University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Eichelberg, Robert W.

Papers, [circa 1890]-1983 (bulk 1950s-1960).

UWM Manuscript Collection 228

3.4 cubic ft. (8 boxes)


ABSTRACT:  The collection contains photographs and negatives of engines (locomotives), rolling stock, electric interurbans, and streetcars from various railroad and railway companies including the Chicago & North Western Railroad; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific (The Milwaukee Road); the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company; and the North Shore Line.  Many were taken by Robert W. Eichelberg, who was an amateur railroad photographer and part-time employee of Chicago & North Western Railroad.  The collection also contains some published rail-related items.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The collection is divided into several series, based on format: Photo Albums, Negatives, Photographs, and Printed Material.  The majority of the collection consists of photographs and negatives, taken predominately in the 1950's, presumably by Eichelberg.  The original order of the material was maintained whenever possible, and some of the descriptions offered below reflect the original label text, which may or not be accurate.  Images were taken largely in Wisconsin, but Illinois and Iowa are also well represented.  Many of the photographs are stamped with Eichelberg's identifier, but other stamps indicative of other photographers are found in the collection, including Edwin Wilson, Alvin Lea, and Kaufmann & Fabry and Co., a commercial photography firm located in Chicago. Many of the photographs capture the declining years of the electric interurban and streetcar systems. (The last electric streetcar in Milwaukee was discontinued on March 2, 1958).  Eichelberg photographed retired and abandoned streetcars, and in one case, the dismantling of a streetcar. A few reprints of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs (denoted as reprints in the list below by the use of brackets) offer interesting views of downtown Milwaukee.  Other images show mid-century Milwaukee-area street scenes. 

Eichelberg identified his negatives variably using the following terms: engines or electric railways, railroad and railway companies, dates and locations where the photographs were taken, route numbers, individual car numbers and types of views.  A few interior streetcar views are included in this series.  The negatives retain Eichelberg's own descriptive system, and their organization at the time of donation to the Archives is intact.

The printed material contains rail-related documents dating largely from the 1940's and 1950's, including Chicago & North Western Railroad Operating Department Rule Books and employee time tables, train schedules from various companies, and A Street Railway Guide of Milwaukee including Motor Bus Routes published by the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company circa 1924.  Newspaper clippings, largely from the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel, relate to train wrecks, tower fires, anniversary runs, last rides of streetcars and interurbans, dedications and advertisements of new trains, and the 1949 Railroad Fair in Chicago, Illinois.

 

The following company abbreviations are often used in this collection:

 

Company Name Abbreviation
Cedar Rapids & Iowa City CR&IC
Chicago & North Western C&NW
Chicago, Aurora & Elgin CA&E
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific CMStP&P
Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee CNS&M
Chicago Rapid Transit CRT
Chicago Surface Lines CSL
Chicago Transit Authority CTA
Ft. Dodge, Des Moines & Southern FtDDM&S
Illinois Electric Railway Museum IERM
Kenosha Motor Coach Lines KMCL
Mason City & Clear Lake MC&CL
Milwaukee & Suburban Transport M&ST
The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light TMER&L
The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport TMER&T
Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail MRT&S
Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Soo
Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern WCF&N
Wisconsin Electric Power Company WEPCO

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Robert W. Eichelberg was born on October 16, 1933.  On January 15, 1962, while working for the Chicago & North Western Railroad as a bridgetender in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was critically injured.  At that time, he was a law student at Marquette University.  Eichelberg died in Milwaukee on May 16, 1999.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Eichelberg, Robert W.  Papers, [circa 1890]-1983 (bulk 1950s-1960). UWM Manuscript Collection 228. University Manuscript Collection. Archives. UWM Libraries.  University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Milwaukee Electric Railway Companies. Records. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 86)

Beggs, John I., 1847-1925.  Papers. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 182 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 77)

ACQUISITION:  Marilyn A. DeBoth donated this collection in June 2002 (accession number 2001-117).

PROCESSING:  Ann McIntyre and Ellen Engseth processed the collection at the Archives in September-December 2005.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 228.

