I have some home movies from 1951 or 1952 of Dad taking me on the passenger train from (I believe) Fonda to Storm Lake or Alta. He is holding me with the engine in the background, and then we are boarding the train. When I was very young, he worked as partsman at the IH dealership in AC. He would come home for lunch, I would be waiting at the door to run out and meet him, and we would drive north of town on the blacktop to where the Milwaukee crossed the road so that we could sit and wave at the engineer. This was all in the era of steam.
Not a real member - just an ordinary guy who appreciates being able to hang around and say something once in awhile.
Happily Trapped In the Past (Thanks, Joe)
Not only a less than minimally educated person, but stupid and out of touch as well.
It's been 55+ years since I visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, but I want to remember a gigantic steam engine that they had there that was built to haul coal in West Virginia, but turned out to be too heavy for the track to handle. Can anyone confirm that, or is it just the imperfect recollection of an aging mind?
Not a real member - just an ordinary guy who appreciates being able to hang around and say something once in awhile.
Happily Trapped In the Past (Thanks, Joe)
Not only a less than minimally educated person, but stupid and out of touch as well.
Its a Lima Locomotive Works H-8 Class Allegheny 2-6-6-6, think they just had trouble getting the Henry Ford engine #1601 into the museum... believe they had 60 or 70 within 2 different classes of these 2-6-6-6 engines working the coal mines of West Virginia... believe it is the third largest, and second most powerful steam engine ever built.
my father worked for the santa fe for over 40years, and his father before him for over 40years too. My grandfather mostly was a section foreman and came here as they were laying track across northern arizona from kansas. the santa fe depot in prescott is about a block from my house, so was the roundhouse, machinest buildings etc. I grew up playing in/with that stuff. when they were switching cars, i often got to ride on an engineers lap when little, blow the horn, and work the controls. At least in my mind i thought i was. I can remember when they were switching over to diesels but do remember the steamers in the shop. There is a really good ride, not steam, but still, from williams to the grand canyon real popular at christmas time. I do remember sleeping in the pullman cars, and breakfast as we road over to california, almost no cost father being an employee.
My late MIL bought us a ride on the Grand Canyon RR from Williams to the Canyon, for our honeymoon a couple of years ago. I've also ridden the train up the Verde Canyon from Clarksdale, up the canyon and back to Clarksdale, and took several train rides from Marceline, MO to KC to visit family back in the '60s, just before the passenger lines went away.
In those days, my cousins and I would ride down to KC and get picked up by our grandfather, to spend the summer on his farm in Johnson County KS. My cousin always took a shotgun and his Ruger Bearcat on those trips, without any incidents whatsoever (and we were barely teenaged, at that!) You couldn't do that nowadays, I'd bet, on any Amtrak trains, IF they were still rolling on that stretch of track.
My family has a lot of railroaders, too, both of my stepbrothers, four nephews, and one cousin are/were working for BNSF.
I think I'd love the train ride across Canada, but I hear it's awfully pricey. Our little ride on the Grand Canyon RR was right at $1000 for the fancy, deluxe trip (including three nights in motels at Williams and GC Village).
Heckuva lot of fun, regardless.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
Living with my Grandparents until I went into the service, I had a free railroad pass to travel anywhere on the 16,000 route miles from California to Seattle and the western states, or the Chicago and Michigan, or south to New Orleans... at least until my 18 birthday, my Grandparents eventually lost the benefit shortly before Amtrak took over passenger service in 71', believe it was during a merger or reorganization in 68' or 69' when it was converted over to half fare on the airlines. Use to travel quite a bit by rail, and never flew until in the Army going from Fort Ord, CA to Fort Leonard Wood, MO after basic.
