Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 40

40     Washington DC Sept 25-29
 
This was the big one: Washington, D.C.! The whole train had been repainted (and looking good!), it was the T-1's last AFT run, the 4449 and crew would be back – everyone was just plain excited! While the T-1 moved off to a team track to be fueled, a Chessie switcher reassembled the train and pulled us backwards about 20 miles to Cherry Run. Ross and the T-1 caught up with us there, and we were off. In the morning, we were at Harpers Ferry, and then Point of Rocks. Classic B&O country – does anyone have photos?

When we reached D.C., the T-1 cut off and ran light to the Potomac Yard to be turned and meet the 4449. The '49 would be there, having come over from the Southern shop earlier that morning. (The 4449 had come up from Birmingham on Southern Railway excursion – I think this was the first time the public had a chance to ride behind the Daylight) Meanwhile, the RF&P spotted the flats and Conrail moved the main consist onto the display site at the Pentagon. The Pentagon had its own power plant down near the Potomac River. The plant burned coal, and we used the spur used to bring the coal in. This is all gone now. Even though we were very close to the Pentagon Building itself, we were at the bottom of a bluff and couldn't really see it.

Photo 1. Last mile to the Pentagon site, looking back at the Capitol dome.
Photo 2. While the train was being broken up and moved into the site, everything stopped to let the Southern's Piedmont pass. Note that the Conrail power doing the switching are PC black RS-3's!
 
We got the flats unloaded, and had a good start on setting things up, when the word spread that the locomotives were on their way. So most everyone dropped what they were doing and walked down the spur to see an unusual site: the T-1 and the GS-4 arriving, running tender to tender. That just didn't look, um, natural. (almost unholy, somehow)

Photo 3. That just looks wrong!
Photo 4. On the far left of the frame is the RF&P switcher that had been spotting the flats.
Photo 5. Everything spotted and tied down. Pentagon in the background.

But, back to work – we needed to hurry and finish set-up, we had all been invited to the White House. I'd been on the White House tour once before as a teenager, and we were given pretty much this same tour. But it was after hours, and we were together as a group, so it was nice. They didn't rush us (much) and allowed us time for a group photo-op on the steps. Nice.

Photo 6. At the White House.

We were in D.C. for a week and there was lots to see, museum wise. My job as Assistant to the Curator afforded me free time while the AFT was open to the public. (I was always reluctant to claim “curator” outright – I was really a cabbie from Santa Barbara for God's sake!) So I really had at it in Washington – museum wise. I began each day at Air & Space, and then finished with one of the others. (I do like my aviation – better eyesight and I'd maybe be about ready to retire from United rather than Amtrak)

Because we had both locomotives (and their crews) together, it was family photo time! It was decided we'd best do this early in the morning when most of us were free. Doyle and Ross moved the locomotives up nose to nose, while we all assembled. There was no rhyme or reason to positions, that is, we didn't divide up into departments or anything – friends got together with friends. Josh our photographer (remember him from Baton Rouge?) had this plan where we'd all be holding candles. I guess it was an OK idea, but the sun was coming up quickly and the effect was kinda lost. Oh well. After three or four takes, everyone milled around a bit and the gradually drifted off to get the train open for another day.

Photo 7. 4449 pulling forward for the family photo.
Photo 8. Hmm.
Photo 9. Our Family. (It looks like everyone's praying or something, but what we're doing is trying to keep the candles Josh gave us burning)
Photo 10. T-1 crew
Photo 11. Doyle, Greg, and Ross. (Greg was head of Train Operations and my boss.)
Photo 12. Wild Bill and myself. The entire AFT. Artifacts Department. (someone at the Smithsonian is cringing)

This morning was also the goodbye for the T-1. During the night, the sand dome had been lettered “The High Iron Company.” This was Ross' old steam excursion enterprise and, in a very real sense, the origin of the American Freedom Train itself. Doyle backed the '49 down the spur and out of the way. Ross came down next, picked up a waiting Conrail caboose (a former PRR N5c – gotta love those!), and was off for Lebanon, New Jersey, and home.

Photo 13. Ross and the T-1's new lettering.
Photo 14. The '49 in the clear to let Ross out.
Photo 15. The N5c that will make the trip to Lebanon.

And the American Freedom Train's last leg begins ...

