Nostalgia & History > Toto Tuesday: Argentine PR Classic!

In January of 1861 Kansas became the 34th state in the union. During the year 1961 I can remember my elders (mom, dad, aunts & uncles, etc) talking about the Centennial celebration for my native Sunflower State. I was only 5 years old (6 in June), but I seem to remember hearing about some event from time to time. I also remember my Grandma having an official booklet that provided details about Kansas & its Centennial. Every time we went to her house the “train-nut” in me just had to go look at her booklet. I didn’t pay much attention to most of it, bit there was this one really cool “train” picture in it…

I was browsing through some website several months ago and was excited to run across that very same image. I downloaded it with the honest intent of discovering the actual date & the photographer’s identity. But I got tangled up in another project and failed to do so. I’ve no doubt it’s an official Santa Fe photo, with the choreography of the F consists. But I’ve got no idea of the actual credit info.

It sure is an eyeful of candy with the carefully staggered positioning of passenger & freight F-unit consists. In 1961 this scene was burned forever into my memory: It is one of the early visual images that formed & guided this young railfan toward being a die-hard Santa Fe fan. Sweet memories for a soon-to-be 1st grader…

1. Santa Fe F-unit roundup in the Argentine Diesel Shops engine yard. This same photo was included in the official pamphlet for the Centennial celebration for the State of Kansas in 1961.
(Santa Fe photo, circa 1960?)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/22 21:32 by santafe199.

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Classic PR-type photo. In fact, I believe I have a postcard with this or a similar scene.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/14 09:37 by CrudPunko.

Absolutely gorgeous.....

Where are the PA-1's ?

I too have a postcard with this same image. Priceless.

Russell Honey
Springfield, MO
My Flickr page

The Kansas State Historical Society has a black-and-white version of this photo on their site.

http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/51756/page/1

They give the year as 1954, and while some of their dates are just "best guesses," this one is probably pretty close to the mark. None of the F's have grab irons above the windshield, so it's pre-1960, and passenger F's 336 and 337 were new in 1953, so it's later than that.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
> http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/51756/page/1
> They give the year as 1954...

Good enough for me...

Lance

Terrific shot.

Wasn't the "Santa Fe" sign on the side of the building saved some years back, if I recall?

Mostly single chime air horns, except on a couple of the passenger units. I can't tell ... are all the red/silver ones 300 class? I would like to know when the multi-chime horns began to appear and which units got them first.

John Wegner

Hi Lance...I just found my postcard of this photo, it was published by
Audio Visual Designs, Earlton New York and is credited as Santa Fe Railway Colorphoto.
The caption reads " An array of Santa Fe freight and passenger diesels serviced and ready
for mainline service as they emerge from the Argentine, Kansas Diesel Shop."
Take Care,
Scott

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/22 22:48 by sfdrrfan3.