Today in Labor History July 26, 1894: President Grover Cleveland created a Strike Committee to investigate the causes of the Pullman strike and the subsequent walkout by the American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs. After four months, the commission absolved the strikers and placed the blame entirely on Pullman and the railroads for the conflict. Roughly 250,000 workers participated in the strike. And an estimated 70 workers died, mostly at the hands of cops and soldiers. To appease workers, the government came up with a new holiday, Labor Day, to commemorate the end of the Pullman Strike. However, President Cleveland had other interests in creating the new holiday. Rather than rewarding workers, his goal was to bury the history of the Haymarket Affair and the radical anarchist and socialist history of the labor movement by choosing any day other than May 1 as the new national labor holiday.
Today in Labor History July 26, 1877: Federal troops killed 15-30 workers at the "Battle of the Viaduct," Chicago, during the Great Upheaval (AKA Great Train Strike). During the battle, U.S. troops and police attacked about 5,000 workers at Halsted & 16th Street in Chicago. A judge later found the police guilty of preventing the workers from exercising their right to freedom of speech and assembly.
The Great Upheaval was a national strike wave involving major uprisings in Martinsburg, WV, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Boston, Reading, PA, New York and many other cities. I write about it in my historical “Great Upheaval Trilogy.” My first book, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” takes place in the years immediately preceding the Great Upheaval and will hopefully be out by the end of this year. Book II, “Red Hot Summer in the Smoky City,” my current WIP, takes place in Pittsburgh, at the height of the Great Upheaval.
Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride is a documentary film by local timelapse photographer Vincent Woo. Embark on a journey with a camera secretly attached to a BART train and ride through the arteries of the Bay Area. A hidden world is revealed through intersecting passageways, flashes of graffiti, and sections of track only witnessed by BART operators:
Got to ride on one of #Indiana Rail Experience's #trains. It was a short #ride, but it was pretty comfortable, and the scenery was beautiful. There were areas where passengers could stand near an opening and look down the side of the #train. Sitting at a table on a train is so much nicer than a cramped car. Indiana Rail Experience runs several #excursion trains throughout the year, which you can check out at indianarailexperience.org.
Today in Labor History July 21, 1877: 30,000 Chicago workers rallied on Market Street during the Great Upheaval wave of strikes occurring throughout the country. Future anarchist and Haymarket martyr Albert Parsons spoke to the crowd, advocating the use of the ballot to obtain "state control of the means of production," and urged workers to join the communist Workingmen's Party. Parsons was later abducted by armed men who took him to the police where he was interrogated and informed that he had caused the city great trouble.
The strike wave started in Martinsburg, WV, on July 16, and quickly spread along the railroad lines throughout the country. In Chicago, striking workers from numerous industries took to the streets daily. They shut down the railroads, mills, foundries and many other businesses. They carried banners that said "Life by work, or death by fight". One speaker said, "We must rise up in our might, and fight for our rights. Better a thousand of us be shot down in the streets than ten thousand die of starvation."
On July 26, the protesters threw rocks and fired pistols at the cops, who fired back until they ran out of ammo and were forced them to flee. However, they ran into a detachment of reinforcements and federal troops, sent in by President Hayes. This led to the Battle of the Viaduct, resulting in 15-30 dead strikers and dozens wounded.
In Pittsburgh, 20 striking railroad workers were killed by state troopers during the Great Upheaval. The second book of my “Great Upheaval” trilogy, “Hot Summer in the Smoky City,” takes place in Pittsburgh during the Great Upheaval.
"Nevada Northern No. 93 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1909 for the American Smelters Securities Co. to haul ore trains on the Nevada Northern Railway." (Ely, Nevada, 10/4/2019.)
Today's feature is another weird entry in railroad history, the Burlington Northern Boxhopper, or bopper! BN created these prototype cars in order to maximize the use of their rolling stock fleet. Normally, cars are sent out loaded, and returned empty. The aim of these was they could handle boxcar freight one way, and hopper...
