Nostalgia & History > Springmaid visits Newton, KS

TO member (mopacrr) & retired MP/UP engineer Tony Fey was on hand in his home town of Newton, KS to record this interesting scene 43 years ago. 4 passenger cars owned by the Lancaster & Chester RR arrived on the tail end of Santa Fe train #24. They were cut off & turned for further forwarding to Texas on train #15. Tony believes these were ex-Reading RR cars and were named as follows: “Innovator”, “Motivator”, “Stimulator” & “Educator”.

1. AT&SF 47C arrives, leading train #24 across Main St in Newton, KS. Note the crossing watchman tower, which will be torn down in a few short weeks.

2. #24 with the “Springmaid” cars at the rear end crossing Main.

3. #24 has pulled ahead for the regular station stop (passengers, mail & express, fuel & water service). The late Allan Ramsey is seen at the left shooting the scene.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/22 00:04 by santafe199.

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4. It is now afternoon and the Springmaid cars have been turned on the wye. They are ready for attachment to train #15 (the Texas Chief) after midnight.
(4 photos taken by Tony Fey on October 3, 1970)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Tony Fey (mopacrr)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/22 00:06 by santafe199.

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Nice pics.. What does this area look like today? So the Watchman's tower was torn down in 1970?

Steve

Those cars have the Preamble Express / AFT office cars look to them

Fabtastic look at pre-Amtrak railroading. This train became the Preamble Express of the American Freedom Train.

BSB

bluesboyst Wrote:
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> Nice pics.. What does this area look like today?
> So the Watchman's tower was torn down in 1970?
>
> Steve


I think all of the sheds are gone now. Maybe just one. Wow! What a great set of photos for a great event. Thank you for sharing.

bluesboyst Wrote:

> ... What does this area look like today?

All train sheds have been removed and have been cobbled together to provide shelter for the old 2-6-2 steamer 1880 over in Military Park on Broadway St. Gone with the train sheds is all of the fueling & watering apparatus that served Santa Fe passenger trains for decades. The cement platform between mains #1 & #2 is still in place, although crumbling & very weedy in places. All other platforms have long since been removed. Looking west from Main Street the roundhouse area is almost unrecognizable from 1970, as are the various businesses & buildings surrounding the US Post Office. The many "yard" tracks that crossed Main Street have been removed or stubbed on the east side of Main. There are now just the 3 main tracks that actually cross Main St, comprising BNSF's NE to SW slice through town. The former Middle Division Office Building east of the passenger station is now Newton City Hall and has been heavily remodeled trackside. About the ONLY thing that has not changed is the basic appearance of the former AT&SF passenger station. But the classic Santa Fe blue & white neon circle-cross & the neon "Leonida's" restaurant signs are long since gone from the SW corner of the station. The classic & quintessential Santa Fe passenger hub in Newton, Kansas is now just a pale ghost of what it once was...

Lance

Thanks for the pictures. The first one looks like a perfect layout for a model railroader.

sp5312 Wrote:
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> Those cars have the Preamble Express / AFT office
> cars look to them


I bet that those are the same cars and 5 years later they would join the AFT project.

Just one thing- the "top" of the signaltower is still with us; south-west of town is a waiting stop for children to be snug during bad weather. wag216

wag216 Wrote:
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> Just one thing- the "top" of the signaltower is
> still with us; south-west of town is a waiting
> stop for children to be snug during bad weather.
> wag216


The watchman's tower is from Broadway St. If you will note the beamed structure below was put to gather after the rear sleeper the on No. 15 Texas Chief split the switch in main street and snagged the tower causing the crossing watchman to make hasty departure down the steps. Not sure what year it happened but in 68 or 69 sometime.

Those cars are in the fact the same ones that were purchased by the American Freedom Train Foundation to tour as the Preamble Express and then went on to be used on the AFT itself.

Tom

I have been trying to track down what happened to the L&C cars after their tour on the Freedom Train. Did they do back to the L&C, and are they still around?

SWEET! I remember the watchman tower. For years, it was a school bus shelter at a place that also had and orchard on Ridge Road. It seems to have moved a mile east and a little north now, as this google map shot shows.

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mopacrr Wrote:

> If you
> will note the beamed structure below was put to
> gather after the rear sleeper the on No. 15
> Texas Chief split the switch in main street and
> snagged the tower causing the crossing watchman to
> make hasty departure down the steps. Not sure what
> year it happened but in 68 or 69 sometime.

Mike Hurley's Newton Kansas, #1 Santa Fe Rail Hub 1871-1971 says it was the last three sleepers on #16 that knocked over the tower on March 8, 1964.

Looks like an H12-44 doing the switching. Seems like that was about the western end of their territory - I haven't come across photos of Santa Fe FM switchers working further west than Hutchinson.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/13 13:40 by Evan_Werkema.

a number of the uprights for the trainshed were incorporated into the farmers' market in downtown Hutchinson KS

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> mopacrr Wrote:
>
> > If you
> > will note the beamed structure below was put
> to
> > gather after the rear sleeper the on No. 15
> > Texas Chief split the switch in main street and
> > snagged the tower causing the crossing watchman
> to
> > make hasty departure down the steps. Not sure
> what
> > year it happened but in 68 or 69 sometime.
>
> Mike Hurley's Newton Kansas, #1 Santa Fe Rail Hub
> 1871-1971 says it was the last three sleepers on
> #16 that knocked over the tower on March 8,
> 1964.
>
> Looks like an H12-44 doing the switching. Seems
> like that was about the western end of their
> territory - I haven't come across photos of Santa
> Fe FM switchers working further west than
> Hutchinson.
Thanks I forgot to look in Mike Hurley's book as I didn't think to look there;so much for my memory

NICE. Thanks for Tony for sharing !

After seeing the L&C cars I remembered I had some shots of yje ex L&C cars used in the Pre Amble Express. Heres 2 shots on the Valrico Sub on the way to Miami, FL on 10/16/1974.
I have shots of all 4 cars in Pre Amble scheme at Tampa Union Station if any one is interested.
Stan

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

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Yes Stan, Please post the cars at Tampa Union Station please. Charles