Coal for University of Wisconsin-Madison’s power plant arrived via barge on the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien. It then was switched by this old Whitcomb locomotive, and picked up by a Wisconsin & Southern train. On May 8, 1997, the crew of the Whitcomb stands by as WSOR EMD SD20 No. 2016 picks up a string of loaded coal hoppers bound for Madison. The Whitcomb was built for the U.S. Army in 1943 as No. 7970. It was sold to Material Services, then went to Pillsbury in 1978, before becoming a numberless Prairie Sand & Gravel Co. locomotive, finally working coal hoppers at Prairie du Chien.
