Nostalgia & History > Uncle Oliver (#21): SFe glory in retrospect

In my experience I have listened to numerous railfans, especially photographers complain about being “born 20 years too late”. And there are countless times I’ve felt the same way. Shove my birthday back to 1935 and I would have 1 year of “seniority” on my close friend & mentor Art Gibson. I would have seen and cherished and photographed the glory days of Santa Fe’s Red & Silver passenger era, as well as the final glory days of Uncle John’s prime Steam power.

Over 2 years before I was born Art’s honorary Uncle Ollie (no relation) took this basic roster shot of Santa Fe 4-8-4 #2900 getting serviced in Amarillo. This was still a fairly common scene in 1953. But the wheels of time never stop rolling. 64 years later I can only look back in reverence at Oliver’s simple B/W image. What a good-looking machine this Santa Fe Northern was! And once again, from my diesel era lifetime I feel that bittersweet remorse about being born too late…

1. AT&SF 2900 at the roundhouse in Amarillo, TX in February of 1953.
Photo by William Oliver Gibson

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216) … in honor of Uncle Oliver



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/22 01:09 by santafe199.

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That is one fine shot.
I was around when he took this shot and I should have been out there snapping away at the remaining steam.
Instead I was inside wasting time watching Romper Room and Howdy Doody!
Gary

Great shot Lance. Your friend Art was there at the right time. I was too, and I'm still kicking my arse for not getting out there and going nuts with a camera while they were still rolling. But I still remember the sounds and smells of those big engines.
Joe Watts
Blissfield, MI

Five years or so earlier would have worked for me THEN but now I would be starting my 80s.
I started driving in 56 and instead of chasing girls, I should have been chasing IC, NKP, UP and a couple other roads. Too late smart.

I remember when Santa Fe had their big aucton at Forbes Field during one of the Topeka Railroad Days festivals. They had a good size stack of builders plates. A friend from Emporia paid around $10,000 for the left and right pair off THE 2900.

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santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> And once again, from my diesel era lifetime I feel
> that bittersweet remorse about being born too
> late…

I was born in 1936, in rural northeastern PA, half a continent away from Amarillo and seven miles away from the nearest rail, but I do remember the era _very_ well. I also remember how expensive film and film processing were for a teenager with little spending money. Being born to parents who married in 1929 and were immediately plunged into the Great Depression, followed by the scarcities of W.W.II, instilled in my brother and me the notion that you don't spend money on trivialities. You took pictures on special occasions. You took pictures of family. You didn't take pictures of things you saw every day, like trains. I don't know how common this mindset was, but when I went off to college and had some logistical (if not financial) flexibility, I opted to experience rail rather than document it. I have lots of rail memories from the early 1940's on, but it wasn't until 1960, after college and the service, that I could afford to do much rail photography.

My hat is off to those who did document what I only experienced, but the reality is that, for the most part, they were at least half a generation older than I and are now either very elderly, or gone.

Tom M., who used to wish he had been born ten years earlier, but not any more!

pullmanboss Wrote: > ... who used to wish he had been born ten years earlier ...

Ah yes! As we all know there are always 2 sides to every coin. I remember my Dad, who had a trainload of common sense preaching at me to "quit wishing my life away". I was coming up on my 16th birthday, which meant having the freedom of a solo driver's license. And I just couldn't wait. I did turn 16. But the the next year I turned 21, then it was 30... then, in no time it was 50!!! Yikes! Now at 62 I can't seem to find the brake pedal...

Lance/199 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/17 06:09 by santafe199.