Nostalgia & History > GP30 Thursday: in rattlesnake country

Here’s another black & white image from the camera of the late Lee Berglund. For obvious reasons I had to upgrade it to GP30 Thursday. This would normally have been the 2nd in my new series “LB 5x7 file” ( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4748257,4748257#msg-4748257 ). I’m sure Lee would have been happy either way…

1. It’s June 11, 1970 as AT&SF 1223 leads 4 more examples of 1960s main line power at Waynoka, OK. Amtrak will take over the nation’s passenger trains in 1971. Although Amtrak will lease and continue to use the classic Red Warbonnet, it will be technically retired from Santa Fe passenger service. But it in a couple of years Uncle John will bring it back. In 1972 a yellow form of the Warbonnet will start adorning SFe’s all-blue freight power.
(Original B/W negative by Lee Berglund, B/W print from the Dick Spain collection)

By the way: Every spring since 1940 Waynoka has hosted its famous Rattlesnake Roundup. Thanks, but NO thanks…

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Dick Spain (isinern)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/22 02:58 by santafe199.

---

We have one of those rattlesnake round ups every year in Sweetwater Tx.  And, they get a lot of darn things.  Only good rattler is a dead rattler.

Saw 4 of them in one day when I was at geology field camp out walking section up in Montana - it was the Kootinay sandstone formation they seemed to prefer.

Great catch.
Bob

SPDRGWfan Wrote: > ...  Saw 4 of them in one day ... out walking section ...

I remember a routine safety meeting one day back in my Santa Fe 80s. The man giving it told us about a certain Santa Fe seniority district that had a very good safety record concerning lower leg injuries, especially sprained ankles. I think it was somewhere in New Mexico. Anyhow the guy was telling us that ankle sprains were virtually ZERO because of the high population of rattlesnakes in the area. Apparently you didn't have to tell ANYONE to 'watch their step'...

Lance/199 

The GP30 is in its original number while all the other power has been renumbered from the 1970 general renumbering. Don't think I've seen a photo of mixed un-renumbered and re-numered units.

BCHellman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The GP30 is in its original number while all the
> other power has been renumbered from the 1970
> general renumbering. Don't think I've seen a photo
> of mixed un-renumbered and re-numered units.

The renumbering didn't happen overnight. It took almost a year to get the job done so there are pictures out there. Just gotta look for them.

FWIW, the Eastern Diamondback -- the mother of all rattlesnakes, found only in the southeast -- is in decline. They are protected from collection or killing everywhere in North Carolina unless it's an immediate matter of life of death (a human's, not the snake's). Other states have laws that protect certain species of rattlers.

That said, the most common varieties of rattler are not under threat of disappearing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/19 15:53 by ctillnc.

Thanks for posting !

Posted from Android

They hold eastern Rattler Roundups in the mountains of Pennsylvania. But for some years now they are a catch and release event. They use to have a Rattler BBQ in the evening, I don't know if they still do that! Rattler tastes like chicken but has bones like fish.
Gonut