Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 18

18 Jefferson City MO Mar 31- Apr 3 / St Louis MO Apr 4-11

I don't remember if they used the 6909 to assemble the train it KC. The GM assembly plant had a few lowly GP's hanging around, so with it's being 1am and the public home in bed, something a little more practical might have happened.

Not much to report about Jeff City. We were near the State Capitol along the river. A nice relaxed site.

Photo 1

About the most interesting thing that happened was that we were offered a free tour of the nearby State Prison (thinly veiled irony joke). I'm not sure why they thought we'd want to see that, and having gone along with it, I'm not sure why I though it was something I'd want to see. Damn.

St Louis! This was easily the most spectacular site of my year with the train. We were spotted on the Mississippi River bank in the shadow of The Arch. Very impressive!

Photos 2&3 from The Arch

We were to be in St Louis for 8 days- a long stop, and I took full advantage:
It was going to be my birthday, so Wild Bill covered for me while I slipped away for a few days to visit my Grandmother & Uncle in Chillicothe IL.

Photo 4 Amtrak leaving St Louis for Chicago- taken from the AFT as we were arriving.

My first stop was Chicago. I had the receptionist at the University of Chicago Lying In Hospital take my picture on the front steps (where I'd been born 25 years before on that very morning). Across the way is the Museum of Science and Industry- THE most sacred place of my childhood memories. Oh Bliss!

Photo 5 Pioneer Zephyr at MoS&E. Has since been restored and moved inside. (Note the German U-Boat alongside!)

That evening I took the Southwest Limited to Streator where my Uncle met me. It was a quick visit- birthday cake, and in the morning I had to be on my way back to St Louis.
At the time Rock Island was still running the Peoria Rocket. Chillicothe was, oh how cool was this, a flag stop! The track was pretty sad, but the train was a nicely turned out E-9 and two coaches. At the tail end the attendant sold cold drinks and sandwiches from a panic box (RR speak for an ice chest used this way). Now stop for minute and think about this: 124 years of CRI&P passenger service had winnowed the Train Attendant roster down to this one guy!! That's some Hell'a seniority!! (My Great Grandfather worked for the RR out of Chicago... I wonder if this guy knew him? Hmmm.. probably not. GG John was in tickets.) The Peoria Rocket wasn't so “Rockety”, but I loved it. On the way into La Salle Street Station I was looking for, and spotted, the E-6 630 on a ready track. Gotta love the Rock.

Photo 6&7 Waiting for the Rocket, My Grandmother, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Jane.
Photo 8 CRIP E6A 630
Photo 9 Chicago, La Salle Street Station

Once in Chicago I made a quick loop (geographically localized pun) to see how many of the RR oddities the city had to offer I could collect- I did pretty good: CNW “Crandall Cabs”, MILW F-40c's, a GM&O F-3, a FrenchTurbo, and the biggest surprise: a fresh batch of the very first Amtrak F-40's (Quick! Get a picture before they're everywhere!).

Photo 10 CNW "Crandall Cab" Wouldn't be CNW w/o the bell!
Photo 11 FrenchTurbo
Photo 12 First F-40's Maybe haven't made a revenue run yet?

From Chicago back to St Louis I rode the new Amfleet cars. Underwhelming, and who knew they'd last so long!
Back in St Louis I covered for Wild a few nights- Bill hails from The Land o' Lincoln too, and had places to be.

St Louis is home of the other surviving Southern Pacific GS, GS-6 4460, an so we made the trip out to the grandly named Nation Railroad Museum to pay proper respect. Below are photos of the 4460 and other cellmates that caught my eye.

Photo 13 SP GS-6 4460
Photo 14 MILW Bipolar
Photo 15 CB&Q Silver Charger
Photo 16 EMD 103
Photo 17 AeroTrain CRIP 3

Golf Carts.
At every city along the way the AFT was given the use of courtesy cars and golf carts supplied by local dealers. Usually 6 of each. The golf carts proved a huge source of entertainment for the late night staff (yeah, like we needed one more thing). At 2am there would be golf car polo, golf cart jousting, golf cart 'water skiing' (tow line & a skate board), and golf cart slalom racing. In St Louis it was Golf Cart Slalom at it's best. The Mississippi riverbank provided a most excellent race course with many challenges for the AFT's top seeded drivers. Down to the river's edge the riverbank itself was paved with cobbles that, at 2am, were slick with moisture from the river. These road conditions combined with a driving style best called “manic” resulted in tragedy at turn 6.
But driver Doc Harvey was okay- 'cause he's a pretty good swimmer.

SR Bush
Dutch Flat

Epilogue. We kept an eye out. We checked the riverbanks of Memphis, Baton Rouge & New Orleans.
No luck.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/14 17:34 by BoilingMan.

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I've been enjoying this series and really dig this one with the RI shots. The Chillicothe shot is great, boarded windows and all!

Andy

Thank you
This last chance to ride the Peoria Rocket was really quite a treat for me. If you've followed my story from the start, I mentioned early on that my absolute earliest memory is as a 3yr old aboard the Golden State.
More Dumb Luck to be in a position to ride the Rocket on my 25th birthday- something I never could have planned!

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/14 21:58 by BoilingMan.

The MILW Bi-Polar at the Museum of Transportation has been on medication, but has not responded to it.