Nostalgia & History > AT&SF in God's country

A while ago, I scanned several b&w negs that I made in 1976 of Santa Fe subjects in Temple Texas. They don't look much different from what y'all saw out on the left coast 30 years ago do they? Back in steam days, that might not have been true.

Con

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Here's AT&SF drop bottom gondola 65869, class Ga 102. At least back then, there was still a lot of variety to photograph, particularly freight and m-o-w cars, especially so on the Santa Fe.

I'm not any sort of an authority on freight car trucks, I know a little about big trucks, you know, semis. I just noticed as I was checking on this post, that the trucks on this car look unusual to me. Are these trucks unusual? Maybe I'd just never noticed this kind before.

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Here's Santie Fee caboose 999036. Why did Santa Fe have a prefix of"999" before every caboose number? Maybe it was sorta like the Rio Grande using a "0" on their cabeese?

Con

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Here's AT&SF tool car #190498, an ex heavyweight baggage car. As I sat here looking at its image after I'd scanned it, I got to wondering about what and how many fast runs that it'd made across the Santa Fe's lines carrying baggage and exprexx 30-40 years prior to 1976. Think about the variety of motive power that has pulled #190498, from 4-4-2 Atlantics to SD45-2s are among the possibilities!

Con

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This car looked like it was an ex business car. While I am not certain that it was a Santa Fe car, it was sitting on a spur off the Santa Fe mainline at Crowley Texas. Crowley is a little ways south of Fort Worth on the line from Fort Worth to Temple. I made this shot from the open top half of a dutch door on number 22, the nb Inter-American, the Amtrak train of that era from San Antonio to Chicago. This predated the time of the Texas Eagle by about 6 years as I can recall. I'm sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong. The date was in May 1976, I'd just started on a 2 week Rail Pass trip.

Does anyone recognize this car? On second thought, this might not have been a Santa Fe car, it lacks the channel iron strip along the length of the car, that was so common to Santa Fe heavyweight passenger cars.

Con

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iirc, the 999 numerical prefix had to do with the "computerization" of the railroad in the mid-60s. eljay

Southern Pacific "Guadaloupe"............???

definitely the Guadelaupe...

Sorry Con, but given the long standing feud between Colorado and Texas, I cannot sit by while you call that flat hot state "God's Country"

Given a choice we all know where he/she/it would rather be...and all the Texans who come up here know it!

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NH2006 Wrote:
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> Sorry Con, but given the long standing feud
> between Colorado and Texas, I cannot sit by while
> you call that flat hot state "God's Country"
>
> Given a choice we all know where he/she/it would
> rather be...and all the Texans who come up here
> know it!
>
>
>
>


That's Good!!
Just love it!!
jd

Maybe our hills in central and east Texas don't compare to Colorado's mountains but, they more than compensate for the easter plains of Colorado. And our west Texas mountains can't be overlooked either, although none tower to 9000 ft.

I see your hills and show you our Buttes (Pawnee that is) out on the Eastern Plains....amongst other geologic oddities out on Colorado's "flatter" spots....and we haven't even gotten to the western Colorado Mesas and Canyons yet....

Image from:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/images/png/buttesphoto.jpg

BTW, sorry for the thread Hijack...I'm just messing with Texas

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Texan? I'm a native of Colorado, but I also love Texas, if it weren't for Texans, Coloradoans would have move to find work. Texas is Colorado's economy. <bg>

Con

xtra1188w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Texan? I'm a native of Colorado, but I also love
> Texas, if it weren't for Texans, Coloradoans would
> have move to find work. Texas is Colorado's
> economy. <bg>
>
> Con

True....but maybe you guys could take all the Californians that moved here with you! Too many people ruin the park....!

If that's God's country then I think I'll become an atheist.

eljay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> iirc, the 999 numerical prefix had to do with the
> "computerization" of the railroad in the mid-60s.
> eljay


I wonder if UP used/uses 666! ;)

NH2006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry Con, but given the long standing feud
> between Colorado and Texas, I cannot sit by while
> you call that flat hot state "God's Country"
>
> Given a choice we all know where he/she/it would
> rather be...and all the Texans who come up here
> know it!
>


Sweet! Guess I'll cancel my reply now... hehe...