Steam & Excursion > AFT Fullerton to Anaheim, CA January '76

I got motivated to pull out my slides of the Freedom Train when I followed it from Fullerton to Anaheim on 1-9-76 due to Boiling Man's very interesting posts and stories about the various moves. 
This was easy for me to catch as I was still living in Anaheim at the time. 
First photo was when the many people waiting at Fullerton in the early morning got excited when seeing a headlight on the approach, but it was "just" a Santa Fe GP35 pulling some of the cars ahead of the 4449 to Anaheim.
Next shot of the actual Freedom Train approaching the station at low speed.
In the next photo, I seem to remember the train making a quick stop right across from the station, but maybe only due to waiting for a signal to proceed down the 4th District at the Jct just east of the station.

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Fourth photo of the train departing Fullerton with a red over green on the cantilever signal.
Next one of the train on it's short journey on the 4th District between Ball Rd and Lewis St in Anaheim nearing the stadium.
Sixth photo of the 4449 slowly shoving the train down the lead in front of Anaheim Stadium. It was going 'walking speed' so many people including me able to walk along the engine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/21 22:57 by GreenFlag.

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Next picture of the train after it was "on spot" at the stadium that morning.
The next two are overall views of the train taken a few days later on the 13th. I was a senior at Anaheim HS at the time and we got to go through the train on a field trip. 
I think that spur that ran through the stadium parking lot ( now long gone ) served an industry just south of the stadium.
On a side note about the stadium, a few years or so later, it was totally enclosed due to the LA Rams moving there. The "Big A" was moved over near the 57 freeway where it still resides today, but later in the 90s, the stadium was "reopened up" as it appears in these photos in the outfield.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/21 23:01 by GreenFlag.

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Last ones here when went back over there the evening of the 13th to get some time exposures. The halo on the Big A is lit above and behind the 4449.
I remember the 4449 whistling back and forth with a southbound San Diegan with E units going by which sounded pretty cool.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/21 23:02 by GreenFlag.

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I worked at Anaheim Stadium its first three years (66, 67, 68) as a hawker and could see San Diegans and Del Mar racetrack specials with PAs and Fs past the outfield.

Steve

The first 4 pictures are why railfan attorneys hate railfans.

i was a hawker during those years too, Steve.

SGillings Wrote:
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> I worked at Anaheim Stadium its first three years
> (66, 67, 68) as a hawker and could see San Diegans
> and Del Mar racetrack specials with PAs and Fs
> past the outfield.
>
> Steve

I was working at Fullerton as a clerk at this time.  I didn't make it down to the depot when the 4449 came by on it's way to Anaheim. I vaguely remember that a Santa Fe trainman was scalded on his foot by the 4449 and had to be taken to the hospital.  Local management was unhappy about the injury.  I was working a few days later when I heard the trainmaster on the phone with the crew office. He said when they call a crew for the Freedom Train to tell the crew just to put in their time ticket and stay home, nobody was going to get anywhere near that steam engine. I don't remember if that was the move to San Diego or the San Diego to Colton move.

   Thanks for posting your photos. These are the best pics I've seen of the Anaheim site and the move to it, and I've been searching the internment fir quite some time.

  I hoping more will be motivated to dig out their old film, nothing digital back then, not even VHS!  At least not on the consumer level.

     Tom





GreenFlag Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Next picture of the train after it was "on spot"
> at the stadium that morning.
> The next two are overall views of the train taken
> a few days later on the 13th. I was a senior at
> Anaheim HS at the time and we got to go through
> the train on a field trip. 
> I think that spur that ran through the stadium
> parking lot ( now long gone ) served an industry
> just south of the stadium.
> On a side note about the stadium, a few years or
> so later, it was totally enclosed due to the LA
> Rams moving there. The "Big A" was moved over near
> the 57 freeway where it still resides today, but
> later in the 90s, the stadium was "reopened up" as
> it appears in these photos in the outfield.
>  

Great photos, and a nice addition to documenting the AFT story!
The brief stop at the depot was probably to drop off the press corps. The local media, both print and TV, were always invited to ride the last leg of the AFT’s move to their city. This was the function of the “Press Car”, the observation car (AFT 205) on the rear of the train. On this fairly short move, Long Beach to Anaheim, it’s possible the press rode the entire way. (I don’t have the Trip Synopsis for this particular move- there was a synopsis printed for each move for dept heads. I, um, collected quite a few of them)

The first move,behind the GP35, was for the support cars- the first two cars (AFT 20&33) were supplies for the concession people. Behind these are the 3 flat cars (AFT 30-32, I think) with all the wagons and vehicles that moved with the train- very much like the circus trains did. They would need to be spotted somewhere they could be unloaded (part of my job on the tour). They were probably cut out of the train consist when the SP handed off the train to the ATSF.
SR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/21 09:22 by BoilingMan.

Oh, and as to the Santa Fe guy scalded- I never heard this story before, but I’d guess he got too close to the blowdown muffler under the cab. Water and steam were exhausted from the muffler when the fireman either used the blowdown to clear crud from the bottom of the boiler or the injector to add water to the boiler. The fireman would first lean out to make sure everyone was clear first, but it’s not impossible to imagine him missing a quick moving trainman on the ground or going down the ladder behind him- ouch!
SR

I think I got this description right- we’ll know soon enough if Hotwater reads this....

Sure enough, the S6-or-something I pictured pulling the first set of cars was out of my imagination!  It was a GP-35.
Crossing up some memories with a circus train move I witnessed later, maybe?  In Long Beach I think.

Here are a couple from Fullerton that my dad took, apologise for the quick lores scan and no photoshop fix.  I grew up in Fullerton and I remember it was an exciting event for us to come down to the station to see the train as it came through.   Greenflag: Thanks much for sharing your great pics.  In fact in your fourth photo that could be me ahead of the blonde girl, IIRC...I had some hideous 70's pants like that in high school! 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/21 19:30 by kenw.

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Great photos and crazy story about the ATSF trainman getting scalded, too--  that had to hurt like Hell for sure!

My understanding of the employee who was scalded is, he was a new hire and opened the angle cock of the steam line instead of the airbrake line. Filled his boot with steam.