Nostalgia & History > WAG running extra (#49): Tecumseh KS a while ago...

As I work my way through this gargantuan Gibson collection archiving project I sometimes have to step back and refresh my appreciation for the sheer history I’m witnessing. Especially when I see all this older photography from locations I’ve been to in person so much later! Both Bill & Art (WAGs Sr & Jr) have amassed such an extensive collection of photographic history that it’s very easy to get a bit numb to it all.

Here are a couple of very interesting images from Tecumseh, KS. This small berg was the first station on Santa Fe’s main line east out of Topeka. The images have been edited from black & white copy slides residing in one of the numerous “pockets” scattered throughout the collection. So at best, they are 3rd generation. I’ve just recently acquired the ability to scan 4x5 negatives, but that technology is ‘still in the box’, so to speak. Maybe some day after I’m set up I’ll have the opportunity to scan the original negatives, which I’m quite sure are in separate locations in Bill’s filing system.

But for now, the fact that I found these 2 copy slides next to each other in the same “pocket” is what gave me the idea for this thread. Either way the visual history here should have an immediate & enjoyable impact on anyone who has shot from off this overpass in the intervening 6+ decades. And yes, I’m being a bit cheeky to piggyback my own comparison shot onto this otherwise Gibson thread…

1. AT&SF 4-6-4 3460, the famous “Blue Goose” is eastbound in a scene taken from the Goodell Rd overpass in December of 1951.

2. AT&SF 4-6-2 3403 is eastbound in the early 1950s at the tiny shack that poses as the Tecumseh depot. The Goodell overpass is seen in the background. I’m betting the gentleman Bill has captured in this photo is a compatriot of his. Perhaps Art will be able to fill in this gap in information.
Two photos by William A. Gibson (WAG) Sr.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/22 20:50 by santafe199.

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Speaking of blue…

3. AMTK 93 heads up train #4, the “Southwest Chief” in roughly the same spot as the Blue Goose up above. Look close: This is the same ol’ pole line from back in those days, but most of the cross-arms are now missing. That signal mast is in the same location as the one in Bill’s photo. Of course, the semaphore is long gone, replaced first by a searchlight and now currently by a modern tri-color signal head.
My shot taken May 29, 2012.
(All photos taken at Tecumseh, KS)

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/22 20:51 by santafe199.

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Nice Lance. The before and after's are pretty neat.

Mark

Posted from Android

Nice Lance. The before and after's are pretty neat.

Mark

Posted from Android

Two more excellent pictures from the Gibson collection.
Nice shot of the Southwest Chief.
I've also noticed - over the years - the reducing of arms on the code lines (but on the same poles) as the many wires were not needed anymore.
Gary

Cumbres Wrote: > ... before and after's are pretty neat ...

Thanks, Mark!
Thanks, Mark!

Lance, Lance
(I just can't resist poking a little fun at supposedly infallible cell phone technology... ;^) 
(I just can't resist poking a little fun at fallible cell phone technology... ;^) 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/18 10:16 by santafe199.

I assume the goose had pulled streamlined equipment in the past?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/18 10:25 by wabash2800.

Well actually blame that on Amtrak as I think we hit a bump when I tried to post post post it it it.

;)

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/18 12:35 by Cumbres.

I always appreciate your WAGs especially to steam, Lance. That Blue Goose must have been some engine, with 84 inch drivers. Pulling that short train it was probably going over 100 mph.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Not exactly a deluxe depot there at Tecumseh. Can't recall having ever seen a Santa Fe depot that looked like that. Care to guess what make and model that car is that is in the photo?

Guess it is a GM product of the late'50's. Those four attachments on the rear fender look like the ones on my dad's 1948 Chevy Fleetline. It's a "fastback" but looks like it might be a higher level GM than Chevy. My WAG (Wild Ass Guess).

WichitaJct Wrote: > ...  Can't recall having ever seen a Santa Fe depot that looked like that ...

Then you musta missed this one: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4351901,4351901#msg-4351901

Lance

I'm wondering if the man in the second photo may be a postman? Note the bags at his feet. I see a RPO in the train. Great photos thanks for posting.

These images are fascinating. Thanks , Lance and Art. --Kelly

pwh- you have won the prize! wag216

Thanks for the before and after, Art and Lance. Those steam shots always remind me of my young days in Topeka, when we slept with the windows open during the summer(no a/c or fear of crime), and I would hear the steam engines climbing out of the Kaw valley south(westbound). I could even tell when they were double-heading like the Grand Canyon Ltd during the summer time. Thanks for the memories.

BB



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/18 09:19 by bmarti7.

Thanks a lot for posting these. The Blue Goose shot is something else, and I never had any idea where the depot was in Tecumseh, so I appreciate seeing it.

Thanks!
- Jeff

That car is older then the Fifties, "Torpedo-back" late 40's Pontiac maybe.
Great post!
Gonut



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/18 08:38 by Gonut1.