Nostalgia & History > WAG running extra (#41): The mail must go through!

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail… nothing stops the US mail.” Depending on what version you find in a quick on line search, this has been a slogan for the US Postal Service for a very long time.

Apparently a Santa Fe freight train led by ubiquitous F-units won’t stop the mail either…

1. AT&SF 77 leads mail train #4 away from Wichita Union Terminal while AT&SF 253 L plays second fiddle with its freight. Photo taken in the vicinity of North Junction in Wichita, KS in February of 1967.
Photo by William A. ‘Art’ Gibson (aka WAG Jr)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/22 00:43 by santafe199.

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great photo. those were the days....

66

Why a piece of history!
Bob

Very enjoyable shot! Brings back lots of fond memories.

Larry

Looks like a mail container flatcar right behind the power.

Great photo!

Rich

Kinda late in the game for the dirty old ALCO's. I wonder if that one lived long enough to get much needed bath ?

Thanks Lance, (and Bill)

Note the Coleman factory on the right side of the photo.

Tim Cosello

A wonderful historical shot.
Gary

Wow!! Thanks for sharing the photo.

Classic Santa Fe ..... PAs and F units. Thanks for posting, Lance.

Lance: That shot does bring back memories. The first time I saw a Santa Fe PA was about 1949-50 on the Texas Chief at Winfield. I hardly let one get through town without heading to the depot to see it. Back then they were always in an A-B-A configuration and bright and shiny new. They really kept them clean back then. I still think those PA's were the best looking locos ever........but especially on the Santa Fe. Locomotive looks have come a long way from then to today's Charger............downhill, all the way.
Joe

What train was number 4, ie from where to where.

Thanks, Bob

robj Wrote: > ... What train was number 4, ie from where to where ...

Trains #3 & #4 were mail trains, companion to trains #7 & #8, the famous "Fast Mail". Their complicated history is somewhat intertwined with #7 & #8 but I believe they ran out of & into Kansas City. They split at Newton from the Fast Mail's traditional route through La Junta, taking the southern route through Amarillo. At one point out west I believe they were combined with #7 & #8 into & out of LA, but I'll defer to someone with better historical knowledge...

Lance/199 

I do remember the ALCO's on #1&2, San Francisco Chief, through Topeka around midnight in the mid 60's. If I was still up, or out tearing around on the weekend, I would usually get to see or listen to it before I went to bed. A couple of times, I talked whoever I was out riding around with to go watch #1 make it's station stop at Topeka. Rarely saw any of those in the daytime where I lived.

santafe199 Wrote:
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> “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail…
> nothing stops the US mail.” Depending on what
> version you find in a quick on line search, this
> has been a slogan for the US Postal Service for a
> very long time.
>
The slogan, paraphrased here, may be true, but reality often intervenes.
I speak here as a former rural carrier. One night I was subbing on a
route in the northern area of Cedar Rapids with snow and sleet falling.
We were running late because of the weather and the fact the regular
carrier didn't show up and we'd gotten a late start. About 7:30, when
I was about two thirds through the route, my cell phone rang. The
supervisor called me back into the office and I had to finish the
route the next morning. And believe me, in those conditions, the
LLV, postal truck to you, I was driving was a complete pig!

As for #3-4: These trains took the southern route through Wichita
and Amarillo to Belen and were combined at Gallup with #7-8. Interesting
to note that #7-8 were split in Barstow with a section to Richmond as
well as the LA section. Pictures posted elsewhere have shown the train
between Barstow and Gallup in what looks like one train was tacked
onto the back of the other. Just some FYI stuff here.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

beautiful image, all of this is gone now, including the tracks and the Coleman Factory. replaced by sterile overpass tracks and a parking lot.

Can't believe how nice all four tracks looked at that time.

Thanks,

Dan in Wichita, a native....

Tgcostello , I worked in that plant . Was on the lantern line and then cook stoves back in the 80s.

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