Nostalgia & History > The AFT in Iowa 1975

For your enjoyment here are some photos of the American Freedom Train move from Sioux City to Des Moines via the MILW and CNW from the camera of the late Bill Ohde.

1. AFT just west of Coon Rapids, IA

2. Coming into Perry. You wouldnt dare do this today being in the middle of the mainline. ]

3. Perry Yard office.

More to come.

MILW86A

---

---

---

5. Interchanging the train over the to the CNW for the final leg into Des Moines.

6. This was the Milwaukee Crew on the AFT. From L to R: Gerry Miller, Bob Rogers, Dale King, and Albert Jinkins. All have passed on except Gerry, who I understand is a nursing home in Kingsville Texas now. Bob Rogers was the engineer on Train 222 that derailed into Tama Tower in February of 1978.

As a side note, my dad, boilertube(his TO Handle) and mom took me and my younger brother to see the AFT in Holiday Park in West Des Moines that weekend. I have a pic of my bro and I on the pilot of 4449.

Thanks for looking and comments welcome.

MILW86A

---

---

MILW86A Wrote:
>
> 2. Coming into Perry. You wouldnt dare do this
> today being in the middle of the mainline. ]

Today you wouldn't have to worry. The mainline and railroad are long gone. Oh, how I miss the seventies though.

> 5. Interchanging the train over the to the CNW for
> the final leg into Des Moines.

Hello all,

I've always wondered how they determined the route that the AFT took. In this case, they left a decent mainline & headed down a weedy 10 mph branchline (CNW's Perry Sub) to reach Des Moines. There were several other routes available that were much quicker & in better condition, so the reason for going via the Perry Sub isn't clear to me. As I recall, it took them something like 4-5 hours to make the 29 mile trip from Perry to West Des Moines - not the best way to showcase a sleek 4-8-4 and shiny train being run for promotional / PR purposes...

Take care,

Mark

mamfahr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > 5. Interchanging the train over the to the CNW
> for
> > the final leg into Des Moines.
>
> Hello all,
>
> I've always wondered how they determined the route
> that the AFT took. In this case, they left a
> decent mainline & headed down a weedy 10 mph
> branchline (CNW's Perry Sub) to reach Des Moines.
> There were several other routes available that
> were much quicker & in better condition, so the
> reason for going via the Perry Sub isn't clear to
> me. As I recall, it took them something like 4-5
> hours to make the 29 mile trip from Perry to West
> Des Moines - not the best way to showcase a sleek
> 4-8-4 and shiny train being run for promotional /
> PR purposes...
>
> Take care,
>
> Mark

Might have been the best option at the time. Slater and Cambridge were the next two crossing with Slater is at grade and Cambridge is overhead. Didn't 4449 flat spot the drivers on the Morningside hill leaving SC? Must have been a fun ride all the way to DM.

> Might have been the best option at the time.

Well, that's my point, it was probably one of their least attractive options from the perspective of operations given the condition of the track (80-85 lb rail, rotten ties, weeds, gravel for ballast, etc), running time, etc. It makes me think that someone chose the route based upon the towns the train would pass through (Perry, for example) trying to cover a certain territory / looking at lines on a map, etc. Hopefully someone here can tell us how they selected the AFT routes. It sure seems like there was a strong "political" or promotional influence, as opposed to having knowledgeable railroaders make the call on the train's route.

Take care,

Mark

The routing of the AFT had little/nothing to do with promotion. The only PR factor was the press. Usually we picked up the local press about a half hour or so before arriving in the city we were displaying in. This got us on the 6 o'clock news and the front page, important because we rarely stayed anywhere more than about 3 days. We needed the word out FAST!
Train routes were more a combination of other factors: Water stops, Fuel stops for the T-1, access to the intended destination, and simply where the host RR wanted us- ultimately THEY called the shots. As far as routing goes- the AFT's concern was simply to get from A to B. If you saw us- you saw us. The only constant was a 2am departure. Arrival time was purely a matter of distance to destination.
Over on the Railroaders Nostalgia page I'm recounting my time with the AFT one week at a time (Dec 75- Jan 77) in sort of a "38yrs ago this week" fashion. I am providing route maps all the way.
SR Bush



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/14 17:37 by BoilingMan.