SR Bush
Dutch Flat

A little more info about the 4449 coming up from Birmingham: They first made a deadhead move from Birmingham to Atlanta on August 26, 1976. They were pulling the 18 cars, but there were no riders (It was mid-week and apparently Southern didn't want to include this move as part of the excursion). Tickets were sold (famously at $44.49) for the ride on August 28 & 29 from Atlanta to Alexandria. The train laid overnight in Salisbury NC.
The excursion was the public's first opportunity to ride behind the Daylight. There were rumors that one/both of the Claytor brothers ran the '49 on part of the trip, but this is not true (they would later, but not on this one). And there has always been talk of an 80+ mph dash between Manassis and Caldpepper NC. I phoned Doyle and asked him about this. He said the RR was nice and straight here, and gently rolling. He opened the '49 all the way up and just let her go, and they floated around 80- up and down with the grade.
So I asked him, “What do you want me to report as your top speed that day?
And, of course, he said, “79”.

The man knows where his bread is buttered.

A little bit of trivia for the rivet counters: Cars 20 and 33 were renumbered 33 and 34 in Washington. This makes sense because these two cars were in more a utility role like the flats, so now we had 30-34 together in a group. (33 usually trailed the 20 while we were running, that's why it bumped up a number) What DID strike me as curious about this was: Why now? There were only about three months to go!
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/14 04:20 by BoilingMan.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/14 14:39 by BoilingMan.

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BoilingMan Wrote:
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> And there has always been talk of an 80+ mph dash between
> Manassis and Caldpepper NC. I phoned Doyle and
> asked him about this. He said the RR was nice and
> straight here, and gently rolling. He opened the
> '49 all the way up and just let her go, and they
> floated around 80- up and down with the grade.
> So I asked him, “What do you want me to report
> as your top speed that day?
> And, of course, he said, “79”.

The attached scans are from the June 1977 TRAINS magazine article about this trip.

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Thank you for that!
What I have always found admirable and interesting about steam locomotives is how they were specifically designed for a defined task. The SP's GS locomotives were an obvious example of this. The Coast route is no 100mph speedway, so no- there's no reason to expect the '49 would much exceed 80. (The SP had a little more sense than the guy sitting in LA traffic with a 1001HP Bugatti Veyron)
My favorite feature, in this regard, of the GS's were the tenders. The LA-SF Coast Daylight route is roughly 500 miles long and the stops roughly 100 miles apart (LA to SB to SLO etc). The fuel oil/water capacities of the GS tender match these needs quite nicely- no more, no less.
SR

Steve

I find your narrative fascinating! I'm learning all kinds of tidbits I never knew,or maybe forgot. I didn't remember the routing from Hagerstown to DC as being all CSX. I remember the train being made up in Hagerstown and the next thing I remember is coming into DC and being under wires. I guess I slept through most of the night and just assumed we retraced our steps over the WM back to Baltimore and then over the NEC to the freight connection into DC.Learn something every day,even if it's 40 years later,and I was there! LOL

Have you considered writing a history about the AFT? Before it is lost to decreasing memories of time.There are many who have quite an interest and many photos out there. BTW,I pulled out my slides and have the pics of the Tallahassee site at the FSU stadium. I need to get them scanned and will send them to you.

Tom

Tom
Yes, I'm learning a lot too! I have all these photos (about 2000), and they trigger a lot of memories. But writing it out like this has forced me to question EVERYTHING, and the facts I uncover in the process really surprise me at times. The funny part is that the level of detail I'm able to include now would not have been possible 10 years ago- the internet, Google Earth, and cell phones are marvelous tools! I'm able to look though old news papers, posted photography, see the display sites from space, and call poor Doyle and others whenever a question pops up.
AMAZING!
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all of this when I'm done. It started out as just a way to sort out my slides once and for all, and kind of snowballed. I'll probably bind it all up in a Blurb Book type form for my daughter to hand down the family. And I've talked to Todd about archiving it on his AFT web site.
Beyond that, who knows?
SR

With apologies to Gary Larson for swiping his cartoon...
This is a pretty fair illustration of why I call my Freedom Train adventure "My Dumb Luck":
The airplane is the AFT and the pond is Santa Barbara in 1975.

I'm the frog...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/14 13:37 by BoilingMan.

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Steve --
Man, those are some INCREDIBLE photos
and memories! wow....You were one VERY
lucky guy!! Please -- write a book with all
those precious,, priceless memories and
photos -- well before time fades your memories.
Please.

