Nostalgia & History > Toto Tuesday: Focusing on a Bookend

I’ve always loved the night! Just give me a tripod, a camera & a RR subject and I’ll go to work. With these 3 shots I’m shooting with a month old Nikkormat FT-3. I’m not sure, but I think this was my first attempt at available light, night time shooting with the FT-3. My old Pentax Spotmatic served me well, but its blur-image focusing feature made it a little difficult to get a sharp focus in low light situations. The Nikkormat had a split-image focusing feature, which I immediately fell in love with. Now all I needed for a sharp focus was a definite line of contrast, such as the line between blue & yellow on the nose of the lead unit.

In a normal night time crew change situation at Emporia an inbound train would only be stopped for a minute or two. Just enough time for the outbound engineer to climb aboard, release the independent and nudge the train into motion. But on this particular night this train sat there on the eastbound main for several minutes, giving me ample time for the 3 different shooting angles. I didn’t recall why the train just sat there back in 1977, but after a year or two in train service (from June 1978 on) I might have just put it down to the outbound crew not yet being rested for the train. Or maybe the train just beat its inbound call time by a wide margin. At any rate I was grateful for the extra time.

If the station platform appears unduly busy this time of the night (image #3), it’s not. The passenger platform seemed to be a buzz of activity more often than not on a round-the-clock basis. I can only imagine the level of activity back in the 1950s when 28 first class passenger trains (not to mention numerous other locals or motor cars) stopped at, or at least ran through Emporia. It must have been something special…

1. AT&SF 5650 is stopped on the eastbound main with a manifest

2. An alternate view of this “bookend” paint scheme.

3. Looking eastward ‘over the shoulder’ of the consist of this Argentine-bound train.
(3 photos taken on December 23, 1977 in Emporia, KS with a Nikkormat FT-3 & Kodachrome 25 slide film.)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/22 21:53 by santafe199.

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Awesome night shots!!!

Lance,

Outstanding photos. I really like the overall feel of #1, without the platform activity of number 3 it really conveys that dead of the night feel to me.

Kris

Lance,

Wish you had started your photo shoot a little earlier on the 23rd. I see where I had arrived Emporia at 12:54 pm, Dec. 23, on a 901 train from Wellington with conductor Harold Drinkwater. Perhaps we could have met then rather than almost 37 year later. These are great photos.

Mark Cole
Temple, Tx

KskidinTx Wrote:
> Wish you had started your photo shoot a little earlier on the 23rd...

As I recall I had been shooting around Emporia with new (recently met) railfan pal & future fellow Santa Fe brakeman Dave Franz. I was still living in Manhattan, but must have had the day off from the Post Office. I know I was anxious to try some night time shooting with the new Nikkormat. IIRC Dave & I were just bombing around waiting for the early December darkness. It's possible one or both of us shot your 901 earlier in the day, possibly out in the Flint Hills. Were you a good railfan, keeping a record of the units that pulling your chariot (read: waycar) with Conductor Drinkwater aboard? Maybe I have that slide somewhere...

Dave & I had met the previous August by almost literally bumping into each at the SE corner of the Emporia depot. I was walking toward the tracks with a camera around my neck & he was walking the opposite way toward his car with a camera around his neck. After not quite crashing into each other at the building corner & after exchanging a couple of investigative "once-overs", we introduced ourselves. That's how I became charter member #3 (behind Dave & John Arbuckle) of the 70s/80s Kansas railfan Gangsters. Nothing would ever be the same for Dave, and my railfan world expanded exponentially...

Lance

santafe199 Wrote:
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> KskidinTx Wrote:
> > Wish you had started your photo shoot a little
> earlier on the 23rd...
>
> As I recall I had been shooting around Emporia
> with new (recently met) railfan pal & future
> fellow Santa Fe brakeman Dave Franz.
>

It was train 901-T-8 with Santa Fe locomotives 5547 and 8740. We departed Wellington at 10:40 am and arrived Emporia at 12:54 pm. I would say the 2' 14" running time meant we had experienced a very good trip.

I don't remember Dave Franz. When did he hire out?

Mark

KskidinTx Wrote:
> I don't remember Dave Franz. When did he hire out?

Dave (boomer #1) was an Eastern Division switchman working in Emporia Yard in 1977. After the winter furlough he transferred over to the Middle in the spring of 1978. He was about 8 notches ahead of me in seniority. He hired on with the DM&E late in 1986 while furloughed from the Santa Fe. I followed in spring of 1987 hiring on directly behind him in seniority. We both sold our Santa Fe seniority and moved to South Dakota. Later in the year (Oct) I made the jump to MRL first. I called him 4 straight days, begging him to get his asset up to Montana. He finally did, hiring a few notches behind ME this time. Of course, I had to give him a hard time: "Hey pal, we're gonna stick around this RR for while, now that I'm ahead of YOU for a change!"... ;^)

We both retired from MRL. Me on a medical in 2010, and Dave about a year ago...

