Nostalgia & History > Toto Tuesday: Storm brewing at NR

In the spring of 1978 I had an application in with Uncle John Santa Fe. I was hoping to get hired into train service (I did). But in between the US Postal Service & the Santa Fe I had an interim job flipping hamburgers at a local Hardees. I would usually be all done ‘flipping’ by 4 in the afternoon which allowed me to burn up some of Mr Eastman’s finest K-64 slide film.

The trouble was, it seemed like only eastbound trains were running in that afternoon time slot. Because of the newness of actually living in Emporia (as opposed to making a 75 minute drive down from Manhattan) I still felt compelled to shoot anything I could. On this particular afternoon I probably should have been indoors with all that electrical activity going on upstairs, but what does an excited 22 year old Santa Fe fan know?

Here are 3 crummy-weather throw away shots from March of 1978. That is until home scanning & photo-editing came along…

1. AT&SF scene looking west at Peyton St crossing at an eastbound train coming through town.

2. & 3. AT&SF 5629 crosses Peyton St, heading into some severe weather on the way to Argentine.
(3 photos taken March 13, 1978 at NR Jct in Emporia, KS)

Thanks for the lightning rod!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/22 22:36 by santafe199.

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I can smell the ozone in the air. Ha!

You're a brave man Lance!

My dad grew up in Nebraska and had a few close calls with lightning strikes. One of my cousins was a UP brakeman working between North Platte and Cheyenne...he was nearly stuck one night walking a train that had a UDE between Sidney and Lodgepole. The bolt hit a hopper car about 20 yards behind him. He said he felt the hair on his neck raise up and he hit the ground covering his head with his arms. He never feared lightning before that but he did afterward.

You ever had lightning hit the lead locomotive while you were on it??


Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/14 10:43 by bradleymckay.

What is a UDE?? Brake pipe/line failure?? A dynamiter ??

bradleymckay Wrote:

> You ever had lightning hit the lead locomotive while you were on it

Never did. Had a strike right outside an upstairs bedroom window (maybe 20 feet away?) at my Grandma's house when I was a kid. My ears rang all day from the immediate thunder crash...

kpcmcpkva Wrote:
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> What is a UDE?? Brake pipe/line failure?? A
> dynamiter ??

Dynamiter.


Allen