Don's Rail Photos

To the south of the harbor entrance at Milwaukee is a strip of land between Lake Michigan and the Kinnickinnic River. This land is called Jones Island. At the north end of the Island is a large plant where Milwaukee County's sewage is converted into a powerful fertilizer called Milorganite. When I was a kid, we used Milorganite on our lawn. This meant I had to push the lawn mower more often than I thought I should. But the grass really grew.

During my July 2000 vacation trip to Milwaukee, I made a return visit after 45 years. Most of the plant has been replaced, and even the name changed. The product is the same.

1 was a 20 Ton Plymouth which was built in July 1927, #2683, for Duluth Crushed Stone Co. The arrival date in Milwaukee is uncertain.

E-2 was an Evans Auto-Railer locomotive which was a demonstrator which never sold a duplicate. How it got to Milwaukee is one of those unknowns. But here is proof that it was on Jones Island.

2 was a 35 Ton Plymouth built in November 1954, #5824

Replacing the 2 was this locomotive which has no number. I found no builder information on it, but there are suggestions that it may be a Plymouth CR-8 built in the late 1980s. There also was a similar locomotive built by Republic Locomotive for which there is no known disposition.

Thanks to Gareth McDonald for roster information.

AMDG

8/5/2000