Nostalgia & History > Lone Star ready for departure

April 78
16 is almost ready to depart Houston for the trip to Chicago.
An almost daily occurrence of at least one mail truck (I've seen up to three) loading mail to the baggage car.

---

---

An all ex-Santa Fe consist on this train was common.
Baggage car 1156 was built for the Santa Fe by ACF in 1955 (ATSF 3668).
Another ACF car was 10-6 ex-Santa Fe sleeper Palm Loch (1951).
Ex-ATSF diner 8071 (Santa Fe 602) was built by Pullman-Standard in 1950 for the Super Chief.

 

---

---

---

A veteran Santa Fe engineer will take it out.

Gary

 

---

My favorite is your last photo. It makes railroading all the more human.
Bob

Note that the ACF baggage car is one that has an all-stainless steel super structure (the center sill is not stainless, like on Budd equipment) similar to a handfull of mid-1950's cars built by Pullman Standard.  This is why they lasted so long in Amtrak Heritage Fleet service - most being retired at the same time as most of the ex-Santa Fe Budd baggage cars.

These are superior! Thank you for sharing...and having good taste.

Old Santa Fe Railway Temple, TX based passenger conductord and head brakemen worked Temple-Cleburne-Hosuton-Temple.  Temple based engine  crews worked between  Cleburne and Houston.

Those are some great shots, Gary.  Loved those SDPs. They should have kept the Lone Star and dumped the Inter American.

RC Lundgren

They should have kept both, but aggressive and creative marketing based on high quality asset allocation has never been Amtrak's forte.  Instead, Amtrak had to bend to the political winds of cost cutting and lower expectations.   I could never understand how Santa Fe's Topeka shops could turn out some of the poor quality workmanship I saw in the 70s.  But I guess they just did what the client wanted.  Take a look at those discolored and fogged windows on that ex-Super Chief diner....Lexan pooh.

At least the ACF baggage/messenger car has a star!

texchief1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Those are some great shots, Gary.  Loved those
> SDPs. They should have kept the Lone Star and
> dumped the Inter American.
>
> RC Lundgren

Love the mail truck scene! I worked for the USPS 1974 ~ 1978, right before hiring on with the Santa Fe...

Lance

texchief1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Those are some great shots, Gary.  Loved those
> SDPs. They should have kept the Lone Star and
> dumped the Inter American.
>
> RC Lundgren

Agree !  However, the political craftiness of the Congressional delegation from Arkansas out smarted the Congressmen from OK and KS , and so the inferior InterAmerican was kept .
Gary, thanks for posting these slides of the Lone Star. . 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/21 05:05 by UP951West.

Yes, the Dallas card was played against Houston, OK & KS. Politics can be a can of worms.

I wish I knew who that fellow is in the coat & tie, first picture.  My initial thought was a Santa Fe trainmaster.  I seem to recall that AT&SF would provide occasional supervision of the Lone Star even on SP territory.  There was a clear difference in style and demeanor between SP & SF.  Some might say Santa Fe was a bit old school and stuffy.  I actually think Santa Fe sent notes to SP about declining track & and speed standards between Rosenberg & Houston.