Lance (boomer #2)

PS: It turns out I did not shoot your 901 train. I don't have either one of the engine #s on slides from 12-23-77. Your running time of 2' 14'' is a bit less than average for a 70 MPH hotshot. The best running times I remember experiencing (114 miles Wellington to Emporia, @ 70 MPH [with NO delays]) were in the 1' 40'' range. I don't remember what the absolute (read: legal) best running time was, but I'm thinking it would be about 1' 35'' or so...
LFG



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/14 20:54 by santafe199.

santafe199 Wrote:
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> I don't remember what the
> absolute (read: legal) best running time was, but
> I'm thinking it would be about 1' 35'' or so...
> LFG

Trivia, I'm bored and have my pocket calculator handy:

114 miles @ 70 MPH is 1.629 hours, or 1:37:43 or thereabouts, assuming of course that it is exactly 114 miles and that you could maintain exactly 70 MPH. (If it was actually 69 MPH rather than 70 the time is 1:39:08.) Assuming a stop on each end, you would have to add a few more minutes for acceleration and deceleration.

I'm guessing, assuming stops, that best time was closer to 1:45 or thereabouts; maybe 1:40 if you could run 70 and it only took 5 minutes each to accelerate and decelerate.

Those are some great shots, Lance.

Randy Lundgren

lwilton Wrote:
> Trivia, I'm bored...

The official mileage used to be 113+ miles. The 1979-80 relocation of the mainline between Aikman & El Dorado added ?? tenths of a mile (acct construction of El Dorado Lake). For clarity I rounded the 113+ miles with the added "?? tenths" of a mile up to 114 miles. There were two short 30 MPH restrictions through Augusta & the sharp curve at OD Jct (El Dorado) with the rest being full track speeds, up to 70 MPH. For fun one morning I kept a trip log of a WESTbound trip on a 199 train. With 4 units @ 13,800 horse toting about 2,400 tons the acceleration/deceleration was minimal, to say the least. We made Emporia to Wellington in 1' 45'' flat. And that was with a rolling waycar crew change at Emporia (with a speed ordinance acct the many city street crossings east of the depot). But on the average the better times were always on the eastbound trips. Quite often at Wellington crew changes at both ends of the train were made via crew van. So the departure time (Wgton) ~ arrival time (Empo) would easily be 2 or 3 minutes better, since it was a "get on & GO" proposition. Also, arrival time at Emporia was ALWAYS noted as the "by Merrick" time to keep a fair & proper order for inbound chain gang crews. At Merrick an inbound train either roared straight down the main to a depot crew change (with no city ordinances to worry about), or dragged into the eastbound yard at 10 MPH.

I remember one certain engineer, a free spirited sort who would often "grandstand" a hotshot at the Emporia depot. He would bring the train through Merrick right on 70 MPH without slowing. Then he would 'pick his spot', plug the train (throw the brakes into emergency) and spot the front pilot perfectly at the cross walk in front of the wire office door at the depot, every time. (DON'T try this at home!!! ;^)
Ahhhh...... the good old days....

Lance



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/14 06:54 by santafe199.

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I remember one certain engineer, a free spirited
> sort who would often "grandstand" a hotshot at the
> Emporia depot. He would bring the train through
> Merrick right on 70 MPH without slowing. Then he
> would 'pick his spot', plug the train (throw the
> brakes into emergency) and spot the front pilot
> perfectly at the cross walk in front of the wire
> office door at the depot, every time. (DON'T try
> this at home!!! ;^)
> Ahhhh...... the good old days....
>
> Lance

I have been thinking about posting a 2 or 3 part series on Railroaders' Nostalgia about a certain engineer who I was going to fictitiously name George. One of stories however would fit in here quite well.

I was firing for George and was in the driver's seat (where I was most of the time when working with him) and was approaching Emporia on an eastbound 803 train on April 1, 1972 around 4 am. George had been on me previously about beginning my stop for the depot too soon. Since we were running on clear signals with no road crossings, and probably no supervisors to be concerned with, I told myself this trip I was not going to start too soon. Maybe too late but not too soon. There is a slight ascending grade eastbound in this area. I'm in throttle 8 at 70 mph going over the Prairie Street underpass. A short time later I finally began setting the train air brakes and reducing the throttle. Had a 24# reduction made with the throttle now in idle. The depot is fast approaching. As we were about to pass under an overhead signal George asked what my speed was. I said 40. He said I needed to apply the locomotive brakes as well. The stop was completed with the front steps lined up directly with the west door of the depot.

I asked George why he had inquired as to my speed at the previous signal. He said that his previous trip was on a similar size train and since he was going 43 under the signal he had to go to emergency to get stopped. After tying up I took my car and checked on the distance between the signal and the depot. It was approximately 2 1/2 city blocks. I couldn't believe stopping that quick from 40 mph without going to emergency. It was probably a 70 to 80 car train with 4500 tons, on a slight ascending grade, with the brake shoes and wheels already very warm.

Jon Carrier, our brakeman later related the above incident to my brother who was a rail out of Wellington, with one additional comment. He said George was just "beaming" as he got off the locomotive.

One more short story here:

George had a side business and got me to help him sometimes. He was out on the railroad and I was working in the basement of a residence just south of the Emporia depot. I heard a roar of engines and looked out of a basement window and noticed a train sliding by, stopping 5 or 6 car lengths east of the depot. A few minutes later he showed up where I was working and said he had just gotten back in town. I stated he didn't need to tell me that as I had seen where the train had stopped. ha.

Mark
Temple, Tx

KskidinTx Wrote:
> ...a certain engineer who I was going to fictitiously name George...

(chuckling!!!) Methinks your "fictitious" George may not be quite so fictitious (wink, wink, wink... ;^)

Lance

Good stuff, especially that first shot. Love it! Thanks Lance!