Nostalgia & History > Argentine at night by request!

Earlier this evening TO member “Locoinsp” commented on my snowy night shot at Argentine, saying he might like to see some more. Sure… no problem! I knew I had run at least 2 other shots from that night through photo-editing. So I’ll just toss up a link or 2. BUT… I can’t find any record that I have previously posted either of these very unique shots. Probably because I used them in a Santa Fe image presentation in the past. No matter the case, here they are.

1. AMTK 504 was one of the roll-over units in a nasty wreck of the just-rerouted train #4, the “Southwest Limited” at Lawrence, KS on October 2, 1979. It sat for quite a while here at the Argentine Diesel Shops. No doubt until all legalities had been taken care of and a final disposition worked out.

2. AT&SF rotary snow plow had been seeing some recent activity, including plowing the Baldwin District north of Ottawa, KS in January of 1979. It too, sat at the shops for a long time before ending up (I believe) in Topeka.
(2 photos taken February 15, 1980 at Argentine, KS)

Thanks for asking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/21 20:14 by santafe199.

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Like! Boy Amtrak sure needed more funding for loco maintenance. :>)

JG

Excellent, but sad, night shots, Lance.  I still remember hearing about that derailment.  I think it was just after they dropped the Lone Star and running 3 and 4 through Topeka and the crew had not run on that stretch in a while.

RC Lundgren

Holy cow had never seen the lead unit of the crash here at Lawrence....knew both the men in the cab of that unit it was a miracle they survived.     Lot of little things added up that night for disaster....no working ATS inductor, missing mile post and slow board for the curve and a crew not familiar enough with the route.
s

Wow these are priceless. Great shooting!
 

Oh my God, that wreck in Lawrence KS was actually the reason I ended up riding the Lone Star up to Newton as opposed to Fort Worth.  The #15 I was supposed to catch back home for my short trip was canceled due to the horrible derailment.  So it became a real long trip.  I knew some of the on-board crew who were hit by the derailment.  It is gut wrenching to see that locomotive so torn up.  On my return trip from Newton to Temple, Lance was working as head brakeman down to Arkansas City.

Check your notes as AMTK 501 was the leader at Lawrence, KS.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/21 19:36 by SandHouseTalk.

SandHouseTalk Wrote: > ... 501 was the leader at Lawrence ...

You're right, it was the 501. And not this unit, which IS the 504. I had to dig out all my slides and line 'em up. The daylight slides I shot were on a day with heavy cloud cover, and the slides are prettty dark. But the patterns of damage are discernable enough to tell the 501 from the 504. The 3rd unit in consist was the 532. It was pointed west and was most likely 3rd out, but I can't say that for sure. I remember talking to a RH labor dude the night I shot this slide. I vaguely recall him saying we were looking at the lead "roll-over" unit. Easy enough to believe by looking at it.

Anyway, thanks for the correction, and I'll edit my text...

Lance/199

From the NTSB report of the accident, the consist of Train #4 was as follows:

501 added at Newton from Train #16 from Houston
504
532
1263 Baggage, unknown heritage
1207 Baggage, xNP 211
2292 Dormitory, xSP 9402, Golden Orange 12DBR
9922 Hi Level Coach, xATSF 548
9953 Hi Level Coach, xATSF 713
9911 Hi Level Coach, xATSF 537
3352 Bar Lounge, xNP 492
8030 Diner, xATSF 1477
2203 Sleeper, xCBQ 453 Silver Swan 11DBR
2629 Sleeper, xUP 1436 Pacific Ridge 10-6
2832 Sleeper, xNYC 10129 Keene Valley 10-6
Next 7 cars added at Newton from Train #16 from Houston
2220 Sleeper, xATSF Indian Squaw 11DBR
8061 Diner, xSP 10211
9929 Hi Level Coach, xATSF 729
9925 Hi Level Coach, xATSF 725
9908 Hi Level Coach, xATSF 534
3382 Dorm, Bar, Lounge, xATSF 1391
2350 Sleeper, Regal Dome, xATSF 8-2

Train left Topeka at 0538, 43 minutes late with 147 passengers and 30 crew
Derailed 3 locomotives and 17 cars at Lawrence at 0610 on October 2, 1979
2 killed and 69 injured



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/21 13:49 by xrds72.

Perfect composition in frame #2. Bravo!

Lance, Your night photos in Argentine from earlier times are always interesting! Please post more.

santafe199 Wrote:
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>

>
> 2. AT&SF rotary snow plow had been seeing some
> recent activity, including plowing the Baldwin
> District north of Ottawa, KS in January of 1979.
> It too, sat at the shops for a long time before
> ending up (I believe) in Topeka.
> (2 photos taken February 15, 1980 at Argentine,
> KS)
>
> Thanks for asking!
> Lance Garrels
> santafe199

The following picture and description were posted in the Marceline Sub group on Facebook a couple weeks ago. I beleive it's the same rotary. 


Subject of Santa Fe's Rotary Snow Plow has came up in discussion so I dug this out of another group. 
Cade Smith
 took these photo's and I think I can safely assume they were taken at Topeka Ks.

Santa Fe Rotary Plow. It sits behind the former Santa Fe shop buildings and is fairly inaccesible. I had to make numerous trips up and down the road till traffic cleared to get this shot. February 8, 2016. 
Cade Smith
 Photo

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Thanks for posting these, Lance! I always look forward to your posts and certainly appreaciate the effort you put into sharing your photos with all of us!

Bill Hand of Newton was the fireman on that assignment and had worked it quite a while. Had a concussion with 65 stitches put in his scalp. Did return to work and put in 20 more yrs until retiring in 1999 @ Wichita board 21 yard extra board. I was in high school when the wreck happened. I was friends w/Billl's daughter. Several momths after the fact, I inquired to her about what she knew of the incidient and was told by her mom that was a topic not to be brought up.
Sam

xrds72 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the NTSB report of the accident, the consist
> of Train #4 was as follows:
>
> 501 added at Newton from Train #16 from Houston
> 504
> 532
> 1263 Baggage, unknown heritage
> 1207 Baggage, xNP 211

1263 was fomer AMTK 1170, ex-ATSF 3683 ACF 1955.  It was actually HEP'd in March of 1978.
Scrapped after this accident.  Photo from John Mills Sr. collection
The ex-NP bag was renumbered several times to 1117,1136,& finally 1800.

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