Railroaders' Nostalgia > An old friend in Okmulgee

On my recent trip hauling used clothing down to Texas I think I bumped into an old friend. If the BNSF roster I found online is correct the middle unit of this local coming into Okmulgee, OK is the former Santa Fe #3806. I had a particular kinship with Santa Fe’s 3800 Class GP-40X units. They were purchased and came onto the property roughly the same time I got hired into train service in 1978. And what was left of the model railroader in me always wanted to call them “GP-45s”.

The last time I know for sure I saw the 3806 in pure form was on a beautiful afternoon in May of 1984. I was inbound on a 503 train, the return leg of my 1st round trip since being recalled to the brakeman’s extra board in Emporia on the 25th. We would stop at the passenger station up there on the left and my engineer & I would get tied up at 6 PM sharp. I would have sufficient time to grab a lite supper and be at my soon-to-be-former gig as a live DJ down at a formerly super-hot college bar called Calamity Jane’s, or CJ’s for short. It was still my favorite watering hole, but the hot streak had ended and it would soon turn into a “townie” bar called The Kodiak. Even so Monday night was something I had turned into an oldies night, and it became very popular. By a tradition now several months old I would play Top-40 tunes from the 60s & 70s for a few extra bucks and usually all the cold frosty Coors Light draught beer I could handle.

But my full-time DJ gig was about to end because for the rest of ‘the year that belonged to George Orwell’ I would end up working solid for several months. In October I would catch the regular man’s vacation vacancy and make several round trips as a passenger flagman on the Southwest Limited. There’s just something special about a railfan putting on a passenger uniform and riding the varnish (read: stainless steel) between Newton, KS & Kansas City Union Station. AND… getting paid for it!!!.

And at the end of upcoming July I would meet the love of my life, a girl named Carol who was a very sharp Pharmaceutical Major at KU up in Lawrence. For the first time in the 2½ years reaganomics had been financially kicking my ass I was finally working full time. But now of course, I wanted all the free time I could get. It was frustrating but common sense kept me marked up & working. Just as well, at least right up until just before Thanksgiving when Santa Fe furloughed me once again from my beloved spot on the extra board. I got my old DJ gig back, but the bad news wasn’t over quite yet. The following February my beloved Pharmacy girl from KU sat me down over coffee and told me I was her ‘Mr Right’. But I had showed up 10 years too early according the career plan she had all mapped out since her early High School days.

After she let me go I think I played Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan’s heart wrenching tune from 1972 called Alone Again, Naturally quite a few times during 1985…

1. & 2. BNSF 1509, 3036 & 3006 on a northbound(?) local at the E 36th St crossing south of Okmulgee, OK.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/17 22:35 by santafe199.

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3. In this away shot I suspect I’m looking at old friend…
(Photos 1-3 taken August 29, 2017)

4. …AT&SF 3806, which I saw 33 years ago on a westbound intermodal entering Emporia, KS on Yard Track #3. This photo was taken from the cab of ATSF 5089 on inbound train 1-503-27 with hogger Tom Facklam at the throttle.
(Photo date: May 28, 1984)

Thanks for looking back & forth!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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I see that they changed the trucks.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl.

retcsxcfm Wrote:
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> I see that they changed the trucks.
>
> Uncle Joe
> Seffner,Fl.

Actually those mules didn't have the experimental trucks as did those on the UP and other roads. They were pretty good engines; better than the GP50s that followed them. Lance, I remember the Reagan Recession; luckily I was in engine service and even being at the bottom of the totem pole was never cut off on the Valley Division.