Nostalgia & History > Monday Meets: Meet 2 Railfans

A couple of future TO members are early in their Santa Fe careers in this scene from 1978. Mr. David Franz (monaddave) is the head brakeman riding the 326 while yours truly is snapping the pic from the caboose of train 783 P-1. My 783 was 11,000 some-odd tons of coal and was a somewhat rare move in those days. This is the only coal train I remember seeing coming east on the transcon. Had Dave taken a shot of my train (bad sun angle aside) he would have recorded a 4 SD-26 unit consist: 4634, 4650, 4653 & 4615.

1. AT&SF 8025 on train 326 R-1 at Wellington, KS on October 18, 1978.

Thanks for the roll-by!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/22 10:30 by santafe199.

---

Looks like a good overpass to shoot from. Has it been "fenced?"

exopr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like a good overpass to shoot from. Has it been "fenced?"

Nope. I visited Wellington for a couple of days last June 23rd & 24th (BNSF Employee Appreciation Specials) and shot a few times off this overpass. It still has safe & relatively easy access. In this view you're looking due north at 2 lane US hwy 160 overpass. There is a public 'frontage' road in the NW corner where you can park out of the way. With the tracks running on a north/south angle WB trains are in good light all day long with EBs OK in early morning or late afternoon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/22 10:28 by santafe199.

Lance, do you have any idea where that coal was coming from and heading to? Really neat photo to see. My dad grew up about 20 miles west of there near Argonia. As you noted, that overpass hasn't changed much over the years.

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY