The STEEL FREEWAY

[chad thomas]

The Steel Freeway

I am a die hard Southern Pacific fan. It’s no surprise. I grew up in a SP world. At least when it came to trains that is. My family heritage had something to do with it. My mom’s mom was from a SP family. Her father, my great-grandfather, was a SP conductor. Two of her brothers were SP conductors. One of them, Neil Hallamore, was not only a conductor, but also the union representative for the Los Angeles division. Though that is not the main reason I am a die hard SP fan.

The biggest reason I am a die hard SP fan is that I grew up next to the Southern Pacific. The first ten years of my life I lived in Oxnard, California on the SP coast line. Some of my first memories were of SP trains pulled by the mighty tunnel motors. They were huge machines of the most impressive caliber to my very young and impressionable mind. When I was ten years old my family moved to Belmont, Ca. on the San Francisco peninsula. We lived just 2 blocks away from the SP line between San Francisco and San Jose. When I got out of school in the afternoon I would invariably find myself hanging out trackside. Back then (1979-81) the SP still ran the commute service. There seemed to be a non-stop parade of commute trains pulled by second generation motive power with either bi-level gallery cars or even older single level coach cars in tow. At that time there was even a few big freight trains still plying the peninsula. And of course there was the daily local with EMD switchers working the industries on and beyond the mainline. During the summer I would ride the commuters down to San Jose on the weekends to work for my uncle. Everywhere I went The SP was there. Out in Modesto where I visited my cousins, there was the SP. Down in Santa Cruz, there was the SP. Over in San Jose, again there was the SP.

Then when I was 11 my family moved to Alturas, on the Modoc line. The Lakeview, Or. Branch actually crossed our property. Every morning the Lakeview job would pass our house with 10-15 empties and return in the evening with a like amount of loads. It would have a GP9 in the lead pulling mostly woodchip cars and a few center beam flats loaded with lumber. On the mainline there would be 2 or 3 long freights each way every day, usually with midtrain helpers.

Alturas is in the middle of nowhere, so trips to civilization were frequent. No matter which way we went, the SP was there. My family made frequent trips to Klamath Falls, Or. where the SP had a big yard complete with roundhouse. Sometimes we would go to Redding. There is no big yard in Redding, but SP has one awesome trestle that seems to carry the tracks right over the top of town. And trips to visit relatives would always take us through Reno. That meant following the SP over Donner pass at the very least. If time allowed, a trip to Sparks would be the highlight of the journey. There was always great things to behold in Sparks yard. Rotary snowplows, the huge roundhouse, and lots of big road power being fueled and sanded for there next trek. Again everywhere I went, so did the SP.

As you can see when I thought trains, I saw scarlet red and lark grey. It’s not that I didn’t see other railroads. I had seen the Santa Fe, Western Pacific, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific and lots of shortlines. It was just that those guys were also-rans at best in my mind. None of them had the grandeur of SP. But that was about to change.

I moved to Van Nuys to go to School. Again I was next to the Friendly. My house was blocks away from the coast line at the big Budweiser brewery. Not much further was the SP’s Gemco yard. This yard served General Motors Firebird / Camero assembly plant till not too long ago. Now it is only used as a distribution center. Gemco was the western terminal of the famous Memphis Blue Streak Freight Forwarder.

Not too long after that I started working for a communications company. A few months later I was sent to a training siminar in Los Vegas. I took I-15 on the way up. That was somewhat of a disappointment as the Union Pacific line is out of sight most of the way. So I decided to take a different route home. A look at the map made me realize the only other railfanning option was to drop down US 95 to old route 66 and follow the Santa Fe back to Barstow, down through Cajon and on home.

As soon as the sun rose I was off. And in what seemed like no time I was approaching the T with old 66, now known as National Trails Highway in California. About 4 mi. from the tracks I spotted a westbound TOFC train. Immediately I noticed that the lead units were painted in the newly revived warbonnet scheme. They must be some of the new GP60M’s. I had seen these a few times and they looked awesome. To me they are the sports car of the locomotive world. Right then I knew I had to have some pictures of this train. No problem, the highway crosses over the tracks at Amboy over a hundred miles away. That’s plenty of time to get ahead.

By the time I got to the crossing the train was about 3 miles away. Turning on to historic old route 66 I had no idea what lay ahead of me. I got up to 70 Mph and let her run. There was a little bit of traffic ahead of me that held me up a bit. Once I got ahead of it, it was free sailing. Not a car in sight in front of me. Five miles passed, then ten. I should have been catching up with the train. If anything it looked like I was loosing ground.

