Steam & Excursion > #4449 and the AFT around the Bay in Dec. 1975

I was a volunteer member of the American Freedom Train in 1975 and 1976 and even to this day at 67, one of the great experiences of my entire life. I shot thousands of pictures, some B&W, some color and lots of slides. Earlier this year, I was cleaning up my office and found a coffee can full of exposed Kodak rolls. I sent the rolls to the Swan-Seawood Photo Shop in San Anselmo and had the rolls developed and scanned. The majority were Kodak Tri-X 400 ASA. I thought that I had developed all of my #4449 and the American Freedom Train many years ago, however to my great surprise, photos from December, 1975 were in that can. As you can imagine, there were photographers everywhere and I didn't want to take shots were other folks were. The first shot, shows the #4449, from the Bayshore Hill (as was the only one up there) as it swings around the curve at the south end of Bayshore yard. The next image, two days later, shot from the Ft. Mason Hill, (again, I was the only one up there with a camera) shows the display cars being dragged along the Marina Green to the Presidio at Crissy Field by City Belt #25. The curve at the east end of Aquatic Park at 16 degrees was at that time thought to be to tight for the #4449 so it was displayed HOT at the east end of Aquatic Park.The last photo, shows the #4449 coming off the west end of Dumbarton Bridge. I will probably add some more pictures crossing the bridge to this thread later. Text and Photos by Mike Pechner, COPYRIGHT. 2014, All Rights Reserved.

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Here is another shot from the Hill with a 200 mm. lens. All shots were taken with a Canon AE-1. The prints are scanned at 600 DBI.

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Here is the train almost to the Redwood City side of the Bridge.

Here is a shot just after passing thru the swing span.

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THANK you, THANK you, THANK YOU, Mike,
for those great photos -- ESPECIALLY the
Dumbarton rail bridge shots! Super, mega-
RARE shots! I LOVE the first bridge shot --
IOTD!!

Man, am I GLAD you found that coffee can
of film!!!

(Boy, do I wish I had gone to see her cross the
bridge -- but I didn't know she was going to be
there then -- to my eternal regret.)

Excellent shots Mike ...

Regards,
Burlington John

Hope there are more, these are so interesting to see. I really like the train at the Marina, as by the time I was old enough to remember those tracks were rusting away.

Nathan

I'm amazed to know that exposed but undeveloped film will last that long without significant degradation. Nice job.

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

Harlock Wrote:
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> I'm amazed to know that exposed but undeveloped
> film will last that long without significant
> degradation. Nice job.


Sitting in a coffee can without exposure to the elements. Too bad Mike didn't use a yellow filter on his lense. Would have perked the images up

Hey Harlock, feel free to photoshop them and see what you come up with!

weather Wrote:
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> Hey Harlock, feel free to photoshop them and see
> what you come up with!

As suggested.

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Mike, those are great historical photos. Hard to believe the film lived that long, but the results are hard to dispute, too.

Better

Thanks for sharing such great photos of such a historic event. I've said it before, but that was one of the greatest things this country ever did, and it was supported mostly by private money.

Here, I have perked up the first image a bit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/14 08:55 by wabash2800.

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I'll have another Pepsi in appreciation. The impact of the AFT is still being appreciated and felt almost 40 years after the operations. Many of us volunteers here in Portland understand that we are able to "work" at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center because of the AFT. These are great pictures. Arlen

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Thanks for sharing such great photos of such a
> historic event. I've said it before, but that was
> one of the greatest things this country ever did,
> and it was supported mostly by private money.
>
> Here, I have perked up the first image a bit.


The AFT was certainly great and I am immensely grateful that the 4449 was restored for it, allowing us to still appreciate her in action today, but one of the greatest things the country ever did? Hyperbole much?

Perhaps I should have said, "greatest publicity event celebrating the heritage of our country". (It sure beats fireworks!) And if it were not for private funds and the work of Ross Rowland, it would have never happened. Also, when you think about the average condition of the nation's railroad's at the time, it's amazing that it did happen. In this day and age, for many reasons, most of today's railroads would have said NO.

pennengineer Wrote:
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> Hyperbole much?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/14 14:42 by wabash2800.

Very good; I agree with you there!

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Perhaps I should have said, "greatest publicity
> events celebrating the heritage of our country".
> (It sure beats fireworks!) And if it were not for
> private funds and the work of Ross Rowland, it
> would have never happened. Also, when you think
> about the average condition of the nation's
> railroad's at the time, it's amazing that it did
> happen. In this day and age, for many reasons,
> most of today's railroads would have said NO.
>
> pennengineer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hyperbole much?

And without a diesel in the train...amazing. I saw the train in San Juan Capistrano

Even better