Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years #49

49 Gainesville FL Nov 30-Dec 1/ Orlando FL Dec 3-6

Gainesville was one of those quick set it up, tear it down, two day wonders. So there isn't much to tell. But the ride in from Tallahassee was a long 200 miler. And for only the second time in the tour, I chased rather than rode. Studying the map, I probably hopped off around Lake Butler. This is old Atlantic Coast Line track, much of which is gone now. (Baldwin to Alachua) Anyway, the photos I took that morning are probably more interesting than anything I have to say, so..

A rare (for me) chase:
Photo 1. Rounding the curve (wye) just outside Alachua. I don't recognize the guy standing in the hatch above the cab. It might be someone from SCL.
Photo 2. I thought this was kinda cool with Doyle hanging out so far.
Photo 3. That's Dale (SP 5312) standing in the Pie Car door and I can't remember the waving guy's name- he was the second cook at the time.
We'll get back to chase photos that didn't really need captions at the end.

The next move was to Orlando. There must have been a restriction of some sort below Gainesville, because we retraced our route all the way back up to Jacksonville before turning south to Orlando!
I did take a quick look around Orlando. The architecture was not unlike my Santa Barbara hometown, but not quite the same either. (The same roots I suppose) Mostly Orlando was two side trips: Sanford and Disney World.

I went up to Sanford to see the AutoTrain facility. I must have done this either fairly early or late in the day, because the train itself wasn't there. AutoTrain was the darling of the US passenger industry at the time- everything Amtrak wasn't. They even excelled at painting things purple! (Yes, Amtrak had purple paint too, but they weren't nearly as reckless with it.)

Photos 4 & 5. Gotta love their Baldwin yard switcher, 622. (But hey, you can call her Pam!)
Photo 6. A caboose with the odd windmill.
Photo 7. A caboose that's just odd.

Doug (AFT electrician) later went to work for AutoTrain. After Miami, the train returned to Virginia so the artifacts aboard could be returned to the lenders and then be stored until sold in 1978. Doug stayed with the train to the very end. He lived aboard (claiming Jim & I's rooms C&D in the 201 Car) and kept the train alive for prospective buyers. At the same time he worked for AutoTrain over in Lorton. I think he stayed with them 'till the end.

Also while in Orlando a bunch of us when down to Disney World. (When in Rome) Disney World was rather new then, I think only about the fifth year, and not fully built out. I'll close with a Disney snap..

Photo 8. There were a lot of us there that night, but I somehow this group posed for a quick photo.
Front row: Carol B (tickets?), Dave & Larry (Both Security)
Center row: Jose USA (Guest Relations), Me & Wild Bill (Both Artifacts)
Back row: Josh (Staff Photographer), Robin (Security), Jean & Dianne (Both Guest Relations)

SR Bush
Dutch Flat

Photos 9-14 From the chase, and not necessarily in chronological order.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/14 05:57 by BoilingMan.

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Wow, SR, what a blast from the past as usual--great photos and stories! The staff photographer, Josh, looks like a werewolf and the dude next to you, "Wild Bill" could be Jerry Garcia... ahhhh,
the 70's Freedom Train RR show continues!

There aren't many more to go- my story will be told in a few weeks!

BTW: Josh runs a fine art photo gallery in New Orleans now- I don't think I've seen him since '76. Wild Bill is the managing editor of the paper in Sonoma up in Napa. Bill and I worked together as the entire Artifacts Dept on the AFT, and we've stayed in touch continuously all these years. About midway through this series he stepped in and offered to edit my stories- apparently my punctuation tends to be a bit whimsical. (He's not a TO member, I E-mail the stories to him)
Happy digestive day-after everyone!
SR

Not so great pictures and not so great weather.The train arriving at Sanford,Fl.
SCL shops on the left and the Auto-Train terminal in back.

At speed about three miles south going to Orlando.

I have this listed as Jacksonville Dec.1976.Would this be correct?

Uncle Joe,Seffner,Fl.

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Hi Joe- I finally got down to your turf!
The move through Sanford was on Dec 2, 1976 so your date is fine. The second Shot looks like the move to Gainesville (Nov 29). But I only say because it looks so much like my chase shots in this posting, not because I know Florida. And the last one is Jacksonville. The train is sitting in the spot where I took my static night shots.
If you've got more, go ahead and post them here Joe- if you want to connect them with my story line Otherwise start your own thread. (If you put them on the History or Steam page they'll get more hits, but roll off the front page faster)
SR

I've enjoyed this series. I remember when my mother took me to see the train in St. Petersburg, Florida. So thrilling to see photos of areas the train traversed that are no longer there or significantly altered. Thanks for sharing!