Then it dawned on me. This train was UPS heavy. It must be the 199 or the 198, the ultra hot trains from Chicago to the bay area and LA respectively. If this is the case they might be authorized for 79 Mph. Somewhere I read where the Super C and its descendants are allowed to go that fast if it had enough operative brakes for its tonnage, and it had cars capable of this speed. Yea, that must be it.

I don’t usually drive faster than ten or fifteen miles over the speed limit. In this case though there was no other traffic and the road is mostly razor straight, and in good condition. So I kicked it up to 80. Five more miles, and ten more miles, still it seemed like I was not gaining on him. I pushed it up to 85. After a few miles it looked like I was starting to turn the tide. Then again maybe not.

Then an eastbound appeared. At first it was just a headlight on the horizon. In no time it seemed it was passing the 199, still 3 or 4 miles ahead of me. I backed off the throttle a bit to watch it pass me. With me still doing a good 65 plus, and him doing something close to the same, he was flying by me moments later. At a combined speed of about 130 Mph. that train was not much more than a blur of blue and yellow with a line of white trailers in tow. Moments later he was just a memory.

Meanwhile that *** 199 looked like it was leaving me in the dust again. Alright I wasn’t going to screw around anymore. I put the hammer down. Back up to 70 Mph, then 75 and 80...85…90. I thought about it. If the lead units had 5 miles on me, it would take a half hour at 90 to catch him if he’s doing 80 (79). I should still be able to get ahead by Amboy. That sounded good in theory, but as I sailed along at 90 Mph it soon became apparent that it wouldn’t work. I wasn’t gaining on him fast enough.

Up till this point getting a ticket was always in the back of my mind. I can’t afford to pay for a ticket if I get nailed, especially in California where speeding tickets are far from cheap. Now I didn’t care. I was determined to catch this train, no matter what it took. This race was just taken to another level. To the floor went the gas pedal. Slowly the speedo started climbing again. 95 Mph. All I have to do is go ten miles an hour faster than him for about 40 miles. 100 Mph. Then if the camera is ready I only need a few seconds to frame my shot. 105 Mph. I’ve been down this road before and know right where I want to get my shot, but I’m cutting it close. 110 Mph. I wish I was in my car with its American big block V-8 instead of the company truck with its little V-6. 115 Mph.

Now it looks like I’ll catch him in time. I’m running out of straight away, approaching a small summit. The tracks swing out a couple miles taking the longer route. The hill and a few slight turns slow me back down to 75. Once again I’m on a straight away and heading down hill. In no time at all I’m back up to 115 Mph. Now it’s clear I’m gaining on him. I can see the Cadiz junction. Still there’s not a car in sight. A few miles later I could see the front end better. Something didn’t look right. Could this train have one of the brand new B40-8W’s on the point? Now I’ve got to see that, whatever it takes. How would I explain this to a highway patrol. If I got caught it would surely lead to a night in the pokey. But this is worth the risk.

I was almost even with the front end when I encountered oncoming traffic. ***, back down to 75. I thought I had it in the bag until this happened. No matter how bad I wanted this shot, I was not about to risk hurting other people in the process. After they passed me the gas pedal went to the floorboard. I still have about 5 miles go to Amboy. And the speedometer climbs again. Another eastbounder comes into view. It’s a mix of boxcars, tanks and grain cars lead by a pair of cowl units and a SD40-2. It streaked by in a blur, and disappeared in my mirror in a mater of moments. Now I could see Amboy in the distance.

No dice. I fell back far enough that I wouldn’t make the shot I was shooting for. This is disappointing. Now I must come up with another plan. Ash hill is rapidly approaching. That should slow him down. Plus the westbound track loops around to the north on a alignment that takes it a mile or two out of the way. This should buy me the time I need to get ahead. But where will I get my shot. I don’t know the area around Ludlow that well, so I decided to shoot for Dagget. The Dagget-Yermo road is a straight shot off I-40, less than a mile off the interstate. That’s my next target.

Half the train had passed by the time I hit the crossing. This was the first time I actually paid attention to the trailers on this train. UPS trailers dominated, but there were also Transamerica, Kankakee Beverville and Southern, Santa Fe and Conrail trailers in the mix too. Almost all were of the 40’(UPS) and 45’(the rest) variety with a few 25 footers thrown in. There was no doubt this was a UPS train.

The last car flew by and the gates went up. From here on it seemed like traffic was trying to get in my way. I don’t know where all this traffic came from. I only saw two cars in the last hundred miles and all of the sudden there are a dozen cars within eyesight, and several in front of me. No worries, traffic moves along at a good clip once we get out of town. Speeds Hoover around 75 Mph for many miles and the train has started to slow down a bit as it approached Ash Hill. I even gained on him a bit. When he got to the track split at Ash hill surprisingly he took the eastbound track. I was counting on him taking the west track allowing me to gain a few miles on him but that didn’t happen. I did manage to catch up with the head end though. For a few miles I was even in the lead.

That was short lived though as I was rapidly closing in on the town of Ludlow. A few zigs and zags later I was entering I-40 for the last leg into Barstow. This cost me and again I was trailing. The closer I got to Barstow the more apparent it became that I would not get my Dagget shot. Then I heard him talking with Barstow yard on the scanner. This confirmed my suspicion, he was defiantly the 199 heading for Richmond. OK I’ll just take highway 58 and get ahead of it when it changes crew in Barstow.

Then another problem came into the picture. All that high speed driving sucked my gas tank dry. I needed to get fuel if I wanted to get further than Barstow. When I got to town I took the business loop (main st.) and hit the shell station next to McDonalds. This is the McDonalds that features an old passenger car as a dining lounge. An indication that this is a true railroad town.

To make this gas stop as Quick as possible I only put ten dollars in and hit the road. I turned right on 58. This road crosses the old yard on a truss bridge. You can see the very east end of the classification yard from this bridge, but that’s about it. I didn’t see the 199, though I didn’t really expect to. Surely I would pass it while crews were being changed. Or so I thought.

I was about even with the front end as the tracks and highway came together again. It took him the same amount of time to change crews as it took me to gas up. And the race was on again. For the first few miles it seemed like I had a chance. Traffic was extremely light for this major route. This was the first time I ever saw a B40-8W. There were two on the point followed by three GP60M’s. Comparing the two models they are quite different. The GE’s do not have the “hot rod” look of the EMD’s. They look as if someone put 4 axle trucks on a six axle unit. In other words they look disproportionately long. I was able to get ahead of the train long enough to get a look at the front end too. Now I definitely did not like these as much as the GP60Ms. The geeps have a bulldoggish, tough looking front end. The GEs have a droopy look about them.

My lead was short lived. I came upon traffic and my speed dropped down to 60-65 for the next 10 miles. By the time I was approaching Kramer junction fred had passed me. Chances of ever getting far enough ahead to take a picture were minute to none. I conceded the race. The Santa Fe 199 had kicked my a**. I gave up and turned south on US-395 and headed for home. That’s the first time I started to reflect on the events of the day.

Wow, I just covered 220 or more miles in about 2 hours and 45 minuets, including a fuel stop. That Santa Fe is one hell of a railroad. I just gained a whole new respect for them. This railroad was a speed demon to be reckoned with. And the SP seemed to slip out of the spotlight a bit on that day. Maybe the SP isn’t the only show worth seeing. Maybe it’s time to expand my horizons. Maybe there is more out there than I thought. But one things is for shure. On that day I found out why they call the Santa Fe….”THE STEEL FREEWAY”.

[chad thomas]

Sorry about the mistakes I edited the post and hope I fixed them all.

I wrote this around 1991 with the intention of submiting it to the mags. I never did.

Thought some of you might enjoy it.

[coborn35]

Yeah, its too bad the Santa Fe now is no longer even included in the "BNSF Railway Corporation" name......................... On a more happy note, some of the former SP
SD45T-2's operate on the Duluth,Missabe, and Iron Range unit ore trains.

[Anonymous]

Jesus Christ Chad!!!!!!!! Love the story man, I had to catch my breath after that one! You had me ready to fall off my seat! I just really got into your story. I used to be coast-coast truck driver and used to do the same thing when I was out west. would drive like hell just to catch a train. Thanks for bringing back old memories.

[daveklepper]

I liked your story and I understand the thrill of the chase.

But I wonder how many railroad engineers and other trainmen agree with this thought:

There is no excuse whatsover, ever, for speeding so far above the speed limit.

