The Ghosts of Oelwein Part 1

The Ghosts of Oelwein Part 1

I've been meaning to get around to doing something about the old Chicago Great Western (CGW) and later Chicago & NorthWestern heavy repair shops in Oelwein Iowa.  The shops are gone now.  But let's take a look at how it was....

First, here is a link to some interesting info about the construction of the shops:

http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6327&context=annals-of-iowa

The part that interests me is where a transfer table was described as being part of the original design.  The table itself was long gone the first time I ever got a look at the place back the late 1980's.  That would have been something to see though.  When I look at the aerial photos, the outline is of the transfer table pit is easy to spot.  It also fills in the void where something doesn't look quite right about the track arrangement.  There's 1000 feet of shop there, but half has no tracks leading to the doors.  That's where the table came into play.

Let's take a look at some photos from Bing Maps Bird's Eye View.... here's the remainder of the Oelwein Shops shortly before they were torn down...

You can see the tracks coming in over the drainage ditch.  The picture is extra large, so go ahead and take a closer look.

When you take a closer look you can see where the transfer table used to be.

Next up, let's look at a couple old historical photos and a post card....

So that's how it was...