A 600 mm gauge diesel locomotive on Parkbahn Bernburg, Germany, which used to be a pioneer railway. No traffic when I was there, so maybe this was a test/maintenance run. #railway#railroad
What you see here is one of three DD35 sample units that the espee ordered. Espee didn't order any others so I imagine these beasts were a rare sight in espee livery. These B-units (no control cab) came first, and the DD35A's were made later at UP's request. Like the A's none of these B units survived the scrapper's torch
The DDA35 is a cab unit version of the DD35, built exclusively for the Union Pacific railroad. Only fifteen of these beasts were built between May and July of 1965, numbered 70 (pictured) through 84. Powered by twin 567D prime movers, these locomotives were good for 5000 horsepower each. Unfortunately, these locomotives suffered...
Nice day out at #ElkhornSlough#California today. We even saw the local freight #train head north! I think it might have been switching some cars at the #MossLanding power plant on its way north from Salinas before it crossed the slough.
At Moss Landing they're demolishing the old power plant units that used to feed into the twin huge smoke stacks. I wonder if they'll remove those stacks as part of that work.
I can't say for certain, as I'm terrible at identifying locomotives! But I'm pretty sure this is an MLW RS-10. Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company (Alco), and produced locomotives primarily for the Canadian market. MLW operated from 1883 to 1985, before being sold to Bombadier...
The DT-6-6-2000 was Baldwin's offering for a diesel electric transfer switcher, initially powered by dual 606SC prime movers. This locomotive was mostly used by the EJ&E with them purchasing 27 of the 46 total built. These locomotives endured various rebuilds throughout their life with most being repowered with 567C prime...
Hi Everyone! Sorry for not contributing anything this week, my life has been a little hectic so I haven't been able to post very much. BUT that's changing soon! I've just received some fresh slides in the mail and all I have to do is scan them in! So keep your eyes peeled, you'll be seeing some cool stuff very soon....
Burlington Northern Combination Boxcars/Hoppers, Sept. 19 1992, M. J. Budo Photo
Today's feature is another weird entry in railroad history, the Burlington Northern Boxhopper, or bopper! BN created these prototype cars in order to maximize the use of their rolling stock fleet. Normally, cars are sent out loaded, and returned empty. The aim of these was they could handle boxcar freight one way, and hopper...
Follow-up to the DDA35 post, the DD35
What you see here is one of three DD35 sample units that the espee ordered. Espee didn't order any others so I imagine these beasts were a rare sight in espee livery. These B-units (no control cab) came first, and the DD35A's were made later at UP's request. Like the A's none of these B units survived the scrapper's torch
Something special for 60 subscribers! A hulking monstrosity of Union Pacific Power, the DDA35
The DDA35 is a cab unit version of the DD35, built exclusively for the Union Pacific railroad. Only fifteen of these beasts were built between May and July of 1965, numbered 70 (pictured) through 84. Powered by twin 567D prime movers, these locomotives were good for 5000 horsepower each. Unfortunately, these locomotives suffered...
CP Rail 8558, an MLW RS-10 (?) gets turned around on a chilly morning, 1966.
I can't say for certain, as I'm terrible at identifying locomotives! But I'm pretty sure this is an MLW RS-10. Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company (Alco), and produced locomotives primarily for the Canadian market. MLW operated from 1883 to 1985, before being sold to Bombadier...
EJ&E 704 (BLW DT-6-6-2000) sits alongside SD9 602 on an unknown evening, 1966
The DT-6-6-2000 was Baldwin's offering for a diesel electric transfer switcher, initially powered by dual 606SC prime movers. This locomotive was mostly used by the EJ&E with them purchasing 27 of the 46 total built. These locomotives endured various rebuilds throughout their life with most being repowered with 567C prime...
More photos coming soon! (i.imgur.com)
Hi Everyone! Sorry for not contributing anything this week, my life has been a little hectic so I haven't been able to post very much. BUT that's changing soon! I've just received some fresh slides in the mail and all I have to do is scan them in! So keep your eyes peeled, you'll be seeing some cool stuff very soon....
Holy cow, we're at 35 subscribers! To celebrate, have a friendly Rock Island engineer!