Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 28

28   Harrisburg PA   July 2-5
I'm tackling Harrisburg alone because so much happened.
Finally the calendar rolled around to the Big One: The 4th of July. The original plan had been for the train to display in New York City at Grand Central Terminal – for about a month! But that plan began to fall apart as the impracticality of the idea began to set in – getting electrical power, crowd control, the shear size of the consist, etc.
When this date finally collapsed in January '76, the scramble was on to fill this huge hole in the AFT calendar. Most of July was up for grabs. Harrisburg jumped at the chance, and wanted the 4th.
They got it.

But, Harrisburg of all places? (No offense.) In fact, not even Harrisburg, but near Harrisburg. We were on another military supply depot across the Susquehanna River from town.
But let me back up to Cumberland. We left Cumberland on the Western Maryland RR. It wasn't a particularly long run, but it promised to be interesting because we were to have three special guests aboard – former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower; Donald Kendall, president of Pepsi – an important sponsor of the AFT – (There were sternly worded memos: HIDE THE COKE); and the Postmaster General – who seemed not to have an actual name. All would meet the train in Gettysburg and travel to York.
On the way to Gettysburg, we paused in Hagerstown for three hours to wait for sunrise: This would be a daylight run. I was shocked when alongside rolled an EMD BL-2 with a cut of cars! Jeez! I had no idea there were any BL-2s still in service. Apparently Hagerstown had two that worked locally. I'll be damned.

Photo 1 – BL-2. WM 81. Gotta love the Army tank!

There was a huge crowd in Gettysburg to see Mamie off. She lived near Gettysburg, but I guess seeing her must have been an unusual event? She boarded the 205 Car, gave a quick wave, and was ushered inside. They moved her forward to the 204 (which had seating more like a parlor car) and we were off. Well, sort of. There's quite a grade out of Gettysburg and we needed a nudge to get started. WM had a diesel nearby and they gave us a shove for maybe five minutes and then cut off on the fly.
There was plenty of security (Secret Service?) They were pack'n heat and serious stick eye. But, hey, the AFT was our HOME. We lived here, and she'd taken over what we considered our living room. So three of us, Jim (night operations), me, and I can't remember who the third was, decided to go say hello. We got past her security in the vestibule, with some lame mumbled excuse about needing to get to the rear of the train, and found Mamie seated alone in a parlor seat. We introduced ourselves and, to the horror of “her people,” sat down. They quickly scrambled to run us off, but just as quickly her jaw came out and she hissed at them to “back off!”
She was a kick.
She was curious about the train and the exhibits we had aboard, but mostly about us – where we were from, where we'd been, etc. The trip to York was a short one, only about 35 miles, so it was a quick visit. At York, it was another big crowd. She was hustled off and into a waiting limo. That was fun!

Photo 2 – Crowd it Gettysburg.
Photo 3 – Mamie comes aboard.
Photo 4 – Mamie (back of Jim's head). I wonder if that's the Postmaster General behind her?
Photo 5 – And off she goes at York – limo at the ready.
Photo 6 – Ma&Pa 86 in York. The car behind it is like atomic or something!

I never saw Donald Kendall – he rode the T-1 all the way. And I don't know which one was the Postmaster General. He apparently doesn't wear a uniform of any kind.
At York it was onto the Penn Central ... no, wait! Conrail. This was July 1, so that would make Conrail only, what, 62 days old?
Photo 7 below needs some explanation. Originally the Pie Car (Staff Diner) had been operated as a sort of franchise. But shortly after I joined the train in January, those people gave up – they couldn't make enough money to keep it going. But the Pie Car was a necessity, especially for those of us who lived aboard. More often than not, there simply was no other place to go for our meals. So the AFT was forced to run the car themselves. The staff (usually two) were AFT employees from that point on, and the meals were heavily subsidized to keep the prices down. If I recall a full breakfast or lunch was under $2 and dinner ran between $2.50 and $3.50, depending on the entree. Necessary as it may have been, AFT headquarters in Bailey's Crossroads (where ever the hell THAT was) always grumbled about the cost of the Pie Car.
Because of the 4th, and our proximity to possibly fictional Bailey's Crossroads, some of the folks from headquarters came out to ride the train on this move. Mindy, who ran the car, decided to poke a bit of fun at their never-ending criticism of her budget keeping. Check out that menu.
Not bad for Price Fixe $1.25! Thank You Bailey's! Keep the change!

Photo 7 – Go easy on the first five courses, because I hear the Petit Pois are quite good tonight!

We arrived in Harrisburg in the evening. For some reason there was a delay getting onto the site itself and we cooled our heels (wheels) out on the main, but no worries. The day had one more RR treat, and we had good seats: GG-1s! Dirty, black, and impressive, hustled by!