John A Craft --
THANK you VERY much for posting those pages!
wow.....Just wow....

I know the 4449 is one really awesome machine.
The men at Lima really knew what they were doing
when they designed and built her and her sisters.
Lima Super Power RULES!!!

Steve, I am loving every chapter of your incredible experience. I only wish I could have been there with you. Photos that tell the real story, and thank you for recording all of it.

Very well told.

Martin

Steve, I have enjoyed all your stories. None if it could be done today. Thanks,

DLM Wrote:
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> Steve, I have enjoyed all your stories. None if
> it could be done today. Thanks,

I know- shared dumb luck, right?
SR

From the earliest concept/formative days of the AFT, I had envisioned a Daylight loco & an oil-burner -- for the vast prairie expanses and dynamic mountains of the Good Ol' USA
At the time of the loco selection process, we did not know if the 4449 was even possible to get GET, let alone even in a restorable condition.

We also didn't know about Jack Holst, & the great co-operation and support from Portland, nor the excellent folks that welcomed the HICO guys to their City and opened their hearts towards getting the #4449 up & running in a short period of time. There is also the miracle-like fashion that the display cars of the train were constructed and were assembled from so many varied locations.
We also had no idea of how many Americans would join the project, even for short periods of time, and they each contributed to the overall success of the display.
There must be untold thousands of folks that did many menial tasks that together made up the full fabric of the experience -- from the advance teams to the clean-up crews!

Doyle & Joe Karal (RIP) managed to pull off a virtual miracle of restoration and operation. there must have been many weeks of long-days strung together....
I'm so proud of every chapter of its history that the 4449 has gone on to write.

Also, thanks to Boiling Man, and TO, for this great account of the day-to-day happenings.

Its fantastic how so many disparate turns of Good Fortune all came together from the beginning to the end.

It was truly an event as the rare occurrences when the planets ALL become aligned.

Chances of it happening again in our lifetime, are slim at best.

Thanks so much to all who made the AFT resounding success and for putting smiles on millions of faces wherever she roamed.

And to RER, whose vision led to the creation of the Great Train.

All this occurred against the pall over the nation by the political bonfire that was The Watergate Mess, not many folks wanted to be in a celebration mood.
One Miracle Train rescued our 200th Birthday from the dustbin of history.


Wes C.

I hardily agree with almost everthing written. It also would be nice to know the behind the sceens activities that led to the genesis from dream to fruition,so maybe some younger "dreamer" may have an idea as to what it would take to make a similar venture a reality. I have many questions about what took place before I became a hired hand at the ripe old age of 19.I'd love to know the who,what ,when,where,and most importantly,the how and why of what took place in the formative years as well as the operational years.What were the pitfalls? What were the obstacles?...not just the obvious ones,but ALL of them.I am sure it wasn't a smooth sailing endeavor.Doesn't have to be an exposes,but a complete history would be of great interest I believe.There are many who know,but they are leaving us at a rapid pace,a pace that inevitably will increase.

As to whether such a venture can ever happen again,we all know the obstacles,but in some way I think it just might be easier to do toady than it was in the 70s.For one,there are less RR's to lobby on board,really only need to get 4 or 5 on board.Secondly,while it would cost exponentially more dollars to make it happen,there are exponentially more dollars around now than there was then.And many of those dollars are concentrated to fewer,thereby making making it easier to find one or two benefactors,rather than the five needed to make the AFT a reality.Politically,while we are quite polarized on on ideaological fronts,we as a nation are more united I believe than we were in the turbulent 60s-70s.I know it would take a confluence of events for it to happen but it could with the right people behind it.

Tom

PS maybe Shark Tank?!....:)

SR, your story rocks! You are like the headliner on the AFT stage and I can't wait for your book, too!
Keep it up, my friend--I esp liked the photo of you and the guy w/ the bro handshake going on!!
See you at Alta Main St, soon!!!

Thanks Mark.
Yeah, I figure if someone from the Smithsonian or The National Archives sees that photo they'll about faint! "OMG- THOSE GUYS?!"
(Wild and I were the only AFT employees allowed to actually touch the artifacts.)
SR

Bill (I call him "Mild" now)is managing editor of the Sonoma newspaper now, and edits these stories for me. Apparently my punctuation is rather "whimsical".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/14 14:19 by BoilingMan.