1. Photo Albums, 1949-1955, undated.

BOX

FOLDER

Electric Railways, Ft. Dodge, Des Moines & Southern; Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern; Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, 1952-1954, undated

   1

       1-2

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Milwaukee Electric Lines, 1952-1953, undated

   1

       3-4

Electric Railways, Milwaukee Streetcars, undated

   1

       5-6

Electric Railways, North Shore Line, undated

   2 

       1-2

Electric Railways, North Shore Line; Milwaukee Limited; Chicago Limited; Chicago Express; Waukegan Express, undated

   2

       3-4

Engines, Chicago & North Western System, 1951-1955, undated

   3

       1-2

Engines, Soo Line; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific, undated

   3

       3-4

Engines and Rolling Stock, Chicago & North Western; Soo Line; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific, undated

   3

       6

Engines and Rolling Stock, Chicago & North Western System, 1949-1954, undated

   3

       5

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 228.

2. Negatives, 1932-1961, undated.

 

 

Electric Railways, Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, 1954-1955, undated

   5

       3

Electric Railways, Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, Close Ups, Freight Locomotives, Utility Cars, 1957

   5

       9

Electric Railways, Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, Close Ups, Interurbans, 1949,1957, undated

   5

       10

Electric Railways, Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, Views, 1949 and 1957, undated

   5

       8

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Freight Locomotives, Close Ups, 1954-1961, undated

   5

       15

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Interurbans, Close Ups, 1948-1961, undated

   5

       17

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Main Line Views, 1954-1961 , undated

   5

       12

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Merchandise Cars, Close Ups, 1954-1958 , undated

   5

       16

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Milwaukee City Line, 1951

   5

       18

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Mundelein Branch Views, 1955, 1958-1961

   5

       11

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, “Shore Line” Views, 1955

   5

       13

Electric Railways, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, Utility Cars, Close Ups, 1955,1961, undated

   5

       14

Electric Railways, Chicago Surface Lines; Chicago Rapid Transit; Chicago Transit Authority, 1957-1961, undated

   5

       5
Electric Railways, Connecticut No. 500, undated    5        46

Electric Railways, Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern, 1952-1955, undated

   5

       6

Electric Railways, Illinois Electric Railway Museum, 1956-1958

   5

       4
Electric Railways, Mason City & Clear Lake, 1956    5        2

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, 3rd – Burnham, 3rd – So. 13th, Route No’s. 19-37, Car numbers in 500’s and 800’s, undated

   5

       30

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, City Car Close Ups, Car numbers in 500’s, undated

   5

       19

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, City Car Close Ups, Car numbers in 600’s, undated

   5

       20

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, City Car Close Ups, Car numbers in 700’s, undated

   5

       21 

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, City Car Close Ups, Car numbers in 1,000’s, undated

   5

       24

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company; Kenosha Motor Coach Lines; Milwaukee & Suburban Transport, Freight Locomotives and Utility Cars, 1950-1958, undated

   5

       37

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company; Kenosha Motor Coach Lines, Interurbans, 1947-1956, undated

   5

       38

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Kinnickinnic Ave., Rts. 40-16, Car numbers in 800’s and 900’s, 1953

   5

       25

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Milwaukee & Suburban Transport, City Car Close Ups, Car numbers in 800’s, 1955, 1957, undated

   5

       22

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Milwaukee & Suburban Transport, City Car Close Ups, Car numbers in 900’s, 1957-1958, undated

   5

       23

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Milwaukee & Suburban Transport,  Howell Ave.,  Route No. 11, Car numbers in 800’s and 900’s, 1953, 1956, undated

   5

       28

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company; Milwaukee & Suburban Transport, National Ave., Route No. 18, Car numbers in 900’s, 1955

   5

       31

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company; Milwaukee & Suburban Transport, Vliet St., Route No. 11-16-18, Car numbers in 900’s, 1955

   5

       29

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company; Milwaukee & Suburban Transport, Wells – Farwell – West Allis – Wauwatosa, Route No. 10, Car numbers in 500’s, 800’s and 900’s, 1953-1958, undated

   5

       26

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Miscellaneous Views, undated

   5

       35

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Oakland – Delaware, Route 15, Car numbers in 500’s, 600’s, 800’s, 900’s, 1949-1958, undated

   5

       27

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, State Street, Route No. 17, Car number 943, undated

   5

       32

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company, Wisconsin – 12th Fond du Lac, Route No. 12-23, Car numbers in 900’s, 1948, 1951, undated