Photo 8 – GG-1s! Like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time – I was not disappointed!

Well, the 4th of July for the AFT looked to be kind of anticlimactic. Maybe Pie Car Mindy had something special planned for dinner? I think Ross and his wife Dorris had an evening party planned.
But I got together with Ruben and we decided to sneak off to NYC to see the Tall Ships come up the Hudson.
We were up early to catch the Broadway (Amtrak #40) On the way to the station, we stumbled into a rarity – EMD's one and only GM6C sitting alone just north of the depot.

Photo 9 – EMD's experimental GM6C

This was still back in the days when the train would come in from Chicago behind SDP-40Fs and trade them for a GG-1 waiting in the pocket. The G we pulled that morning was the 921 (ex-PRR 4926), the one with the “Buy Bonds” paint. The thrill was kind of lost on Ruben (remember – very few AFTers were rail fans), but after having never seen a GG-1 until three days before, I thought this was great!

Photo 10 – GG-1 921 waiting in the clear to take over #40.
Photo 11 – Aboard the Broadway Limited.

New York was amazing. Neither of us had ever been there before. We found a place to watch the parade of ships on an abandoned elevated structure that we took to be an old roadway – but maybe it was part of the overhead railway that is a park now? I don't know. The ships were a sight to see. We were constantly running for cover from passing rain squalls (we were forced off the overhead – it offered no protection at all!), but the rain actually added to my photos. It was really a great event, and well worth the trip. A long day.

Photo 12 – Tall Ships in the rain.

But there's a little more.

To get back to Harrisburg we would need to change trains in Philadelphia. NYC-WAS trains stop at North Philadelphia just before 30th Street. A local time-table showed Philly to Harrisburg trains originate at Suburban Station just before 30th Street. We decided it might be a good idea to avoid the probable confusion of 30th Street on this 4th of July night. But here's the thing: North Philadelphia and Suburban Station are not the same place.
Guess how I know.
The rest of the night (morning really) was a hellish blend of PCC cars, pay phones, walking (running really), taxis, Greyhound, and unsuccessful attempts at hitchhiking. We got back to the train 24 hours after leaving.
These were my first four days of July 1976.
Damn.

SR Bush
Dutch Flat

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What a fascinating story! Thanks so much for
sharing it here. Your pics are nice, too. GG1s!!
I look forward to more of your great stories.
(Glad you got to meet Mamie. What a kick she
sounded like!)

The tugboat in your last shot is the Wm. H. McAllister, the former Central RR of NJ tug Sound Shore.

No kidding- that's kinda cool. What was it's status in 1976? Was it still a RR tug at the time?
SR

You were at the New Cumberland Army Depot. My folks took me to see the AFT there from York. We got a couple of pictures of the train and then left due to the huge crowds. This is the first I've heard the AFT went through York - what a missed opportunity! Looks like they held you next to Enola Yard (where the GG1s were) before reversing you back to New Cumberland.

Finding your own way from North Philadelphia the night of July 4?!? 1976?!? I thought cutting a window in your bunk car was bold, but this...

I'm not sure where or when I took that shot of the GG-1's. I posted it over on the Eastern page a few weeks ago asking for help with the location. Most leaned towards Harrisburg, but no one seemed positive about it. I took 3 shots (here are the others, below) and they were in sequence just before the EMD electric. But they're in evening light, probably at dusk, and the GM6C is in morning light and absolutely in Harrisburg (those are State Capitol buildings behind it). So where did I take it?
It's possible we went as far as Enola the evening we arrived, but I have no proof (or memory) that we went beyond the Susquehanna Bridge (which I do remember). The other GG-1 photos show that I was on the ground, something I would have been reluctant to do while the train was still "en route"- but not impossible.
It was 2 days later that I took the Broadway to NYC, so I very well could have caught those GG-1's over in Harrisburg on some errand to do laundry or something (always a good ploy to get the keys to a courtesy car- "You need a camera to do laundry?" "Um, maybe")

So any help in IDing the location of these photos would welcome indeed! (I'm thinking Enola, but..)

As to the North Philly deal- My Mom was always saying I 'had more luck than sense'. Hence the title of these stories.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/14 08:03 by BoilingMan.

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BoilingMan Wrote:
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> No kidding- that's kinda cool. What was it's
> status in 1976? Was it still a RR tug at the
> time?
> SR


No, this was not long after the CNJ sold it to McAllister, who changed the stack and wheelhouse a little bit. Here is a photo of her from my collection.

