Re: NNG: Greenfield Village Mason-Bogie
| January 18, 2021 11:50PM |
1993 Sep/Oct of the Narrow Gauge & Shortline Gazette features an article by the late Al Henning on the Hecla & Torch Lake railroad. It includes really good plans of their narrow gauge Camelbacks and an ok drawing of the early Mason Bogies C&H had. Also try sending an email to the Michigan Tech University historical archives
And yes, this post is narrow gauge. The Hecla & Torch Lake railroad was built to 4' 1" gauge originally due to an ordering error and converted to standard gauge in the early 1900s.
here are some pictures of the C&H Mason Bogies from the MTU archives
[cchi.mtu.edu]
[cchi.mtu.edu]
[cchi.mtu.edu]
[cchi.mtu.edu]
As the Calumet & Hecla mining company expanded over the years so did their railroad. By the 1920s Calumet & Hecla had taken over various other railroads in the region including the Keweenaw Central and the Mineral Ranges' Ahmeek line. C&H was very slow to let go of equipment, and had their entire roster of Mason Bogies running until the early stages of WWII. According to local legend, the Torch Lake Mason Bogie was used in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps to help move materials for construction of the Brockway Mountain Drive. Materials were moved up to the then end of the line at Phoenix, Michigan on the old Keweenaw Central and after the work was done the bogie was stored in the Keweenaw Central enginehouse at Phoenix. Later on the locomotive was moved to the Ahmeek yards. It was stored there until 1966 when it was moved out over the Soo Line to Dearborn.
Here is a picture of it circa 1956.
Of note another nearby mining railroad, the Allouez Mining Co, owned a 3ft gauge Mason Bogie pretty much identical to DSP&P bogies. Calumet & Hecla later on acquired the Allouez Mining Co but the Allouez Bogie and it's 1872 vintage 2-6-0 had already been moved out of the region for scrap .
For more pictures check out the Images of American Book "Copper Country Rail" Or search for posts by Rudy Maki, Gordy Schmidt and Paul Meyer in the Facebook groups "Railroads of the Lake Superior Region" and "Vintage Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Rails Pre 1970"
And yes, this post is narrow gauge. The Hecla & Torch Lake railroad was built to 4' 1" gauge originally due to an ordering error and converted to standard gauge in the early 1900s.
here are some pictures of the C&H Mason Bogies from the MTU archives
[cchi.mtu.edu]
[cchi.mtu.edu]
[cchi.mtu.edu]
[cchi.mtu.edu]
As the Calumet & Hecla mining company expanded over the years so did their railroad. By the 1920s Calumet & Hecla had taken over various other railroads in the region including the Keweenaw Central and the Mineral Ranges' Ahmeek line. C&H was very slow to let go of equipment, and had their entire roster of Mason Bogies running until the early stages of WWII. According to local legend, the Torch Lake Mason Bogie was used in the 1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps to help move materials for construction of the Brockway Mountain Drive. Materials were moved up to the then end of the line at Phoenix, Michigan on the old Keweenaw Central and after the work was done the bogie was stored in the Keweenaw Central enginehouse at Phoenix. Later on the locomotive was moved to the Ahmeek yards. It was stored there until 1966 when it was moved out over the Soo Line to Dearborn.
Here is a picture of it circa 1956.
Of note another nearby mining railroad, the Allouez Mining Co, owned a 3ft gauge Mason Bogie pretty much identical to DSP&P bogies. Calumet & Hecla later on acquired the Allouez Mining Co but the Allouez Bogie and it's 1872 vintage 2-6-0 had already been moved out of the region for scrap .
For more pictures check out the Images of American Book "Copper Country Rail" Or search for posts by Rudy Maki, Gordy Schmidt and Paul Meyer in the Facebook groups "Railroads of the Lake Superior Region" and "Vintage Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Rails Pre 1970"
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
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