Second 76 (symbol CC-6, a meat and high priority train--note reefers and TOFC in consist) has received a green flag from the operator at Wood and is rolling over one of the four switches the operators throw by hand. Taken with an old Kodak, 2.25 x 3.25 bellows camera, with a 100mm lens, as I recall. The top of the MP 184 marker is visible in the brush just to the right of the switch stand on the fireman's side of the lead unit. During the flood of 1965, the tracks here were raised two to three feet by dumping chat on the roadbed. After the Mississippi subsided, a platform was built on the west end of the building to provide solid footing for the operators. The train order board was kept in the "SD west" position and was seldom cleared, usually only for passenger trains no. 11 (The Hawkeye) and no. 13 (The Land O'Corn). The kerosene lamps on the switch stands were replaced with reflective markers a few years later. In the left foreground, the track on the left is the IC while that on the right is the MILW. I worked all three tricks at this station--it was a good place to learn how to copy and hand up train orders. (Train data confirmed by writing on back of scanned print.) Wood's telegraph call sign was SY, which I believe reflects on its history: In the 1942 Iowa Division ETT, Wood is not shown as a station but the special instructions refer to the crossing of the IC and the MILW in Dubuque as "South Junction". Wood was once on the opposite side of the tracks, about where the telegraph pole is in this photo. I'm not sure if it was the same building.
