Railroaders' Nostalgia > Bicentennial near-miss!

I grew up in the only major city in Kansas (Manhattan) that was NOT served by the Santa Fe. This is, unless you count Santa Fe’s involvement in the “Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame” that operated for roughly a couple of decades around the turn of the century. That’s the OTHER turn of the century, over 115 years ago. It was short-lived collaboration between the UP and the AT&SF. The line was an extension of Santa Fe’s branch from the main passenger line at Burlingame, KS up to a connection with the Rock Island at Alma, KS. The line roughly paralleled the Rock Island’s McFarland ~ Bellville branch into Manhattan. (I probably have the actual history wrong here...)

For me to become a life-long, die-hard Santa Fe fan the railfan gods must have decided that ‘paying my dues’ would include a hefty & heartbreaking price: I never once laid my young eyes upon live Santa Fe passenger Red & Silver. The very same famous piece of Santa Fe history that just about every other Kansas railfan I’ve ever met had the luxury of taking for granted. By the time I turned 16 (June 1971) and had a solo driver’s license I would have had a chance to visit either Topeka or Emporia to see Amtrak’s borrowed ATSF Red & Silver Fs. But what decent parent is going to let a 16 year old drive off by himself into the wee hours of the night just look at a train? Besides, at 16 I was busy looking at locomotion of the 2-legged and decidedly more feminine form…

By the time I came to my railfan senses and picked up a camera (a 126 Instamatic in mid 1975) Santa Fe Red & Silver was all but extinct in my neck-o-the-woods. I think there were still a couple of R/S F-7Bs running around here & there. The only real consolation I had was the current Bicentennial fervor that flowed through the American RR industry in general, and the Santa Fe in particular. And there were 5 [count ‘em: FIVE!] gorgeously decorated Santa Fe SD-45-2s that regularly rolled over the mainline just a tauntingly scant 75 minutes SSE of Manhattan where I still lived & worked for the US Postal Service. I would make numerous treks down to Uncle John’s territory in the next 2 years, but my timing was nearly always off. A friendly Santa Fe operator at Emporia once told me: “Ya just missed it, kid! The 5702 just went through here ‘bout an hour ago.” Only once did I happen to catch a Santa Fe Bicentennial unit in sunshine (#1 below). That was in the summer of 1976. I tried in vane to get ahead of it and get a sunny shot. I only got the pacing shot shown below, and dark side grab at Ellinor just down the road. 2 years later I would be a Santa Fe brakeman and would have the knowledge that I could have easily chased this train down through the Flint Hills. But that knowledge was over a year in the future…

I converted to 35mm photography in November of 1976 and my ongoing quest to bag one or more Santa Fe Bicentennials went into a higher gear. I knew time was working against me. I’d heard reports that all 5 units would go back into standard blue & yellow. Time after time at Emporia or other places I would strike out. One night at the Argentine Diesel Shops I would experience adrenalin-spiking false alarm (see #2 & #3 below). Driving around I would spot 2 very bright number boards displaying the numerals 5-7-0-1! By now I was getting very good with the ol’ tripod: But it was just more disappointment. The re-painting had begun… 

Success at last! (kinda…) On an oppressively overcast day in January of 1978 I finally mated my 35mm Nikkormat with a Santa Fe Bicentennial, the 5704 (#4 below). Cloudy, crappy weather, but HEY, I’ll take it! I would never get another chance…

1. AT&SF 5703 racing through the old Plymouth, KS area.
(126 Inst slide taken in July of 1976)



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/15 15:41 by santafe199.

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2. AT&SF number boards with a bright “5701” in each one made my heart skip a few beats. Could it be…

3. …DANG! It’s already back to the standard Blue & Yellow. (SIGH………)
(2 photos taken November 11, 1977 in Argentine, KS)

4. AT&SF 5704 leads train 973 T-1 east out of Emporia, KS on January 23, 1978.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/15 15:34 by santafe199.

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Checked my timebooks to see if I was on either of the red, white & blue locomotives in your pictures, but no I wasn't.  I was on the 5705 July 15, 1976, train 811-M-1 with conductor Hull.  Departed Wellington !:52 am and arrived Emporia 4:10 am.  That was a pretty close matchup to your first picture but was the wrong time of the day, or, or, or night!

Mark Cole
Temple, TX

Hey at least you didn't give up man, there's some fans, me included, that missed an oppurtunity on catching a unique locomotive in action until you heard it was too late!