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BoilingMan Wrote:
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> I'm not sure where or when I took that shot of the
> GG-1's. I posted it over on the Eastern page a
> few weeks ago asking for help with the location.
> Most leaned towards Harrisburg, but no one seemed
> positive about it. I took 3 shots (here are the
> others, below) and they were in sequence just
> before the EMD electric. But they're in evening
> light, probably at dusk, and the GM6C is in
> morning light and absolutely in Harrisburg (those
> are State Capitol buildings behind it). So where
> did I take it?
> It's possible we went as far as Enola the evening
> we arrived, but I have no proof (or memory) that
> we went beyond the Susquehanna Bridge (which I do
> remember). The other GG-1 photos show that I was
> on the ground, something I would have been
> reluctant to do while the train was still "en
> route"- but not impossible.
> It was 2 days later that I took the Broadway to
> NYC, so I very well could have caught those GG-1's
> over in Harrisburg on some errand to do laundry or
> something (always a good ploy to get the keys to a
> courtesy car- "You need a camera to do laundry?"
> "Um, maybe")
>
> So any help in IDing the location of these photos
> would welcome indeed! (I'm thinking Enola,
> but..)
>
> As to the North Philly deal- My Mom was always
> saying I 'had more luck than sense'. Hence the
> title of these stories.

I too, got to see the AFT in New Cumberland. Got some shots and still have one of two tickets I purchased to see the displays. But, in regards to the shots. I still think they are in Hbg proper. Specifically close to the Reilly Street Underpass. If one was at the HBG Diesel Shops, to the east or twds the station, PC/CR parked and serviced quite a few of their electrics at Reilly St. If ya went under the tracks there and were headed twds Cameron St, once under and out the Cameron St side to the left was the area I am referring to. HBG Steel and some of the local scrap yards were along this side of the tracks. Not an easy place to get into tho. Nice info on the trip. And they would not necessarily have to go into Enola to turn the train. The upper set of tracks that run thru here, as there were 2 sets of double track thru here, the other closet to the river, all one had to do to access the Depot was to wye at LEMO Twr off the bridge from Hbg and head down the CV Branch that went to Hagerstown, then down the line to the Depot, and believe this is the way they did this move. This is what I recall of the AFT here in HBG at least. Thanks for all of the shots, maps, trip log on the travels of the AFT. I find it most interesting. Ben

Thank you for taking the time to help and explain about the GG-1 servicing. I was aware of Enola's importance at the time, and was thrilled to finally see GG-1's, but I just can't find solid evidence I (or the AFT) actually made it there- these photos are the only thing I have. sigh.
I'm pretty sure the T-1 was turned the night we LEFT Harrisburg. I'll post the details I have on that next week- I'm down visiting family in Santa Barbara right now, so I'm away from my notes.
As I've said a couple of times, I'm making ever effort to keep these stories as close to the truth as I can. If I'm not sure, I say so.
SR

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> ... three special
> guests aboard – former First Lady Mamie
> Eisenhower; Donald Kendall, president of Pepsi –
> an important sponsor of the AFT – (There were
> sternly worded memos: HIDE THE COKE); ...

We had a Frito-Lay (Pepsi subsidiary) sales meeting, and the hotel staff was given a lecture when they served us Coke products!

>
> There was plenty of security (Secret Service?)
> They were pack'n heat and serious stick eye. But,
> hey, the AFT was our HOME. We lived here, and
> she'd taken over what we considered our living
> room. So three of us, Jim (night operations), me,
> and I can't remember who the third was, decided to
> go say hello. We got past her security in the
> vestibule, with some lame mumbled excuse about
> needing to get to the rear of the train, and found
> Mamie seated alone in a parlor seat. We introduced
> ourselves and, to the horror of “her people,”
> sat down. They quickly scrambled to run us off,
> but just as quickly her jaw came out and she
> hissed at them to “back off!”
> She was a kick.

That is so 70's! "Power to the people!" Love your stories!

mapboy

I've decided that the photo of the GG-1's was taken in Enola Yard.
There was always a calculation needed in how the flat cars were to be loaded in regards to how they would be unloaded at the next site. The wagons had a tow hitch on one end and had to be towed off in one direction only. There was always a notation: Load poles forward or to the rear.
Apparently something prevented the wagons from being loaded in Cumberland so that they could be unloaded in Harrisburg without 'wyeing' the flats. I found a memo saying there was no wye at the base in Harrisburg, but that there was a wye in Enola.
But the move itinerary says nothing about going up to Enola.
So I took a closer look at the Harrisburg site plan- the entire consist was facing south. The whole train had been turned! We HAD gone up to Enola that evening. As I'd said in my story, I remember a lot of delay getting the train settled that evening, and the GG-1's were shot in (too) low light, AND their sequence on the roll fits: I shot them that night in Enola.
SR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/14 22:09 by BoilingMan.