Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 35

35     New London, CT  Aug. 10-12  (Meriden, CT; Tarrytown, NY; Newark, NJ)

The morning after Hurricane Belle turned into a nice day surprisingly quickly. And seeing as we'd packed up the train the afternoon before, we were pretty much ready to go as soon as there'd be room for us on the railroad. We got the OK earlier than I'd have thought, and we were on our way south (or would that be west?) to New London. There really wasn't much visible damage, except for the occasional downed tree or beached boat, but the signals were a mess. It was all stop and go and restricted speed. But for those of us who only rode, there was no hurry, and it was a nice ride along the New England coast. I expect Ross and his crew had their hands full and don't hold such fond memories of that day!

Photo 1. Along the Long Island Sound and a boat beached by Hurricane Belle. Note the rust on the adjoining track- we must have been one of the first trains out that morning.

New London's site was kind of unique. We were on the Central Vermont on the docks where the Thames River meets the Long Island Sound. All of this is in the shadow of the NY-Boston main line on a bridge above us. To get into the site meant passing over a low, wooden trestle that couldn't handle the weight of the T-1, so they went into a short spur near the New London depot across the water from us.
Just behind us, was the small CV yard. They had a GP-9 in old CV colors, so we amused ourselves trying to get a night portrait shot of it with someone’s new electronic flash. The challenge was to not get nailed by a skunk – they were everywhere!!

Photo 2. CV GP-9 spotting the train in New London. Note that the 33 Car still carries the darker blue paint.
Photo 3. Moonrise in New London.
Photo 4. Night shot of CV 4550

By this time, the repainting of train (started in NYC) was in full swing. Sanding on the 201 car revealed its Southern Pacific heritage. I used the sander and took off enough paint to get a photo of the SP sun and wing logo along with the car number: SP 9111. Our sleeper was a 4-4-2 type, build for the SP/CRIP Golden State (LA – Chicago) and was originally named the Golden River. It's quite possible I rode this same car in the early-mid ’50s as a kid on our family trips between Phoenix and Joliet! Cool.

Photo 5. Ruben (A/C mech tech) working on the re-painting. You can just make out the Southern Pacific lettering.
Photo 6. SP 9111.

At this point, I had been on the road with the Freedom Train for seven months. Once you'd hit six months, they really encouraged you to take a week off, go home, and recharge your enthusiasm. The job probably was more wearisome than I make it out in these stories, and I know life on the road took a toll on some more than others. I don't recall that I especially NEEDED a break, but I think it was a paid break, or they helped with the expense in some way, so I went ahead and booked a flight home to Santa Barbara. My flight was out of JFK in New York, and I'd planned to ride the UA Turbo Train down to catch my flight (last chance – they'd be gone forever in about two or three weeks). But the hurricane had so trashed the signaling system, that trains were running hours late. I'd never make the connections. So I flew out of New London on a Pilgrim Airlines Twin Otter (something of a consolation: both the train and the plane were powered by similar P&W Canada PT6 gas turbines, so they kind of smelled alike).

Photo 7. One would probably not expect the RR relationship to a Twin Otter!
Photo 8. By chance, my flight took me over Belmont Park where we'd displayed the train only weeks before! The tracks are at about 11 o’clock on the race track.

As a result of my trip home to Santa Barbara, I would miss Meriden, CT; Tarrytown, NY; and Newark, NJ.
I don't know much about these three stops, but I have a few fun facts:

Ross couldn't make the New London-Meriden move, so Doyle stepped to run the T-1. (he was, after all, on the AFT payroll as an engineer- so... ) At some point the thing seemed to be riding rather rough, so he brought her to a stop. The pilot crew looked confused, “What's wrong?”. Doyle had a hunch they were on the ground. Sure enough, one driver was down- the “bump' was the counterweight hitting the top of the rail!

At Tarrytown the T-1 couldn't attend because it was 3rd rail territory. So the T waited in Selkirk.
I'd love to know the routing involved here- but I can't find anyone who remembers! I guess no one knew there'd be a quiz?

I hear the T-1 couldn't get into Newark either. There was a nasty curve into the site, and it was thought the T-1 wouldn't make it. I've heard the flats maybe derailed (unconfirmed) and that in an attempt to get in, the T-1 also derailed (also unconfirmed).
At any rate, the T-1 waited in a near by inter modal yard (Croxton?) while the train was in Newark.

Also for Newark: My fellow curator, Wild Bill, complains that Newark was hot and humid, and they were trapped in a hotel with no A/C. That, and there was blood on the walls and ceiling of his room. I asked him if it was HIS blood? He said, “Well, no, I don't think so..”.

(Jeez, what a whiner)

SR Bush
Dutch Flat

I rejoined the train on Aug. 26 in New Brunswick, NJ, and I'll pick up the story there in two weeks.
BTW: It's now 38 years later and Wild Bill has a real job as Managing Editor of the Sonoma Index-Tribune. Bill has been helping me with the editing of these stories, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him in print: Thanks Wild!



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/14 22:16 by BoilingMan.

---

---

---

cont 1

---

---

---

cont 2

---

---

Thanks Steve for rekindling all these great memories!! How time flys when you're having fun.

In case anyone is interested the bi-annual AFT reunion is coming up soon and everyone is invited not just the former crew members. This years reunion will be in Columbus,Ohio Sep't. 11-15. The Baymont INN & Suites 2323 Port Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43217 ( 614-491-4400) is the events HQ. For further in info write to Warren Motts the Chairman at info@mottsmilitarymuseum.org

These events are a blast from the past and lots of fun. One of the highlights is the Sunday night banquet featuring a slide/movie show of how we all looked ( and acted) oh those many miles ago !!

Hope to see lots of you there. Ross Rowland

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Steve for rekindling all these great
> memories!! How time flys when you're having fun.
>
> In case anyone is interested the bi-annual AFT
> reunion is coming up soon and everyone is invited
> not just the former crew members. This years
> reunion will be in Columbus,Ohio Sep't. 11-15. The
> Baymont INN & Suites 2323 Port Rd., Columbus, Ohio
> 43217 ( 614-491-4400) is the events HQ. For
> further in info write to Warren Motts the Chairman
> at info@mottsmilitarymuseum.org
>
> These events are a blast from the past and lots
> of fun. One of the highlights is the Sunday night
> banquet featuring a slide/movie show of how we all
> looked ( and acted) oh those many miles ago !!
>
> Hope to see lots of you there. Ross Rowland

I'll be there Ross (jJust in case you need a ride to the nearest Amtrak depot), I can hardly wait!

Regards,
Burlington John (Lewis)