Dennis,
I do remember the station. I took a train ride from Houghton
to Milwaukee for a military physical. I guess it was cheaper
that the Blue Goose which I later flew for a second trip to
Milwaukee. I graduated in Summer 1968 and was trying to go
Navy Civil Engineer Corps. I remember one of my civil professors,
known for his rather prudent spending, was on the train also.
But he ( I do not recall his name now ) was only going to Chassell
with his granddaughter. I guess she wanted to ride on the train
and grandpa could only afford the short few minutes of travel
to Chassell. Maybe he was going to the frat house in Chassell
also??
It was a sad day for the UP when the railroad went away. I
know many who used the train as great transportation; especially
those who did not like to fly. Oh well, we Americans have our
ways.
Rick Martin, 1968
***
I remember arriving at the Houghton depot in the morning after an all
night trip from the Soo. It was the late 40's and after school
ended at the Soo branch [ Soo Tech ] I had to get to Houghton
for summer surveying class. The train left the Soo in the afternoon and
went to Trout Lake for a long stop or perhaps we changed trains. Then it
was on to Pembine Wisc, where we got off and spent a few hours in the station
waiting for the train which came up from Chicago. Finally in the wee hours
of the morning we left for Houghton and arrived about midmorning. Not the
kind of trip easily forgotten.
Larry Watson 51
***
I remember taking the 14 hour trip from Detroit to Houghton in 1957 for
my freshman year at Tech hauling a large metal foot locker with all my
belongings. We called it the square wheel express back then.
Jim Roley 1962
***
I well remember the depot in downtown Houghton. My first year at Tech
was 58-59. I was a transfer from Benton Harbor Jr. College pursuing a ME
degree. I left my fiancé at home when I came up to Tech. When Winter
Carnival time came around in 1959, she decided to come up for the event.
I got her a room in the Union, and her brother drove her to Chicago to
catch the train for Houghton. It sure was a wonderful day when I went to
the depot to pick her up in a borrowed car, a wonderful week-end, and a
sad time when I had to take her back to the depot to go back home. We got
married the following September, and she came back up to Tech with me for
the last two years. The last year, we lived in the brand new student housing
up behind Wadsworth. This September, we will be married 49 years. You bet
I remember that Depot.
Andy Robinson "61"
***
I remember the depot and the Milwaukee Road train. Took it to Milwaukee
and back to 'Da Tech" once during my freshman year. I recall, if my
memory serves me correctly, it left Houghton at 7 PM and arrived
in Beer town at 7 AM the following morning after numerous and lengthy stops
along the way. It had earned the sobriquet of "The Square Wheeler".
The return trip, also overnight, was in the company of some
fellow Wadsworth friends returning from Philly who had, and shared, a fifth
of "antifreeze" (The
conductor also shared in a nip or two) and we arrived in Houghton
in the early morning darkness feeling quite mellow. After that trip I always "snared" a
ride, splitting the gas cost, or thumbed. Once was enough!!
Rick Mahringer
Forestry - 1966
***
I remember it well.
In 1957 I traveled with the Tech Band on a special train from
this depot to Colorado Springs for the NCAA hockey play offs.
Many students and local fans joined us for an enjoyable journey
to the West.
Later I returned to this depot from an interview trip to US
Steel in North Chicago. The train stopped in Baraga for a fresh
roll and coffee for breakfast served on the train.
Kyle R Ericson
BSME 1959
***
Dennis,
The only thing I remember about the train was that when we
heard it go by on the railroad tracks below DHH, the day's
mail would arrive at the dorm mailroom about two hours later.
Back "when dirt was young", without modern communications
technology, we waited expectantly outside the wall of pigeon
hole boxes, hoping there would appear in the little window
a letter from the girl friend back home.
Could today's student even imagine that each precinct of DHH
shared one phone stuck in a cubby hole in the hall wall? I
believe there was a buzzer in each room. The switchboard operator
signaled the person being called to come to that phone. I got
maybe two calls a year.
Larry Doyle
Class of 1964
***
In September 1948 I boarded a train in Providence, RI and headed to Houghton.
I had traveled quite a bit by train in the East and had seen many large
train stations. After 24 hours riding trains, I arrived in Houghton and
was met by hockey coach Amo Bessone at the smallest depot I had ever seen.
The depot looked smaller than our streetcar exchange station in downtown
Providence. For the next nine months, I lived in the Dee flats above the
Board of Trade Bar on Isle Royale St. about 100 yards from the depot. I
heard the two trains a day arriving and departing for Chicago and Detroit.
I have memories of boarding trains at the depot to go back home, traveling
with the hockey them and meeting friends coming from out of town. My saddest
memory is arriving back from Grayling in 1950 with Coach Bessone after
the fatal bus accident.
Bob Monahan
