Dear Dennis,
The emails on the railroad into Houghton brought back some good memories of my handful of train rides there. I went from Peoria on the Rock Island Line to Chicago and then transferred to the Milwaukee Road, which went the rest of the way to Houghton. At that time it was also known to Tech students as the Square Wheels Limited, since the tracks north of Iron Mountain were so worn that the ride for the final 100+ miles was rather bouncy. As I remember, it stopped at a little town (Channing?) and we were able to get some food there to break up the 10+ hour ride. It connected to the Soo Line trackage at Ishpeming, which took us the rest of the way there.

I vaguely remember the depot in Houghton, which was located between the business district and Portage Lake.

Neil Foreman ’67

Neil: Sounds like a heckuva ride! I rode a Greyhound to Milwaukee once, and I swear it took 12-15 hrs.

Thanks for the response. As I understood it, the train was used primarily as a mail, rather than a passenger, carrier at that time, so the Milwaukee Road probably didn’t feel the mail would mind bumpy tracks. Anyway, it didn’t allow us much sleep on that distance, despite the fact that most of the route was covered after dark. Unlike the Northwestern, which also served parts of the UP, it didn’t have a dining car, so the stop I mentioned was really welcome.

Neil Foreman ’67