. As I recall a local person bought them to make guest rooms out of them and it fizzled. Been sitting around for years and years.
One of the pieces had MCRY reporting marks, that is Mid Continent RR museum. Maybe they are storing equipment there, they had some significant flooding a few years ago. Maybe?
Ah, that could be? Although I have no idea how they'd ever get the equipment back to MCRY if it was a temporary move. My ~guess~ would be purchased from MCRY long ago.
I visited this facility a long time ago - maybe 20+ years. At the time I was acting as an agent for an organization that wanted to purchase a caboose. I contacted the owner and they did not respond to my inquiry. Based on what I see in your video, I’ll guess that someone is going to turn those cabooses into some sort of cabins or “motel”. At one time, there was a pontoon bridge crossing the Mississippi River from Prairie Du Chein to Marquette and I believe the turntable was in Marquette but I’m not 100% sure. The wooden boxcars the passenger cars were probably part of a work train that accompanied the crane. Perhaps a “B&B” crew.
Ah... You may be right about the turntable bridge. There was a roundhouse and turntable in Marquette IA (currently CPKC "West Yards") at the exact spot where the current Driftless Area Wetlands Centre is. The parking lot shape of that center are supposed to represent the roundhouse... you can see it from Google Maps aerial view.
I was told the owner of the grain facility. there owns this equipment and the hotel building all on Feriole. Island. BTW there is a nice Milwaukee Road museum across the river in Marquette..
All those old cars were/are owned by the Dillman's who had Prairie Sand And Gravel located there for many years. All tge cabooses have had all their brake rigging cut off many years ago. They have been for sale, but they're extremely over priced. They were bought as the basis of a possible dinner train that never got beyond the newspaper article.
Id love to start a caboose holiday company, like you hitch up to a a cargo train and see the country slow motion. I've seen Kansas freight trains here in Saskatoon sascachewan.. Kansas , Saskatoon. That would be an amazing trip..
My wife and I came across the same train graveyard on a road trip about 20 years ago. BTW great music you added to your drone filming. What is it? Who performs it?
I got the sound track on pixabay.com (royalty free). UA-cam says it's called, "Once In Paris" by Pumpupthemind. I'm glad it didn't annoy you... it's hard striking a balance between no sound (drones don't record any) and highly annoying sound!
Music went very well with the solemn visuals. It captured both a sense of the mysterious past (how many stories do those retired trains cars hold? : ) and also a meandering feeling of time, like train tracks, going on endlessly. Very reflective feeling. Great pairing.
@@RugbyJunction Last i remember talking to the guy that has all those about 10 years ago, he was planning on refurbishing and converting them into little rentals and had an idea of a caboose motel. And judging by the 7 (that i counted) cabooses that are painted white in the video, he's going through with the idea.
WI law prohibits photography, recording, or observing another individual in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. At no time do we see any person being filmed. He is also appears to be flying in accordance with FAA’s Part 107 Small UAS Rules. Nor is he operating in a manner that could cause harm or damage to the property he is flying over.
My wife and I came across this same train graveyard on a road trip about 20 years ago. Going back in early June to revisit it. BTW great music with your drone filming. What is it? Who performs it?
I visited this spot in the late 80’s on a family vacation. All this stuff was there back then.
Nicely done video, very steady and smooth. You even scanned the cars slowly to get a good view.
Kudos on your video and thank you for putting this together. I have visited the site several times and taken lots of close up photos. They have definitely done some reorganization of the site since I was there in 2014. Whatever they're up to I wish them good luck. Any effort to save this incredible collection is worthwhile.
Great video. Tons of great history there
I think I got meet you through Trish that evening when the Impress was at the CP yard, she showed me this area. I couldn't believe my eyes. Thanks for sharing and just subscribed
Nice meeting you (again)... I'm glad you found the video useful.
I put this info on The depot Facebook about 6 months ago but you have added a new light to the graveyard. Thank you!!
The Depot restaurant FB page? (And you're welcome :-) )
Yes The Depot FB page around March 1st this year. At that time Mike Kirk was very interested in Milwaukee Road cabooses. Thank you for the rest of the info!!
The turntable is quite likely from the Milwaukee Road Marquette Yards. There was a large roundhouse and turntable there for many years. To my knowledge, PDC never had a turntable. I grew up in the Marquette, IA/Prairie du Chien, WI area in the 50's and 60's.
Wow! A fair amount of the former Milwaukee Road's famous rib sided, bay window cabooses in primer gray. Thanks for sharing! I bet they can be purchased at a reasonable price. Just that the moving of them would be very expensive. I hope they all or at least some find homes in towns where the Milwaukee Road used to operate as is the case with some towns already.
There used to be a small Art Deco radio station building beside that antenna next to the loading facility. It was removed after the 2001 flood if I recall.
The turntable bridge actually was shipped across the river from the railyard nearby in Marquette some time in the mid/late 90's. It was still in the turntable pit until they filled it in, tore up the roundhouse foundation slab and moved the turntable to St. Feriole Island where it's moved a couple times. The passenger cars and some of the older wooden boxcars + the tankcar sat over by the old hotel on the island and were a bar and ice cream store. Floods kinda put them out of business and then the lot was moved to the grain elevator just south of the island. That's where the cranes sat as along with all the old caboose.
I always assumed they were all stock the Wisconsin Southern inherited at some point as they work that line. It's all been rotting away for decades sadly.
Thank you for the background info.
I've walked all over that property a couple times and no one ever spoke to me. Weird but cool area.
Yeah, even though there's a big no trespassing sign at the entrance, laws are only as good as their enforcement... or lack there-of.