You might have hurt yourself or others. You bet your life that your car would stay together and that the road had no unpleasant surprises. You were lucky. Please don't try it again, please.

[chad thomas]

Glad you guys enjoyed it.

About the speeding, I grew up driving the back roads of Northeast california, and western Nevada. I'm no stranger to high speed driving. There are some fundamental rules to follow. Always keep your vehicle in tip-top condition. Have EXCELENT brakes and tires. And never ever ever let your braking distance excede your line of sight.
I always back down to within 10mph of the speed limit when cars are ANYWHERE near me.
If you ever traveled on these desert roads you would know most of them are razor straight. Visibility is excellent. And cars are FEW and FAR between.
I've driven over a million milesin my life, and only been in 2 accidents, both were not my fault. I'm a very responsable driver.

Note: When the Modoc CHP was fighting to get radar guns in there cars they did a survey on US395 by Madeline (a major road in this area. They found during daylight hours the AVERAGE speed there to be 87mph.

[spbed]

Yes to bad the SPRR went the way of some other fallen flags before it. The stories were real enjoyable though. [8D]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

The Steel Freeway

I am a die hard Southern Pacific fan. It’s no surprise. I grew up in a SP world. At least when it came to trains that is. My family heritage had something to do with it. My mom’s mom was from a SP family. Her father, my great-grandfather, was a SP conductor. Two of her brothers were SP conductors. One of them, Neil Hallamore, was not only a conductor, but also the union representative for the Los Angeles division. Though that is not the main reason I am a die hard SP fan.

The biggest reason I am a die hard SP fan is that I grew up next to the Southern Pacific. The first ten years of my life I lived in Oxnard, California on the SP coast line. Some of my first memories were of SP trains pulled by the mighty tunnel motors. They were huge machines of the most impressive caliber to my very young and impressionable mind. When I was ten years old my family moved to Belmont, Ca. on the San Francisco peninsula. We lived just 2 blocks away from the SP line between San Francisco and San Jose. When I got out of school in the afternoon I would invariably find myself hanging out trackside. Back then (1979-81) the SP still ran the commute service. There seemed to be a non-stop parade of commute trains pulled by second generation motive power with either bi-level gallery cars or even older single level coach cars in tow. At that time there was even a few big freight trains still plying the peninsula. And of course there was the daily local with EMD switchers working the industries on and beyond the mainline. During the summer I would ride the commuters down to San Jose on the weekends to work for my uncle. Everywhere I went The SP was there. Out in Modesto where I visited my cousins, there was the SP. Down in Santa Cruz, there was the SP. Over in San Jose, again there was the SP.

Then when I was 11 my family moved to Alturas, on the Modoc line. The Lakeview, Or. Branch actually crossed our property. Every morning the Lakeview job would pass our house with 10-15 empties and return in the evening with a like amount of loads. It would have a GP9 in the lead pulling mostly woodchip cars and a few center beam flats loaded with lumber. On the mainline there would be 2 or 3 long freights each way every day, usually with midtrain helpers.

Alturas is in the middle of nowhere, so trips to civilization were frequent. No matter which way we went, the SP was there. My family made frequent trips to Klamath Falls, Or. where the SP had a big yard complete with roundhouse. Sometimes we would go to Redding. There is no big yard in Redding, but SP has one awesome trestle that seems to carry the tracks right over the top of town. And trips to visit relatives would always take us through Reno. That meant following the SP over Donner pass at the very least. If time allowed, a trip to Sparks would be the highlight of the journey. There was always great things to behold in Sparks yard. Rotary snowplows, the huge roundhouse, and lots of big road power being fueled and sanded for there next trek. Again everywhere I went, so did the SP.

As you can see when I thought trains, I saw scarlet red and lark grey. It’s not that I didn’t see other railroads. I had seen the Santa Fe, Western Pacific, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific and lots of shortlines. It was just that those guys were also-rans at best in my mind. None of them had the grandeur of SP. But that was about to change.

I moved to Van Nuys to go to School. Again I was next to the Friendly. My house was blocks away from the coast line at the big Budweiser brewery. Not much further was the SP’s Gemco yard. This yard served General Motors Firebird / Camero assembly plant till not too long ago. Now it is only used as a distribution center. Gemco was the western terminal of the famous Memphis Blue Streak Freight Forwarder.

