Nostalgia & History > The daisy-picker runby: ATSF 42C in 1969...

Nobody in Richmond that morning was happy to see the F-units.

The plan by the tour operators was to run this Spring 1969 Richmond-Riverbank (CA) excursion with Alco PA units, as detailed in another post: 

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1594883,1594883#1594883

Was there disappointment? Sure. But the murmur I heard among many that day -- back in the glory days when several photo runby stops were held, and several of us lucky riders timed the train by mileposts and wristwatch second hands at 90 MPH on the way home -- was pretty clear. We thought "You know, one day we'll be wishing we'd taken more shots of these. They'll be gone too."

It didn't seem even remotely possible, really, even though we muttered those kinds of rationales. But in 1969, any passenger train aficionado was conditioned to expected the worst, expected every ride to be the last one, expected every train and all the equipment to disappear right after the shutter clicked. Amtrak interrupted that path of pessimism, sort of. But I sometimes wonder if fans who've only known Amtrak passenger trains imagine that there was some kind of continuity from these scenes to Amtrak. That there was more certainty because we know now, and saw later, that units like 42C had more life in them, and passenger service would continue.

In Spring of 1969, we all thought this could be the end. Nobody took anything for granted. Not even the seeming hordes of Warbonnet Fs. We didn't get the PAs we wanted, and we grumbled. But the modest, humdrum A-B pair of Fs as a consolation prize was somehow worth suffering through that day. Even more so upon reflection, nearly half a century later.

~ BZ



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/17 20:45 by Notch16.

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BZ,
That is one very nicely composed shot. The passing of time really makes you appreciate the past. Thanks for sharing.

Kent in CArmel Valley

My thoughts too. Thank you for saying it eloquently. I remember that era well. What was the date of the trip? I was discharged from the US Army after returning from Vietnam to Oakland, CA in January, 1969. The ATSF held my seniority date so I spent the next two months riding as many passenger trains as I had money saved. We knew the end rail passenger service in the USA could be near. Santa Fe was one of the few RR companies that still made an attempt to maintain what passenger service they could. I returned to my job on the ATSF Illinois Division in March, 1969. Surprisingly was able to bid in a brakeman spot that summer in the pool protecting 2nd 17 and 18 the separated second section of the Super Chief - El Capitan. It did not last too long as the regular old heads came back from vacations. It was good while it lasted. Here is a grab shot I took of 2nd #18 rolling through Dallas City, Illinois doing close to 90 MPH slowing for the super elevated curves at about 80 or 85.
Steve Rippeteau

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First-class photo.
Bob

Today BNSF still roars through Dallas City, but there's not much left of the town. Pretty depressing!

The March 23, 1969 "Rail Ramble to Riverbank" was co-sponsored by PLA and the California-Nevada Railroad Historical Society. The flyer below from the Western Railway Museum Archives uses a photo of the 1968 trip taken at the same runby location as Notch16's photo, just east of Tunnel 1 between Muir and Vine Hill, CA. I don't know how many fans asked for refunds, but from what I've read in old Cal-Nevadans, the trip was underpatronized. The financial loss Cal-Nevada incurred on this trip convinced them to get out of the business of chartering special trains for excursions. They focused instead on organizing outings using existing passenger trains.

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Thank you, BZ, for posting that wonderful photo and providing the narrative.

If that excursion could be run next spring with Santa Fe AB F-units, it would likely sell it more quickly than many steam excursions.

I think that could be quite possible!

I also think it would be technically if not logistically possible to gather this consist again, if not car for car and locomotive for locomotive. Some or all of the heavyweight coaches at the rear are still owned by the Pacific Locomotive Association and operate in Niles Canyon; the last car was the former WP 653 Solarium Lounge, which lives (I believe) at the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction. The two Pullman-Standard postwar streamlined cars should be able to be sourced (or at least good stand-ins), as should a smoothside Baggage for the open door fans with their reel-to-reel tape recorders and windup movie film cameras! And the California State Railroad Museum has an A-B set of Warbonnets with genuine Santa Fe heritage; their operability is unknown to me as I type.

Still, fascinating to think that nearly 50 years later you could still assemble this odd consist, more or less. Technically, if not logistically. Those PLA cars are probably not destined for any more 90 MPH travel -- and I actually wondered if anyone expected that for them on that day in 1969!

Thanks for the nice comments!

~ BZ