Nostalgia & History > The Anderson File (vol 4): #69 at Wamego

Here’s a great B/W I may have posted before. But I can find no record of such. Either way, I’ve taken a second crack at this image in Photoshop. I’ve dampened the high level of contrast as much as I could short of completely washing it out. And it didn’t turn out too bad for a 3rd or 4th generation copy.

I love the history in this scene! Wamego, KS is just 14 miles down US hwy 24 from my hometown of Manhattan. Besides the steam powered passenger train, everything else in this image is also gone. The depot, the water tank, the background landmarks: all gone or changed beyond recognition...

1. UP 7030 points train #69, stopped at Wamego, KS circa 1952*
Photographer is unknown, image from the George Anderson collection via James T Wilson.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Jim Wilson (jtwlunch)

*Per "popular" discussion I am amending the date to 1952, which seems to fit all of the input received. Thanks gang! :^)

This is a NO Rodney zone!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/22 17:13 by santafe199.

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Very interesting consist on that train. Surprised that steam was still on a passenger train at this late date.

Posted from iPhone

Beautiful photo thanks for posting.  The 7000s, I think is a favorite always glad to see them.
Blaine
American Fork

dwatry Wrote: > ... Surprised that steam was still on a passenger train at this late date ...

The date is probably pure guesswork. The original image on the copy-CD Art Gibson gave me has : "7030 ~ Wamego ~ 1958" written into the white border along the bottom. And I don't know enough about local UP steam history to put up any argument... :^/

Lance/199

Wonderful photo of a 'sport model' Mountain. I believe the last  UP 4-8-2s were scrapped in 1956.

Tom

They must have flip-flopped the schedules of Nos. 69 and 70 between the date of this photo and the 1954 UP timetable I have.  At that time, No. 69 left Kansas City at 11:30 PM, was scheduled to make a flag stop at Wamego at 1:58 AM, and then arrived at Ellis at 8:00 AM.  No. 70 then left Ellis at 11:15 AM, stopped in Wamego at 5:13 PM and arrived back in Kansas City at 8:10 PM.

mike woodruff
spokane

UP3806 Wrote: > ... I believe the last UP 4-8-2s were scrapped in 1956 ...
That would certainly push the date 'guestimation' back to at last the mid-1950s. I'm sure that by the end of the day I'll be amending the posted date for this image...

swaool Wrote: > ... They must have flip-flopped the schedules of Nos. 69 and 70 ...
I don't have ready access to any UP timetables to attain that kind of info. Growing up as a 1960s kid in Manhattan I do remember seeing a regular eastbound UP passenger train in the afternoons. Even if I had run down to the end of the block (Laramie St) and look south 10 blocks to see the train whose horn I was hearing. This must have been train #70...

Thanks, guys. This is what I love about this website! Fans like me can scare up access to photo collections of multiple other friends & fans, living or passed, and have tons of interesting images to post for all to see. And with the wealth of historical information added from viewing TO membership we all can enjoy a given image even more... :^)

Lance/199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/22 10:08 by santafe199.

Very NICE look back on the UP!

Larry

Nicely done, Lance.  
Gordon
 

Lance:

Another bit of info - Don Strack's site lists UP 7030 as having been "vacated" by November 1953:
https://utahrails.net/up-steam-roster/up05-1915-1962-21.php

mike woodruff
spokane

swaool Wrote: > ... Another bit of info ... 7030 ... "vacated" by November 1953 ...

Thanks again, Mike. We're getting that much closer to an adjusted photo date! :^)

Lance

Nice scan work of a vintage photo!
GK

Hey there Mr. Kansas!  Hey Lance! 

Cool photo, and the question is when this was taken.  I went back into my Official Guides, and July 1956, Train 69 left Kansas City at 11:00pm, and was as Wamego as a flag stop at 1:20am.  Going back to May 1952, 69 left KCMO at 9:15AM, and stopped at Wamego at 11:52am as a stop.  Back further to February 1951 (the year I was born), 69 left KCMO at 10:00am and stopped at Wamego at 12:41pm.  Same schedule for October 1948.  Finally, back to January 1946, there was no train 69, but there was a train 55 that let KC at 10:00am and arrived at Wamego at 1:05pm.

So, given that we know the retirment date, I'm guessing the 1952 schedule may be correct for the time that 69 is in the station there in Wamego, Kansas!

And no, I don't know where the crews ran, and frankly don't care.  :)

Lee Hower - Sacramento

mcfflyer Wrote: > ... I'm guessing the 1952 schedule may be correct for the time that 69 is in the station there in Wamego ... Yessir... per discussion already in progress above, I was pretty sure I would be amending the date for this image. With your addition I will arbitrarily set the date as "circa 1952". That would seem to cover all of the helpful input this image has received... :^)

   And no, I don't know where the crews ran, and frankly don't care.  :) Thank-you, very much! In the years Zona has been tagging every single passenger thread he can find I have yet to hear anyone say they really like his inconsiderate shamelessness. In fact I've gotten a few PMs from guys who are in complete agreement with me, and understand my frustration of spending lots of time on a thread -start to finish- only to have his rude, shameless tagging spewed onto it...  

Lance