July 30, 1933, Chicago

Dear Dad,

I'm a trifle on the foot-sore side today after tramping around the Century of Progress grounds all day yesterday. It was the first chance I'd had to see the Fair and believe me, it's everything the newspapers say it is, a dream world where there are no bread lines, no worrying about the depression.

By the way, ours was the only Railroad to exhibit a modern passenger coach, built in our own Milwaukee shops. The coach, sort of a forecast of things to come, has caused more comment than anything since our shops turned out the sleeping cars with wider, higher and longer berths some years ago. Of equal interest was our Bi-Polar gearless electric locomotive used in passenger service in the Cascade Mountains.

This man Hitler is certainly making a lot of noise on his side of the Atlantic. Sounds like a complete screwball to me, though. I don't see how anyone can take him or his ideas very seriously ...

July 21, 1934, Chicago

Dear Dad,

I had a train ride yesterday to end all train rides. The Milwaukee Road has just set a sustained speed record for steam locomotives. The test was made with a four year old locomotive and five steel cars. We pulled out of Chicago at 9 A.M. and by the time we reached Morton Grove we were doing 87 miles an hour; at Northbrook the engineer had stepped it up to 92 and when we reached Gurnee, the speedometer was hanging on an even 100. Near Oakwood, Wisconsin we were running smooth as silk at 103. All told, we averaged 92 miles an hour between Deerfield, Illinois and Lake, Wisconsin, a distance of 5331 miles.

You and mother better begin thinking now about visiting us sometime next November. By that time we'll have a grandchild to show you. We were taking the event pretty much in stride until we read about the arrival of the Dionne quintuplets. We can manage to feed one extra mouth – five, I don't know ...

May 16, 1935, Chicago

Dear Dad,

We've just previewed the new Hiawatha, designed by Milwaukee Road engineers and built by Milwaukee Road craftsmen, which will go into regular service May 29th. The performance was enough to excite everyone on board. The run was made from Milwaukee to New Lisbon with a top speed of 112.5 miles an hour.

President Scandrett wasn't on board but here's a copy of the telegram sent to him by Mr. J. T. Gillick, Chief Operating Officer, whom you probably remember from his days in Aberdeen with our company, around the turn of the century. "Left Milwaukee 9:40 A.M. Stopped at Watertown to look at engine, which was running cool. With this stop passed Portage 11:03 A.M., one minute less than schedule. Maximum speed 97.3 miles per hour. Arrived New Lisbon 11:33 A.M. Schedule calls for 34 minutes. Maximum speed 112.5 m.p.h. Train rode beautifully ... cup and glass of water on table have not spilled yet."

document home

web version

images

full text

document list

Contact Webmaster