Iowa Traction Railroad
Mason City
The picture is located in Emery at the NE corner of the just newly completed shop building in the fall of 1968.  Ed Allen, the Master Mechanic, had been watching this motor as it was being used at a power house in Cedar Rapids on his trips to and from Chicago.  It would shuffle loaded coal cars from a set out track into a dumper .. and that was about it.  Ed had asked someone down on the Crandic to keep watch and one day they called and said a GE center cab (diesel) had showed up.  Ed bought this from the Crandic for parts for $1000.  I believe it arrived at Clear Lake Jct on its own wheels because he said they pushed it from Clear Lake Jct to Emery and up to this location. They must not have had the non-standard "Y" at Emery constructed yet.  All the switch gear and controllers, etc. was stripped and put in the Emery store room.  That winter it was moved behind the shop on one of the old tracks going into the burned old shop, pulled over on its side off the tracks with a cat, and was then cut up.  The trucks went to the Illinois Railway Museum.  He said it was pretty dirty, covered and coated with coal dust and all, and was the dirtiest he had ever seen working on electric motors. Today the oil (I presume) tank is gone and 100 ton gons usually set here awaiting spot instructions for Scrap Processors just to the right (north) across the gravel road.  The unfinished area behind the locomotive is the railroad graveled parking area.
Dave Johnson caption Back to Iowa Traction Railroad Page
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