Nostalgia & History > Maroon Monday: a dreary scene

I had the day off with no immediate errands to run. So I grabbed the camera and went in search of a RR subject. I found a likely subject, but apparently I wouldn’t have a cooperating weatherman. Oh well, as they say 2 outta 3 ain’t bad… I became aware of an eastbound Rock Island train ambling through my home town (of Manhattan, KS). I could hear the train whistling for crossings so the chase was on. For the first shot I took up a position on the east side of the Kaw (Kansas River) to shoot the train coming off the river bridge. I always liked this shot with the KS hwy 18/177 overpass creating some interesting compositional perspective. But in 3 or 4 attempts I never did get that perfectly sunlit shot.

I preceded this train over to Zeandale. This is a tiny dent-in-the-road community just down the road on KS hwy 18. In the car it’s barely a 10 minute drive. But the Rock Island boys would take nearly an hour to get there. It was a cold, clammy day in February but I had the usual railfan fantasy of the sun burning through the dismal cloud cover. Instead, the day would remain dark & very dreary. At Zeandale I parked where I could spot #74 approaching. I waited out the long minutes inside the friendly warmth of my trusty Datsun. At last a headlight appeared at the west end of the long tangent. I got out and hiked eastward down the track so I could get a signboard shot. But the train stopped at the west edge of town to line themselves into the siding. Then I watched as the train pulled in a ways, and dropped a man off to cut the crossing. Oh boy, this doesn’t look good! I walked back west and got into a conversation with the friendly head end crew. It was a meet alright, but the other train was still an undetermined l-o-n-g time from showing up.

Even a new and exuberant 21 year old railfan can lose heart at times. As the long minutes approached & passed the hour mark the dreary chill was draining my enthusiasm for getting these shots. But I guess the stubbornness of youth made me stay. It would be well over 2 hours before the westbound train finally made its appearance (thank God). I had fleeting notion to chase #74 on down to McFarland. But that would undoubtedly take me into a late afternoon time frame. So the combination of the dreary chill and the looming specter of a failed honey-do mission (not to mention the retribution from said honey) was enough to make me return to Manhattan. Besides, I now had a train to “chase” back home.

Total elapsed time from image #1 in Manhattan, to images #2 & #3 in Zeandale (approx. 8 miles) and back to Manhattan: Just under 4 hours…

1. CRI&P 356 on train #74 (?) crossing the Kansas River in Manhattan, KS.

2. #74 is now ‘in the hole’ at Zeandale, KS fixin’ to cut the crossing.

3. A lifetime later the rear end of train #73 (?) passes by on the mainline at Zeandale.
(3 photos taken February 23, 1977)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/22 21:26 by santafe199.

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Lance,

Re. your comments on my shot of the 286 earlier today - -

Give me about 10 minutes on the model desk, and I'll
clean 'er up - - no, that one might take a littler longer.

Jim

Actually, hadn't had time yet to do the weathering job.
Gotta go outside and get a pail of mud !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/14 11:03 by NKP715.

NKP715 Wrote:
> Give me about 10 minutes on the model desk, and I'll clean 'er up ...

LOL, big time!! :^)

The trainman in the red hat on the rear end of the west bound is the late Curtis Hallack from Belleville Kansas.

highmiles Wrote: > ...is the late Curtis Hallack from Belleville Kansas.

Many thanks, J T! All these years I thought having that conductor on the back overlooking the meet scene really dressed the shot up. I'm especially glad to attach a name to the image...

Lance

WOW! Excellent shots Sir L! Being a K-Stater, I love #1, but #2 really gives me the chill of those Kansas days where the weather is miserable.

Mike