CGW 116-A

An EMD FP7 built for the Chicago Great Western in 1950. The P designates 4ft longer frame and a steam boiler for passenger service. 116 was renumbered to C&NW 217 in the 1968 merger and was rebuilt in 1974. 116 remained in service until 1985. The museum acquired it in 1993 and painted it in the factory paint scheme. It has since been repainted in the second livery that it wore in service.

Condition: Runs once a year for Rail Days. Missing traction motors.

MTFR 62

An Alco S1 with a 600hp McIntosh & Seymour 539 engine and 14-EL brakes. Built in 1941 for the Minnesota Transfer Railway. In 1964, it was sold to Relco as RE702. Moved to GE Railcar Services in Waterloo, Iowa in 1990 as unit 1990. The museum acquired her in 2006.

Condition: Could be made to run.

CMO 55

An EMD SW1 with a 600hp 567 engine and 6BL brake gear. It was built in 1940 for the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha. Sold to Relco in 1964 as RE702. GE Railcar Services in Waterloo purchased the locomotive in 1990 and used it until 2006. Unusual in that it has a single piece cast steel frame.

Condition: Missing major parts. No traction motors.

CGW Bay Window Caboose 637

Built in 1960. Rebuilt in the early 80s. Not much is known about it’s history.

Rock Island Caboose 17958

Built circa 1914. Donated by Carol and Merlyn Lauber. Originally restored by the museum in 1991 and restored again in 2014.

CGW 7230 3 Bay Covered Hopper

Built in 1966. Not much history is known.

Chicago Great Western Flat car 2081

Built in 1958. Re-lettered to CGW 2081. Was used to haul drywall/gypsum in Ft. Dodge, IA. On top of it are:

The Locomotive load testing shack from the shops, made from an old Alco cab.

On the left is the operator’s cab from the CGW shop’s old DC overhead crane.

In front is a large signal cabinet.

Conrail Hopper 443005

Was built for the Pennsylvania railroad, renumbered for Penn Central, and finally Conrail.

Pullman 40′ Boxcar GCW 92105

Built for the Chicago Great Western in 1944 with steel sides. Has a brake wheel that is extended up to the roof, so a brakeman could walk along the roof catwalk and apply the brakes. The trucks were cast at the CGW car shop a few hundred feet away. Contains the museum’s signal display.

Minneapolis & St. Louis Flat car 16209

Has permanently attached bulkheads on either end. Used for Gypsum boards.

Contains the remnants of the sand tower from the Oelwein yard that was originally about 200 ft away.

REA Building

Built by Wells Fargo in 1912 for $4,146.56. Later doubled in size. Acquired by American Express Company in 1918. Became Railway Express Agency in 1930. Many things were shipped from here including live animals such as horses, furniture, and machinery. It was abandoned in 1969, and acquired by the museum in 1989.

Museum Building

Built as the new yard office in 1949 and added onto in possibly 1956. Dispatchers offices were on the top floor with crew restroom and shower facilities in the basement that was designated as a fallout shelter. There was a pneumatic tube system to relay messages up to the tower.

Yard tower

Built in 1956 to overlook the operations at the yard, and to direct the switching of cars. This was originally accomplished by a series of megaphones around the yard and a selector panel to direct the switchmen moving the rolling stock around. You can see the pneumatic tubes in the middle of the image to bring orders to and from the tower.