@RugbyJunction I probably got lucky, lol
There seems to be more cabooses them than when I was working in the area about 6 or 7 years ago. We replaced a bunch of the grade crossings in the park area there for the WSOR.
The turntable came from Marquette, Iowa. One of the Dillman's had the idea of having a tourist train going around St Feriole islane on the one time Milwaukee Road tracks plus new track. Another pipe dream.
That was Blair Dillman
Years ago they used unload coal from the barges to power the UW power plant in Madison. One of the cranes and passenger cars have been moved from the south of town to the loop before the sand plant was built.
Wish they would Bring them back miss them on the trains
That would be cool
I've heard that due to train robberies along the southern border, where the burglars disable the computer on the back of the train bringing the train to a stop, then break into selected cars or containers, they are thinking of bringing back cabooses but putting them in the middle of the train and having an armed guard or two riding inside. They would need cabooses such as these with the side bay window. A cuppola on top would not be of much use.
Originally, the caboose and a couple of the p. cars sat on the tracks next the station to the MR. As I recall in the caboose marked bar car there was a bar and in the two pcars there was a cafe. It never did much business and when the station building was built it went away. The way cars sat in an old fertilizer building on the now bypass. As I recall a local person bought them to make guest rooms out of them and it fizzled. Been sitting around for years and years.
One of the pieces had MCRY reporting marks, that is Mid Continent RR museum. Maybe they are storing equipment there, they had some significant flooding a few years ago. Maybe?
Ah, that could be? Although I have no idea how they'd ever get the equipment back to MCRY if it was a temporary move. My ~guess~ would be purchased from MCRY long ago.
I visited this facility a long time ago - maybe 20+ years. At the time I was acting as an agent for an organization that wanted to purchase a caboose. I contacted the owner and they did not respond to my inquiry. Based on what I see in your video, I’ll guess that someone is going to turn those cabooses into some sort of cabins or “motel”.
At one time, there was a pontoon bridge crossing the Mississippi River from Prairie Du Chein to Marquette and I believe the turntable was in Marquette but I’m not 100% sure.
The wooden boxcars the passenger cars were probably part of a work train that accompanied the crane. Perhaps a “B&B” crew.
Ah... You may be right about the turntable bridge. There was a roundhouse and turntable in Marquette IA (currently CPKC "West Yards") at the exact spot where the current Driftless Area Wetlands Centre is. The parking lot shape of that center are supposed to represent the roundhouse... you can see it from Google Maps aerial view.
Hi Rugby Junction & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool & Thanks Rugby Junction & Friends Randy
The exact reply to anyone,anytime. Get a clue !!
Nice job with the drone video work Rugby!! You should mix some music in with the video!
Isn't there music? I added a sound track but kept the volume very low so it wasn't annoying. Perhaps too low?
@@RugbyJunctionthe volume level was fine.
I must have hit mute or had volume down, music sounds good in video!
I was told the owner of the grain facility. there owns this equipment and the hotel building all on Feriole. Island. BTW there is a nice Milwaukee Road museum across the river in Marquette..
I did visit the depot in Marquette... it's very nice!
All those old cars were/are owned by the Dillman's who had Prairie Sand And Gravel located there for many years. All tge cabooses have had all their brake rigging cut off many years ago. They have been for sale, but they're extremely over priced. They were bought as the basis of a possible dinner train that never got beyond the newspaper article.
Thank you for the history!
Id love to start a caboose holiday company, like you hitch up to a a cargo train and see the country slow motion. I've seen Kansas freight trains here in Saskatoon sascachewan.. Kansas , Saskatoon.
That would be an amazing trip..
mcry on the old porter locomotive will tell all the old rolling stock belong to the midcontinental railway museum
the whole island used to be rail yard and roundhouse till the 1950's
I'd love to see photos of that!
My wife and I came across the same train graveyard on a road trip about 20 years ago. BTW great music you added to your drone filming. What is it? Who performs it?
I got the sound track on pixabay.com (royalty free). UA-cam says it's called, "Once In Paris" by
Pumpupthemind. I'm glad it didn't annoy you... it's hard striking a balance between no sound (drones don't record any) and highly annoying sound!
Music went very well with the solemn visuals. It captured both a sense of the mysterious past (how many stories do those retired trains cars hold? : ) and also a meandering feeling of time, like train tracks, going on endlessly. Very reflective feeling. Great pairing.
I wonder is any of the cabooses for sale ? Does anybody know?
Unofficially, the answer seems to be "no" based on other comments.
@@RugbyJunction Last i remember talking to the guy that has all those about 10 years ago, he was planning on refurbishing and converting them into little rentals and had an idea of a caboose motel. And judging by the 7 (that i counted) cabooses that are painted white in the video, he's going through with the idea.
Somewhere a railroad museum would grab one of those cabooses!
Research flying a drone over private property. There are trespass and privacy laws.
WI law prohibits photography, recording, or observing another individual in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. At no time do we see any person being filmed.
He is also appears to be flying in accordance with FAA’s Part 107 Small UAS Rules.
Nor is he operating in a manner that could cause harm or damage to the property he is flying over.
@@chrisstromberg6527 Thanks! And as a pilot, I'm sure you're right. 🙂
What an annoying background music track. I think I would rather be water boarded the listing to a repetitive sound track. Like dripping faucet!!!
You're welcome! 🤣
My wife and I came across this same train graveyard on a road trip about 20 years ago. Going back in early June to revisit it. BTW great music with your drone filming. What is it? Who performs it?