   5

       34

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, No. 1025, undated

   5

       43

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, No. 1115, undated

   5

       39

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Nos. 1128, 1129, 1932 August 8

   5

       45

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, No. 1135, undated

   5

       40

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Parlor “Mendota”, undated

   5

       41

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Rear View of Parlor “Mendota”, undated

   5

       44

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Rear View of Parlor “Winnebago", undated

   5

       42

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company; Wisconsin Electric Power Company, Lakeside Line, Car number 882, 1955, 1957, undated

   5

       33

Electric Railways, Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail Company, 1950, undated

   5

       36

Electric Railways, Miscellaneous, 1950-1959, undated

   5

       1

Electric Railways, Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern, 1954-1956, undated

   5

       7

Engines, Chicago & North Western, 1945-1959, undated

   4

       6-7

Engines, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific, 1947-1956, undated

   4

       5

Engines, Class I Railroad Action Shots, 1952-1958, undated

   4

       2

Engines, Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, 1949-1959, undated

   4

       4

Engines, Miscellaneous, 1949-1959, undated

   4

       3
Unidentified, with photo record and list of undeveloped negatives, 1958-1961    8        12

Unidentified girl with cornstalk, undated

   4

       1

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 228.

3. Photographs, [circa 1890]-1983, undated.

 

 

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Freight and work cars, 1948-1959, undated

   6

       1

Electric Railways, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Streetcars, [circa 1908], 1947-1952, undated

   6

       2

Electric Railways, Miscellaneous Interurban Lines, undated

   6

       3

Electric Railways, "North Shore Cars" and others, [circa 1890's], [1910], 1946-1949, 1962, undated

   6

       4

Engines, Milwaukee Road Fan Trip, 1954 May 23

   6

       5

Engines, Miscellaneous Railroad Photographs, [circa 1890, 1900]-1983, undated

   6

       6

Engines, Soo Line, circa 1925, 1938-1958, undated

   6

       7

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 228.

4. Printed Material, circa 1924-1965, undated.

 

 

Blueprint, Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Co., Interurban passenger car, undated

   7

       1

Blueprint, Motor Freight Car for Interurban Railway, undated

   7

       2

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 1, 1956, 1958-1959

   8

       1

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 2,  1957-1959

   8

       2

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 3,  1956, 1958, 1960

   8

       3

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 4,  1956, 1959, 1960

   8

       4

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 5,  1957, 1959, 1961

   8

       5

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 6,  1957, 1959

   8

       6

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 7,  1956, 1959, 1961

   8

       7

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 8,  1955, 1957, 1960, 1961

   8

       8

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 9,  1958, 1960

   8

       9

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 10, 1961

   8

       10

Employee Time Tables, Chicago & North Western, No. 11, 1957, 1961

   8

       11
Map, Street Railway Guide of Milwaukee Including Motor Bus Routes, The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co., circa 1924

   7

       3

Newspaper Clippings, 1946-1965

   7

       4

Pocket Train Schedules, Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, 1953

   7

       5

Pocket Train Schedules, Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, 1950

   7

       6

Pocket Train Schedules, Kenosha Motor Coach Lines, 1944-1947, undated

       7    

       7

Pocket Train Schedules, Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport, 1948-1952

   7

       8

Pocket Train Schedules, Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail; Waukesha Interurban Speedrail, 1949-1951

   7

       9

Pocket Train Schedules, North Shore Lines, 1954

   7

       10

Pocket Train Schedules, Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern, 1952

   7

       11

Rule Books, Chicago & North Western System, 1929, 1953

   7

       12

Scrapbook, Picture Journal, 1957 December 1

   7

       13

Train Order, Chicago & North Western System, signed by Eichelberg, 1956 July 1

   7

       14

Train Schedules, Chicago & North Western, 1955, 1956-1960

   7

       15

Train Schedules, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, Milwaukee Road, 1954-1955, 1958-1960

   7

       16 

Train Schedules, Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railway Co., North Shore Line, 1953-1961

   7

       17  

Train Schedules, Waukegan-North Chicago Transit, Red Line-Green Line-Orange Line, 1955

   7

       18

Train Tickets, 1951, 1953-1955, undated

   7

       19

 

  

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Last edited on Thursday, February 9, 2006.
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