Not too long after that I started working for a communications company. A few months later I was sent to a training siminar in Los Vegas. I took I-15 on the way up. That was somewhat of a disappointment as the Union Pacific line is out of sight most of the way. So I decided to take a different route home. A look at the map made me realize the only other railfanning option was to drop down US 95 to old route 66 and follow the Santa Fe back to Barstow, down through Cajon and on home.

As soon as the sun rose I was off. And in what seemed like no time I was approaching the T with old 66, now known as National Trails Highway in California. About 4 mi. from the tracks I spotted a westbound TOFC train. Immediately I noticed that the lead units were painted in the newly revived warbonnet scheme. They must be some of the new GP60M’s. I had seen these a few times and they looked awesome. To me they are the sports car of the locomotive world. Right then I knew I had to have some pictures of this train. No problem, the highway crosses over the tracks at Amboy over a hundred miles away. That’s plenty of time to get ahead.

By the time I got to the crossing the train was about 3 miles away. Turning on to historic old route 66 I had no idea what lay ahead of me. I got up to 70 Mph and let her run. There was a little bit of traffic ahead of me that held me up a bit. Once I got ahead of it, it was free sailing. Not a car in sight in front of me. Five miles passed, then ten. I should have been catching up with the train. If anything it looked like I was loosing ground.

Then it dawned on me. This train was UPS heavy. It must be the 199 or the 198, the ultra hot trains from Chicago to the bay area and LA respectively. If this is the case they might be authorized for 79 Mph. Somewhere I read where the Super C and its descendants are allowed to go that fast if it had enough operative brakes for its tonnage, and it had cars capable of this speed. Yea, that must be it.

I don’t usually drive faster than ten or fifteen miles over the speed limit. In this case though there was no other traffic and the road is mostly razor straight, and in good condition. So I kicked it up to 80. Five more miles, and ten more miles, still it seemed like I was not gaining on him. I pushed it up to 85. After a few miles it looked like I was starting to turn the tide. Then again maybe not.

Then an eastbound appeared. At first it was just a headlight on the horizon. In no time it seemed it was passing the 199, still 3 or 4 miles ahead of me. I backed off the throttle a bit to watch it pass me. With me still doing a good 65 plus, and him doing something close to the same, he was flying by me moments later. At a combined speed of about 130 Mph. that train was not much more than a blur of blue and yellow with a line of white trailers in tow. Moments later he was just a memory.

Meanwhile that *** 199 looked like it was leaving me in the dust again. Alright I wasn’t going to screw around anymore. I put the hammer down. Back up to 70 Mph, then 75 and 80...85…90. I thought about it. If the lead units had 5 miles on me, it would take a half hour at 90 to catch him if he’s doing 80 (79). I should still be able to get ahead by Amboy. That sounded good in theory, but as I sailed along at 90 Mph it soon became apparent that it wouldn’t work. I wasn’t gaining on him fast enough.

Up till this point getting a ticket was always in the back of my mind. I can’t afford to pay for a ticket if I get nailed, especially in California where speeding tickets are far from cheap. Now I didn’t care. I was determined to catch this train, no matter what it took. This race was just taken to another level. To the floor went the gas pedal. Slowly the speedo started climbing again. 95 Mph. All I have to do is go ten miles an hour faster than him for about 40 miles. 100 Mph. Then if the camera is ready I only need a few seconds to frame my shot. 105 Mph. I’ve been down this road before and know right where I want to get my shot, but I’m cutting it close. 110 Mph. I wish I was in my car with its American big block V-8 instead of the company truck with its little V-6. 115 Mph.

Now it looks like I’ll catch him in time. I’m running out of straight away, approaching a small summit. The tracks swing out a couple miles taking the longer route. The hill and a few slight turns slow me back down to 75. Once again I’m on a straight away and heading down hill. In no time at all I’m back up to 115 Mph. Now it’s clear I’m gaining on him. I can see the Cadiz junction. Still there’s not a car in sight. A few miles later I could see the front end better. Something didn’t look right. Could this train have one of the brand new B40-8W’s on the point? Now I’ve got to see that, whatever it takes. How would I explain this to a highway patrol. If I got caught it would surely lead to a night in the pokey. But this is worth the risk.

I was almost even with the front end when I encountered oncoming traffic. ***, back down to 75. I thought I had it in the bag until this happened. No matter how bad I wanted this shot, I was not about to risk hurting other people in the process. After they passed me the gas pedal went to the floorboard. I still have about 5 miles go to Amboy. And the speedometer climbs again. Another eastbounder comes into view. It’s a mix of boxcars, tanks and grain cars lead by a pair of cowl units and a SD40-2. It streaked by in a blur, and disappeared in my mirror in a mater of moments. Now I could see Amboy in the distance.

