Those of you who have been railfans for any length of time probably have favorite stories you have read or heard over the years. But what about stories you would like to have read, but that were never written? How many times have you ever thought, "Gee, I wish someone would write about this..." or, "Sure would like to read a story about that...". Well, here's my candidate, which, to my knowledge, has never been penned.
What was it like to have been the VERY LAST railroad-dispatched, Amtrak-absorbed passenger train left running anywhere in the country after Amtrak started on May 1, 1971? That honor would have fallen to Santa Fe #24, the Grand Canyon, on the evening of 5/2/71. The time frame of the story would only be about one hour, as it arrived in Chicago at 2100, an hour after SF #2 at 2000, or approximately the time it would have taken to travel from Joliet to Chicago. During that short time span, it was the LAST railroad-dispatched train still en route anywhere.
I would envision the story to have been written from a narrative point of view, in the first person, the train itself being the narrator. Anthropomorphism, I believe they call this technique in literature: giving human-like characteristics to an inanimate object. I see the ideal writer as a crewmember on that run, or a rail-wise passenger, possessing literary skills, if such a combination were actually present on board that evening.
Alas, we're now almost 40 years after the fact, and anyone fitting the above criteria that evening for an author may well have passed on by now. Too bad, nothing is more nostalgic and bittersweet than a lost cause, or a memory that never was.
Do you have a candidate for a story you've never seen written?
Golly gee whiz, how did the railroads ever do it in the age before computers or government "help"? (Then: they did it. Today: forget it!)
daveklepper wrote:Southern (the Crescent, with through cars over the NE Corridor of Amtrak to NY), D&RGW (Never on Wednesday Rio Grande Zephyr) and Rock Island. Also the CP operation through Maine to Halifax.
The CP train to Halifax was the Atlantic Limited from Montreal to St. John where you boarded the CP Ferry across the Bay of Fundy to a waiting RDC of CP subsidiary Dominion Atlantic for the rest of the trip to Halifax. The Atlantic Limited usually operated with one of the roads 2 remaining E8s a baggage car painted to match the three Budd cars a Coach, Dome Coach Dinette Bar, and Sleeper. It was a classy little train that probably lost tons of money.
Al - in - Stockton
IIRC Rock Island didn't go into Amtrak because it couldn't afford it!!
Part of the Amtrak agreement was that railroads got compensation based on their passenger operations profit in the previous year or previous two years or something like that, but had to pay the government if their passenger operations were losing money. Rock Island was losing so much on passenger operations it couldn't afford to pay Amtrak the money it would owe it if it had joined!!
wjstix wrote: IIRC Rock Island didn't go into Amtrak because it couldn't afford it!! Part of the Amtrak agreement was that railroads got compensation based on their passenger operations profit in the previous year or previous two years or something like that, but had to pay the government if their passenger operations were losing money. Rock Island was losing so much on passenger operations it couldn't afford to pay Amtrak the money it would owe it if it had joined!!
Rock Island indeed stayed out of Amtrak because it was cheaper. Rock Island's entrance fee would have been based on losses for operation of Chicago-Peoria, Chicago-Rock Island, Chicago-Omaha and Minneapolis-Kansas City trains. The latter two runs were discontinued shortly before passage of the Rail Passenger Service Act and Rock Island's passenger losses had shrunk appreciably.
Ok, Dave,
Here is the story I would like to read: Fred Jukes was a good, early twentieth century, railroad photographer who spent quite a bit of time on the old D&RG narrow gauge lines. He took many photos, probably more than exist today.
I would like a photo essay by Fred himself about what he saw, what he photographed and how he did it.
Another wished for story is a similar one by William Henry Jackson. Jackson did write a bit of an autobiography, but I want to read details of his D&RG work.
Still another: Jay Gould had a considerable influence on the Colorado railroad scene. I would like to read spicifically about that subject which is only touched on in the books I have read about Jay Gould.
Clearly, only the last is remotely possible.
Glen
The last non-Amtrak joining railroad to run an 'inter-city' passenger train? Did not the CP sitll run a train through Maine at the time? And the CN had a RDC train that ran between Winnipeg & Thunder Bay - about 44 miles of the run was in Minnesta(and it did make passenger stops in Minnesota for the border crossings. I rode it in 1973-74 all day run out one direction, and return the next day.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
As I read through this thread, my mind was in ONE place...musing about all the stories Mr David P Morgan never wrote. For me, until someone better comes along, Mr Morgan will always be the best rail writer around, and, while he wrote prolifically, surely he did not write up all of his trips. And, just as surely, I hope TRAINS mag has, or will find, unpublished Morgan material for publication. AA
I'm on board with you, Stan - DPM was the best rail writer to come along yet. His ability to paint pictures with words, indeed to draw a reader in so they felt they were standing beside him hearing and seeing what he was experiencing, was truly a God-given talent.
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