Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 50

50 Sarasota, FL. Dec. 7-9/St. Petersburg, FL. Dec. 10-15

Sarasota is noteworthy, AFT-wise, because it's near Venice, Fla., – home base for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trains. Most of the Freedom Train cars (the display cars 100-110 and the Pullman car 201) were refurbished in Richmond, Ca., the Showcase Cars (40 and 41), the Exit Car (111), and the Bunk Car (200) were done by RBBB in Venice. The 111 and the 200 carried the four generators that supplied electricity to the train, the same system the circus trains use, so it made sense they'd get the job. The Showcase Cars required special modifications what with having most of their sides cut out. This work was actually done by G&G Medals in nearby Nokomis, but I suspect maybe a relationship with RBBB was involved. A few of us went down to Venice for a look around. I don't remember talking to anyone, so I guess the place was pretty quiet the day we dropped by.

Photo 1. RBBB 30 caught my attention because it carried a generator like our Bunk Car. I sure wish we'd have had a six-wheel truck under the power end of our car – at times it was like sleeping on the busy end of a diving board!
Photo 2. RBBB 40. Note the Bicentennial color scheme.
Photo 3. Kitty.

If you've been following my stories, you may recall that in Richmond, Va., Doyle and Co. had measured the 4449 for fresh brass. By Sarasota, the new parts were coming in and they began installing them.

Photos 4 and 5. Doyle and Al removing the old brass from the forward end of the main rod. The bearing was packed in dry ice while the rod itself was heated. The new bearing was already packed it dry ice and ready to go.

Next up was St. Petersburg.
I guess I was sitting on the '49, or at least hanging around, and got into a conversation with a man who seemed both interested at knowledgeable about steam. He asked if it would possible to visit the cab, and as things were quiet at the moment, I figured it would be fine. He was pleased and grateful. Before climbing down he scribbled out a note. Turns out he was a SCL engineer assigned to Amtrak and he invited me for a ride. He worked between St. Pete and Tampa. (now THERE'S a high seniority turn!) He went out on the Floridian (#56) and returned on the Champion (#87). I was to show his note to the conductor on the Silver Star (#82) for a ride up to Tampa and we'd meet there. It was a short ride up and back, about 90 minutes each way, but it was fun. The Champion had only a single unit, Amtrak SDP-40F 613, and he offered to let me run (Ummm ... Ok!) from Clearwater to nearly St. Petersburg, about 20 miles. Actually I got the seat, the throttle, and the horn. He handled braking. The man wasn't completely insane! 

Photo 6. Leaving St. Petersburg on the Silver Star.
Photo 7. Arrival back in St. Pete. The SCL U-Boat was the local switcher, I guess, and had coupled on to turn the train for the next day's departure. Note the first car is a dome. Surely it hadn't come all the way from NYC. I wonder where it had been added?

SR Bush
Dutch Flat



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/14 19:36 by BoilingMan.

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SR...Boy have you just pi**sed off Al Phillips, Andy was gone by then. Craig

Oh Crap! I can't believe I did that! Thanks
(Jeez. That was really embarrassing)

Why was the bearing packed in dry ice ?

Posted from Android

The dry ice shrinks the bearing. The torch expands the end of the rod. Then the bearing can then tapped in, or out. Once the two return to ambient temp they fit tight.

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> The dry ice shrinks the bearing. The torch
> expands the end of the rod. Then the bearing can
> then tapped in, or out. Once the two return to
> ambient temp they fit tight.

Used this procedure many times on many types of equipment.

Works very well!

Mike

Thanks for sharing this area of your trip. I was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area and visited the AFT in St. Petersburg with my mother. It looks like the consist of the Floridian in St. Pete with the dome car behind the SDP40F. That was the normal consist arrangement during that era. The SCL U18B attached was the yard engine that would come get the Amtrak trains at the STP station. Would love to see more pictures if you took them of your time in the cab going around the bay.

Okay, thanks- I don't remember it being that late at night (the Floridian came in at 11:15p), but that way they dome makes more sense.
Normally I'd be inside the AFT working at 10 (till 4am) and not be up to see the Floridian leave, so I wasn't aware it had a dome.
No, once aboard I put the camera away- cab edict when it's someone else's cab. Besides, it was dark the whole run so I doubt I'd have gotten much.
SR

Posted from iPhone

I followed the AFT from Sanford south to Orlando, Sarasota, St. Pete, Lakeland and on to W. Palm Beach. Shot 18 rolls of movies. At St. Pete, I volunteered to help as the brasses were being installed and helped lift the rods back into position and whatever was asked. Doyle let me ride the crew car from Tampa to Lakeland and I recorded that run on audio tape. What a great experience! While Florida is generally flat, there are a few grades that make for good photos and recordings. One of those is leaving Tampa heading north on the former Seaboard to Clearwater. The engine sounded really nice as it passed TN Tower (crossing the ex-ACL) and started up the grade. Also, the '49 may be the biggest steam engine to ever run the Sarasota line and cross the drawbridge over the Manatee River at Bradenton.

Fred Clark is a friend of mine but not on Train Orders so I'll pass your comments on to him. He's still active taking rail photos in the Tampa area.

-Jim Herron



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/15 05:46 by Panamerican99.