Railroaders' Nostalgia > 40 years ago in Husker Nation

A lot of cherished memory comes flooding back at me from this shot. It was a gorgeous Sunday and my wife gave me a green light, so I got away from home in Manhattan, KS for the whole day. I went north to take my last look at the UP in Marysville & the BN a little further north in Lincoln. This was my last day as a “civilian” railfan. Less than 24 hours after burning the K-64 slide image below I would be sitting in a make-shift classroom on the second floor of an old freighthouse building on the Santa Fe grounds in Newton, KS. I had just been hired into train service for the Middle Division and was due to report for switchman ~ brakeman class at 8 AM Monday morning. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I would return home to Manhattan with several decent shots from both Marysville & Cornhusker Nation. During my pass back south through Marysville I remembered an incredible scene I witnessed several days earlier at about the same time of the evening. I saw what was obviously a class of future UP train/yard service employees out in the yard. From a distance the appearance was a chaotic and herky-jerky dance of about a dozen RR lanterns all trying to learn how to pass signals. I felt sorry for the seasoned engineer having to participate in such tedious instruction. And I had yet to even hold a lantern. Or pass my own first herky-jerky signal…

Even though I got to home and in bed at a decent hour I predictably got very little sleep. Fitful at best, you might say. I would be up, showered and on the road to Newton by 5 AM. During the 2 hour transit different AM radio stations would fade in & out of range. But the speaker of my my car radio was rocking out some pretty righteous Top-40 music! During the last 2 weeks of May 1978 Paul McCartney & Wings held Billboard’s #1 slot singing “With a Little Luck”. Three hot, chart-climbing tunes I especially remember hearing were Jefferson Starship’s “Runaway”, Bob Seger’s “Still the Same” & Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”. And even though they had been on the charts since before April Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally”, Bob Welch’s “Ebony Eyes” & Eddie Money’s “Baby Hold On” also serenaded my ears. And 40 years later these songs still produce an inner smile at the euphoric memories! May 1978 was a marvelous time to be a 22 year old railfan, on the way to employment with his favorite railroad…

1. BN 3007 & UP 3486 + an unknown 3rd unit are leading a westbound manifest. This train will pass through Havelock, NE just a couple of miles ahead on its way into the major terminal of Lincoln.
Photo date: May 28, 1978.

Thanks for listening!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/18 06:51 by santafe199.

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Really like the full throttle pole line in this shot. Well maintained. Power is neat too.

1978 was my first year on the MoPac by coincidence.

Thanks for sharing your memories.

Nice shot Lance! Looks to be about 98th Street, east of Havelock. Thanks for posting!

I watched that pole line get removed the year I drove back and forth LNK to OMA working for Amtrak. It was 2001. They used a tractor with a large pincher on the front that simply chopped the poles off at the ground and then carried them to a pile away from the tracks. Its seams strange now because I remember this happening but can't picture it with the poles.
There are still areas between Havelock and Melia with original concrete fence post and such on the north side of the tracks today. Kinda cool if you think about it.
Steve

Nice one , Lance. Many times I've ridden through here @ 79 mph. One of my favorite stretches of RR. --Kelly

We were pretty close as my seniority date was 5-8-78.
JB