No dice. I fell back far enough that I wouldn’t make the shot I was shooting for. This is disappointing. Now I must come up with another plan. Ash hill is rapidly approaching. That should slow him down. Plus the westbound track loops around to the north on a alignment that takes it a mile or two out of the way. This should buy me the time I need to get ahead. But where will I get my shot. I don’t know the area around Ludlow that well, so I decided to shoot for Dagget. The Dagget-Yermo road is a straight shot off I-40, less than a mile off the interstate. That’s my next target.

Half the train had passed by the time I hit the crossing. This was the first time I actually paid attention to the trailers on this train. UPS trailers dominated, but there were also Transamerica, Kankakee Beverville and Southern, Santa Fe and Conrail trailers in the mix too. Almost all were of the 40’(UPS) and 45’(the rest) variety with a few 25 footers thrown in. There was no doubt this was a UPS train.

The last car flew by and the gates went up. From here on it seemed like traffic was trying to get in my way. I don’t know where all this traffic came from. I only saw two cars in the last hundred miles and all of the sudden there are a dozen cars within eyesight, and several in front of me. No worries, traffic moves along at a good clip once we get out of town. Speeds Hoover around 75 Mph for many miles and the train has started to slow down a bit as it approached Ash Hill. I even gained on him a bit. When he got to the track split at Ash hill surprisingly he took the eastbound track. I was counting on him taking the west track allowing me to gain a few miles on him but that didn’t happen. I did manage to catch up with the head end though. For a few miles I was even in the lead.

That was short lived though as I was rapidly closing in on the town of Ludlow. A few zigs and zags later I was entering I-40 for the last leg into Barstow. This cost me and again I was trailing. The closer I got to Barstow the more apparent it became that I would not get my Dagget shot. Then I heard him talking with Barstow yard on the scanner. This confirmed my suspicion, he was defiantly the 199 heading for Richmond. OK I’ll just take highway 58 and get ahead of it when it changes crew in Barstow.

Then another problem came into the picture. All that high speed driving sucked my gas tank dry. I needed to get fuel if I wanted to get further than Barstow. When I got to town I took the business loop (main st.) and hit the shell station next to McDonalds. This is the McDonalds that features an old passenger car as a dining lounge. An indication that this is a true railroad town.

To make this gas stop as Quick as possible I only put ten dollars in and hit the road. I turned right on 58. This road crosses the old yard on a truss bridge. You can see the very east end of the classification yard from this bridge, but that’s about it. I didn’t see the 199, though I didn’t really expect to. Surely I would pass it while crews were being changed. Or so I thought.

I was about even with the front end as the tracks and highway came together again. It took him the same amount of time to change crews as it took me to gas up. And the race was on again. For the first few miles it seemed like I had a chance. Traffic was extremely light for this major route. This was the first time I ever saw a B40-8W. There were two on the point followed by three GP60M’s. Comparing the two models they are quite different. The GE’s do not have the “hot rod” look of the EMD’s. They look as if someone put 4 axle trucks on a six axle unit. In other words they look disproportionately long. I was able to get ahead of the train long enough to get a look at the front end too. Now I definitely did not like these as much as the GP60Ms. The geeps have a bulldoggish, tough looking front end. The GEs have a droopy look about them.

My lead was short lived. I came upon traffic and my speed dropped down to 60-65 for the next 10 miles. By the time I was approaching Kramer junction fred had passed me. Chances of ever getting far enough ahead to take a picture were minute to none. I conceded the race. The Santa Fe 199 had kicked my a**. I gave up and turned south on US-395 and headed for home. That’s the first time I started to reflect on the events of the day.

Wow, I just covered 220 or more miles in about 2 hours and 45 minuets, including a fuel stop. That Santa Fe is one hell of a railroad. I just gained a whole new respect for them. This railroad was a speed demon to be reckoned with. And the SP seemed to slip out of the spotlight a bit on that day. Maybe the SP isn’t the only show worth seeing. Maybe it’s time to expand my horizons. Maybe there is more out there than I thought. But one things is for shure. On that day I found out why they call the Santa Fe….”THE STEEL FREEWAY”.