Railroaders' Nostalgia > One for GG & SD45X

In January of 1979 my fellow ATSF brakeman, KS Gang railfan pal & now fellow MRL retiree and TO member (“monaddave”) Dave Franz & I were both furloughed from train service on Santa Fe’s Middle Division out of Emporia, KS. We decided to take the opportunity to get multiple Amtrak job qualification trips out of the way. Of course the two of us furloughed brakemen/railfans didn’t exactly consider being forced to ride a few Amtrak qualification trains as hardships…

Back in those days the passenger baggageman job we had to be qualified for spanned several seniority districts. The working run was from Kansas City all the way to La Junta, CO. We got permission to hitch a ride on train #16 up to Kansas City to work the entire 550 some-odd miles on trains #3 & #4, the Southwest Limited. Thinking they were helping Dave & me out our crew office very graciously informed us we could just catch #3 upon arrival at Emporia. BUT **snickering** we “stuck to our honor” and went ahead and made the Lone Star leg up to Kansas City Union Station. Dave & I duly made the entire run out & back. And yours truly was pretty sure that having a tripod & camera along would be absolutely integral for learning the baggage job… (hee hee hee ;^)

Because of all the blizzard conditions in the upper Midwest, especially around Chicago, #3 was very late and ran in all daylight. But the weather was a miserable, cold & snowy overcast for the first half of the westward run. IIRC it had cleared up by Garden City and remained clear for the entire time we spent “out west”.

While not directly engaged in the rigorous throes of learning to be baggagemen, Dave & I exposed quite a few frames of Kodachrome 64. Here is one of those frames I exposed on that day in 1979. I didn’t know it would take 36 years to do something with it. But by the good graces of Trainorders.com I’ve gotten to know 2 railfans, a husband & wife duo living in La Junta, CO. So with smiling satisfaction, I now post this shot for Mr “SD45X & Mrs “Guernsey Girl”. Enjoy some La Junta history, gang!

1. AT&SF 3151 and waycar 999513 sit idle in the yard at La Junta, CO on January 21, 1979.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/15 21:43 by santafe199.

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Sigh, the good old days. 

The one time I actually got to work that baggage job, KC to La Junta, it was a chilly January night leaving KC. At Newton we took on a pallet of baby chicks. They were quiet at first, but by the time we got to Garden City and the temps had warmed, those chicks were cheeping awfully loud. I forget where they were destined. ABQ?

When I got back to KC the next day, I was released from the job account furloughed for the winter.

And I'm sure glad we did our student trips from KC. T'was the only times I worked via Ottawa, KS. By the time I got to work several trips as flagman or conductor, and then the above mentioned baggageman's job, Nos 15 & 16 were gone and 3 & 4 ran via Topeka. If memory serves, that winter trip I worked the baggage job was the last winter Santa Fe crews handled Amtrak. Sometime later that year Amtrak crews took over. 1985? 86?
Dave in Msla



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/15 21:40 by monaddave.

Oh sure! Tease me with only one shot:)
Kinda reminds me of informing my TM it would be a great idea if I was qualified Grand Jct to Provo as I was the only one that wasn't.
It netted some great shots as well. Never got to work it again :(

I sure coulda/woulda teased you with more, but there really wasn't a whole to shoot from the north side dutch door in front of the depot during the short station stop. I sorta forgot to mention that Dave & I (and our entourage) stayed on board #3 to Trinidad where we all walked around shooting whatever we could.

BUT... Dave & I did feel the "need" to take another student baggageman trip in February. This time amongst a few other tidbits we stayed put in La Junta and amongst a few other tidbits managed to shoot a 408 (?) train departing with a mid-train consist of RCE #34, an SD-39 and a pair of U-23-Cs. I guess I'll hafta expand my scanning efforts a bit...

;^)