Railroaders' Nostalgia > Train ride with Mark (no salary)

In July of 1981 a Santa Fe Middle Division brakeman in Emporia, KS was asked if he wanted to ride a train up to Kansas City & back over the Eastern Division. Just about any other brakeman would have scoffed in a very derisive manner: “Are you nuts!?! I gotta ride these damn things for a living and you want me to ride one for FREE??” As you’ve probably already figured out, that brakeman was indeed ‘yours truly’. And the person asking the question was one of my fellow Kansas Gang railfan pals Mark Simonson. The mission in question was to ride up to Argentine and accompany some special work train equipment back to Emporia. Mark was working in the Eastern Division engineering department at Emporia, having hired on in (I believe) early 1980. He was the low man on the seniority totem pole in his office, so this unwanted job was “forced” upon him (snicker). Mark had no choice (ha-ha). The Middle Division brakeman’s extra board was moving slow and I wasn’t due out for at least 48 hours. So I said: “Sure, I’ll ride with ya” (heh heh heh ;^).

So here’s the scenario: 2 AT&SF employees were set to catch a ride up to Argentine to escort (ride) a work train back to Emporia. One of them was getting NO pay & the other was saddled with this so-called unwanted job. If you substitute the phrase ‘2 Railfans’ for 2 AT&SF employees this story takes on a decidedly more up-beat attitude! Read on:

There were no time constrictions so Mark could pick any train he wanted for the ride up to Argentine. That morning I met him at the Emporia passenger station and we checked in at the wire office for a look at the eastbound line-up. There were handful of eastbound train numbers throughout the morning, but they all ended with the numeral “3”. That meant they were all Argentine-bound manifest trains with varying degrees of slow-dog type consists! We goofed around for a while shooting some miscellaneous stuff around Emporia Yard and checked the EB line about 90 minutes later. And THERE it was! LA-Chicago hotshot train 881 had appeared on the lineup. Mark quietly said: “There’s our ride”.

Call time for the 881 was shortly after lunch so he & I made sure to be in place for our hitch-hiking. I didn’t think I’d do a very good job posing as Mark’s ‘helper’ so I decided to let him do all the explaining to the outbound crew. Although I should have been a familiar Middle Division face to any Eastern Division crewman, I still got a suspicious once-over look from the engineer. Probably because I had a camera bag strapped over my shoulder. We were soon set, and here came our “taxi cab”, arriving just a few minutes off its inbound call time. I got a couple of weird glances from the inbound Middle Division crew as I boarded with the outbound Eastern Division crew. It was a very hot summer day so Mark & I headed for 881’s third unit because it looked like it had a working air-conditioner. (It did!)

Our ride up to Argentine went by very quickly, and I only managed a few grab shots here & there. By 1981 most of the Eastern Division's 2nd District depots had met their demise, so I wanted to shoot every (remaining) depot I could from my unique vantage point. At full speed we blew right through Lebo, KS so fast I just plain missed the depot shot! I decided I would be a lot more alert at the next sun-lit depot (Gardner). But I was a little distressed when we crossed over from the North to the South main at Ridgeton. I knew we would probably stay on the South main at least as far as Holliday. I also knew it would now be a lot more difficult to catch a depot shot at Gardner. With the mainline grade separation between Edgerton & Gardner I wouldn’t get much of an advance glimpse from the South main because of the outward curvature of the track. Then I got the idea to shoot from the ‘dark side’, albeit the inside of the curve. Mission accomplished! (see photo)

As predicted the rest of the trip into Argentine went by in a flash, and the 881’s crew very graciously stopped to let us off at Morris where the work train was parked. We met some other engineering personnel who were already there getting the train ready for transit. The Eastern Division dispatcher had a slot for us so we wasted no time in getting out onto the mainline. By this time it was late afternoon, and Mark & I both knew we were probably in for a long night getting back to Emporia. A lowly work train doesn’t carry much clout when swimming ‘upstream’ against an eastbound fleet of hotshots.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Emporia! One of the cars in the train developed a mechanical problem right off the bat, and we ground to a halt having just cleared the 47th St. crossing at Holliday. I never did get a full explanation as to what the problem was, but it was bad enough that we tied the train down right there between Holliday & the crossovers at MP 14.4! We didn’t have long to wait for another train to ride back to Emporia. I didn’t catch the actual train number, but a solid line of piggy-back vans told me it started with the numeral “1”. And it most definitely ended in the numerals “70 MPH”!

2 Santa Fe employ….. I mean 2 railfans rode back to Emporia that night aboard a Santa Fe hotshot @ 70 per! The air rushing through the cab was refreshingly cool compared to the heat of the day. There wasn’t much conversation between Mark & I. There must have been a sort of unspoken agreement that a lot of conversation would just dampen the enjoyment of the ride! Life on the RR was good one day back in July of 1981…

1. AT&SF Gardner depot seen from the consist of eastbound train 881 on July 27, 1981.

Thanks for the ride!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/14 19:05 by santafe199.

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Great story, and an awesome photo!

What a great story and it was told quite well. Good read. The things you could do in 1981 make great stories to those of us today that will most likely not be repeat them. I've had cab rides in steam and Diesel and I cherished them all.

John

It's too bad you didn't note the consist of that 881 train. The second unit
is probably an SD45, but the first unit? Well, two possibilities; a U23B
or more likely a U28CG, a Santa Fe only bird.

FWIW, I got to Gardner long after this view, and the overpass had become
concrete and the depot was long gone. Still, got a shot here and don't
regret doing it.

Great story and good shot, thanks for posting.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

ntharalson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's too bad you didn't note the consist of that 881 train. The second unit
> is probably an SD45, but the first unit? Well,two possibilities; a U23B
> or more likely a U28CG, a Santa Fe only bird.
>
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

The 7900s were off the roster in 1980, having been traded in for the 7484s, delivered before this amazing journey.

Fred in Wichita

ntharalson Wrote:
> ... but the first unit? Well, two possibilities; a U23B or more likely a U28CG...

The lead unit was either an 8700 Class U-36-C or an 8010 Class C30-7. As Fred said, the U-28-CGs were gone by 1981 and there is NO WAY the lead unit is a U-23-B!!!
I am 200% sure I MOST CERTAINLY would have remembered Santa Fe putting potato-wagon 6300 on the point of one of its top hotshots. I'm not saying it's never happened. I'm just saying I would have remembered. The ONLY 4-axle stuff I do remember seeing on the Chicago-California hotshots in those days would be the 7484 Class B-36-7s & the 3800/3810 GP-40X/GP 50s.

Lance



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/14 13:28 by santafe199.

Lance --
That's a great story, and you told it very well!
I love your RR stories. More please! Man, did
you and Mark ever get lucky -- riding TWO hotshots
Wow.....

Those were the days.

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> The lead unit was either an 8700 Class U-36-C or
> an 8010 Class B30-7. > Lance

Maybe an 8010 class C30-7.

Rob

SilvertonRR100 Wrote:

> Maybe an 8010 class >> "C" << 30-7.

Yeah... (dang typos...)