Nostalgia & History > UP E's on the Golden Spike Centennial in 1969

A-B-B-B set of E's led by E9 #907 leads the Golden Spike Centennial train at Ogden, UT on May 10, 1969.

Unknown photographer slide



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/21 15:58 by bodkin6071.

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Great shot!

RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX

COLA

WAF Wrote:
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> COLA

That's right....the Golden Spike train was painted powder blue, and pulled by a DDA40X on the UP.  

Dave

No, Bodkin is right- there was more than Ross Rowland’s blue train from the East Coast. There were also special trains from Sacramento and Los Angeles. They had their own names: Golden Spike Centennial Special, Centennial Plaque Special, and maybe another- I’m not sure.
See SPH&T #139 (Spring 2019) for the rather complicated details.
SR

Fun Trivia: The idea for the AFT came out of conversation between Ross and John Wayne at Promontory during that event. One of the special trains to the event carried 4-4-2 Sleeper SP 9111. By shear coincidence SP 9111 ended up as part of the AFT- AFTX 201.
I called 201/9111 home during the last few months of the AFT Tour. I shared rooms C & D with Night Operations supervisor Jim Dever from Camarillo CA.
Jim passed away in Fargo ND last month.

But none of those trains you listed are the photo