Checks can be sent to:  R. Donald Ross, 3821 Crater Lake Ct, Irving, TX 75062-4015

Don's Rail Photos

Under Construction

1 was built by Baldwin in August 1897, #15435. as Ferrocarril Coahuila-Zacatecas 1..  It was sold to Early West Ry at Chino, CA, in 1965 and resold as Specialty Restaurants.  It was donated to Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Assn in November 1983 and transferred as MCRR 1.

1 was built by H K Porter in November 1912, #5540, as Argent Lumber Co 1.  It was donated to Savannah Kiwanis Club at Savannah GA in January 1960.   It was sold to Petticoat Junction RR as 7 in 1964 and sold to Fred Hallmark in February 1985.  It was sold to MCRR as 1 in April 2019.

2 was built by Baldwin in August 1906, #28868, as New Berlin & Winfield RR 2.  It was sold as ALCo 2 in July 1917 and sold as MCRR 2 in January 1960.

2, 10 Ton, was built by Vulcan Iron Works in February1935, #4175, as Frederick Snare Corp 2.  It was sold to MW and painted it as MCRR MW 101 for several years.  It was restored as FSCorp 2.

3 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1911 as Mason City & Clear Lake RR 102. In 1961 it became Iowa Terminal RR 3. It was sold to the MERR at Mount Pleasant in 1973.  It went to Branford Electric Ry Museum in 2005 but owned by National Capital Trolley Museum.  It was later went to Rockhill Trolley Museum in 2012.

6 was built by Baldwin in October 1891, #12288, as Surry Sussex & Southampton Ry 6.  It was rebuilt in 1918 and rebuilt as ALCo 6 in 1930.  It was rebuilt in 1953 and rebuilt as MCRR 6 in 1960.

9 was built by Lima on April 23, 1923. #3199, as Hetch Hetchy & Yosemite Valley Ry 9.  It became Pickering Lumber Co 9 in 1925 and West Side Lumber Co 9 in July 1934.  It became Pickering  in 1958 but it was still lettered as WSLCo 9 in 1960.  It was taken over by Fibreboard Paper in 1965.  It was sold to Midwest Old Settlers & Threshers Assn, Midwest Central RR in July 1966.  It was leased on Georgetown Loop RR from January 2011 and returned to Iowa in June 2019. 

D-9, MDT, was built by Plymouth in 1956, #5902, as Carbon Limestone Co, D-9.  It was retired in 1983 and sold to MCRR in early 1990s.

14, MDT 40T, was built by Plymouth in 1965, #6453, as CLCo D-14.  It was retired in 1983 and sold to MCRR in early 1990s.

16 was built by Henschel & Sohn in 1951, #27123, as Erzbergbau Salzditter 16.  It was purchased by MCRR in 2011 and the gauge was changed.  Boiler inspection has caused that it may sell off.

2056 was built by the Davenport Locomotive Works of Davenport, Iowa in December 1925, #2056. (Formerly known as W.W. Whitehead & Company and later known as the Davenport Besler Corporation.)   2056 was built for P.T. Clifford and Sons of Valpariso, Indiana for track work and grading near Pierron, Illinois. After being sold to the Penn Coal Co in 1930, the tanker was converted to standard gauge by Davenport Besler Corporation. The records are not clear for the period of 1930-1937. It is known that from May 1937 until September 1948 it worked in a gravel pit somewhere in Illinois, after which it was then sold to H.B. Graham in Gladstone, Illinois.  .The next ten years it sat idle until January 10, 1958 when the 20-ton tanker engine was purchased for $400 by MCRR and moved to McMillian Park in Mt Pleasant, Iowa. It became a static display on the east side of the Hillsboro depot at the start of the Midwest Central Railroad. It was sold to Kim Graham and set up at West Liberty Heritage Park as Heritage Park Short Line 2056.

 9 was built by Barber Car in 1912 as a single truck car. It was sold and rebuilt as double truck car Centerville Albia & Southern Ry 9 in 1915.  It was sold as Iowa Southern Utilities 9 in 1916 and Southern Iowa Ry 9 in 1941.  It was used in work service until restored by the NRHS. In 1968 it was sold to the MERM at Mount Pleasant.

320 was built by Jewett Car Co in 1914, as Aurora Elgin & Chicago 320.  It became Chicago Aurora & Elgin in 1922.  It was modernized at an unknown date and sold to Iowa Chapter NRHS in 1962.  It was transferred to MERM in 1968.

381 was built by Perley Thomas Co in 1930, #142, as Knoxville Power & Light Co 379.  It was sold to Waterloo Cedar Falls & Northern as 381 in 1948 and retired in 1958.  It was preserved by City of Waterloo and transferred to MERM in 1972.

1100 was built by American Car Co in 1917, #1103, as Mississippi River Power Co 1100.  It became Union Electric Co and acquired by MERR in 2002.

1718 was built by Rio de Janeiro Tramway Light & Power in 1911 as 1718.  It was sold to U S Association of Railway Museums in 1965 and sold to Magee Transportation Museum in 1966.  It was sold as MERR 1718 in 1973.

1776 was built by RdeJL&P in 1911 as 1776.  It was sold to U S Association of Railway Museums in 1965 and sold to MTM in 1966.  It was sold as MERR 1776 in 1973.

1948 was built by Officine Meccanche in 1929 as Azienda Tramviaria Municipale 1948.  It was sold to MERR.

3279 was built by Boston Elevated Ry in 1912.  It became Boston Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1947 and it became Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority in 1964.  It was sold to Midwest Electric Ry Museum in 1995.

If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, your should approach God first with all your heart.  Ask Him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.

---St. Vincent Ferrer