Nostalgia & History > Monday Meets: Abilene, KS

For 3 days in October of 1981 I was assigned a work train up on the Middle Division's Strong City District. We had one of Santa Fe's ubiquitous 'Burro' cranes and a handful of gondolas and along with the crane operator & a handful of helpers our job was to pick scrap pieces of rail, tie plates, anchors, spikes, etc. You might say we were a rolling salvage yard. Most all of my fellow extra-board brakemen would say they were "stuck" up the branch. They would much prefer to just be working the mainline pool out of Emporia than to be sputtering around on a branch line work train. But for this railfan any time I got (so-called) stuck up the branch I considered it not only a welcome change of pace, but an opportunity to garner photos from areas not so well covered as the main line.

On Friday, the second day of October we had completed the day's work and were camped out in front of the Abilene depot awaiting disposition. Would we be released or did we have go for another day? After all it WAS the weekend and some of us younger, single types sure wouldn't have minded getting back home to have a chance to go out on the scene & mix it up with the fairer sex.

While my conductor Kevin Carrier & engineer W. D. Carter were inside the depot in communication with the powers that be, I snuck back outside and grabbed this meet shot with a local just in from the west. The local passed right on by us an tied up in the modest Abilene Yard in the distant background.

1. AT&SF 6378 sitting in the pass at Abilene, KS on October 2, 1981.

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

(PS: We had to spend one more day on the work train, getting released & back home in time for some Saturday Night shenanigans... ;^)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/22 21:06 by santafe199.

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WD Carter is long retired Lance, but I ran into him at Baldwin the weekend they had the 126 steamer, and he came down to watch it. I think you & the gang there later in the afternoon. Kevin was the engineer on the afternoon switch job at Emporia last time I saw him.

Great photo and interesting story. Except for the rolling stock most everything there hasn't changed much. Always appreciate your photo's and stories.