Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 38

38 Atlantic City, NJ Sept. 8-11/ King of Prussia Sept. 12-15

We made our way to Atlantic City in fits and starts, and I'm not sure I even have the whole story straight. But I'll have a go ...
We left Asbury (really Bradley Beach) Park at the usual 2 a.m. behind the T-1, everything pointed north. Ross was tangled up in business dealings and couldn't make the run, so Doyle was at the helm. We were going to have to turn the whole train around to head south to Atlantic City, and this would be done at South Amboy. We'd still be about 10 miles away from entering the Corridor at Rahway, and this back up move would be handled much like it was done in New Brunswick: local power pulling the main consist backward and the T-1 following, running light and also backward. We would be under wire at this point and the local power would again be electric, but instead of GG-1s a pair of E-33s would do the job.
I slept through all this. The next morning, I found a cup of coffee in the Pie Car, and wandered back to the 205 Car to enjoy it on the open platform. On the first curve I was startled: the T-1 was gone! PC black diesels!
Well, “Best Laid Plans ...” The train got turned around OK, but the T-1 rolled a rail over and when on the ground. Damn. It took the rest of the night to get her back on the track and, as I understand it, only to go on the ground again! Dos Damn!
The T wandered into Atlantic City either that night or the night after, I can't remember. Doyle had bailed somewhere along the way, and Ross' nephew Steve was running – I'll bet HE'D had a time of it!
(When I called him to fact-check this story, Steve told me he was so filthy the hotel refused him a room!)

Question: Did anyone see us come down the Corridor that night? If so, what was the power? Did those E-33s take us from Rahway to Philadelphia?
Atlantic City was at a kind of crossroads in 1976. The old boardwalk attractions were on hard times, and the casino money hadn't begun to pour in yet. To me the whole place seemed to be kind of wondering and lost.

Photo 1. Arriving in Atlantic City. The 4 ex-ATSF baggs belong to the Ice Capades, if I recall.
Photo 2. On site.
Photo 3. Finish work on the repaint- probably lettering.

Atlantic City had a weird thing I'd never seen: Even in residential areas, there were vending machines with soft drinks out along the sidewalks. Here and there, I'd come across a home with a Coke machine out in the front lawn at the end of a long extension cord. Nothing like having a refreshing beverage easily at hand when walking the dog, I guess?
The Miss America Pageant was going on while we were there. The AFT staff was invited to the show, and maybe even walked in a parade or something? I'm not sure because Wild Bill and I got in touch with our inner Political Correctness and boycotted the thing. (Wild was from Illinois, but his California aspirations were coming along nicely! He lives in Sonoma now.)

Photo 4. Atlantic City in 1976. I've never been back, so I'm not sure, but I imagine the skyline has changed a bit.
Photo 5. Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Budds.

Next up was King of Prussia. That's a place – not a guy. (well, it's probably a guy too) King of Prussia was our Philadelphia Surrogate stop. I don't know why we weren't in Philly itself, but I suspect a there's story behind it. This was suburbia with lots of grassy open space and we were in an industrial park. There was track curving around in the grass behind big box warehousing. The lawns were a nice departure from our usual dirt lot venues, but I think we were a bit “underfoot” in as far as local car spotting was concerned, and I think the T-1 had to be moved once or twice.

Several of us found our way onto Philadelphia to see the sites, and I made a trip alone out to Strasburg to see the old SRR and the (then) new RR Museum of Pennsylvania.

Photo 6. Nothing says “Brotherly Love” like a really big clothes pin, you know what I mean?
Photo 7. The Reading depot in Philadelphia.
Photo 8. SRR 2-10-0 90. Some things are forever!
Photo 9. RRMofP PRR M1b 4-8-2 6755 and PRR E-7 5901. 
(Now there's the caption that English forgot!  Is that even a sentence?)
Wait! Those E-7s are still running over in NJ!  
Jeez- I guess this one's been “buried alive!”

SR Bush
Dutch Flat
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/14 11:58 by BoilingMan.

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I grew up near Atlantic City, graduating high school in 75, right about when the gambling got started. AC definitely was down and out in 75 and wasn't much better in 76. The Ice Capades summered over in AC every August. They played the Convention Hall, hit the beach in the morning and worked up next year's show at night. Most those hotels got knocked down over the next few years.
Clarence