Suddenly, bright orange flames appeared above the exhaust port of the third unit. I could just barely see the train through the leafless trees, but the flames were easy to spot. The train slowed even more, making me think that it was going to stall on the hill. But it kept moving, barely. I was not in a position to take a shot. A crewman emerged from the lead unit, fire extinguisher in hand, ambling along the catwalk toward the flames, in no hurry at all, as though he had seen units catch on fire many times.
My vehicle was approaching a clearing. Just a few more seconds, and I would get a shot of the flames. The train slowed almost to a stop. The crewman approached to within 10 feet of the flames, then discharged a mushroom cloud, like a tiny atomic bomb, from the extinguisher. I reached the clearing, parked and jump out of my car.
For an instant, flames and cloud existed simultaneously. Then the portal between them closed, and the flames vanished -- about ten second before I snapped the shutter!
The crewman attached the fire extinguisher to the hand rail of the third unit, in case the flames reappeared, then turned and began nonchalantly walking back to the lead unit.
I followed the train all the way back to Oklahoma City, taking photographs. The fire extinguisher is clearly visible on the railing of the third unit. I don’t think the train ever exceeded ten miles per hour the remainder of the journey, even downgrade. The third unit did not catch fire again.
Absolutely fantastic! Your post is a real treasure that brings back so many wonderful memories of the Rock Island. Would you happen to have any pictures of the Rock
ReplyDeleteIsland's former division office building in Shawnee, OK? It later served as the freight station and crew change point until shutdown. My ancestors worked for the R.I. in the shops at Shawnee. Sadly, I failed to get many pictures of the building and would like to make a model of it someday. I hope you consider publishing a book of your wonderful exploits on the R.I. In Oklahoma, as your photographs and narrative are superb. I can't thank you enough. Regards. J. Kent Fredenberger
Unbelievable page. Your commentary is exactly what I observed and felt. I worked on the Frisco for some time in the mid-1970s, and watched the parallel Rock Island wither away from existence. Their mainline looked like some of our most desolate, nearly abandoned branches, such as the one from Blackwell to Winslow, Kansas and Beaumont, Kansas before that. I loved that line, but the track was scary. Trains are amazingly resilient. They stay on the tracks, no matter what, until something finally just knocks them off. The Rock was as twisted as they come, but the trains held... usually. How could an icon like "The Rock Island Railroad" disappear? It was like the sun and the moon. It was always there. It was big and powerful. It was ubiquitous, for you saw Rock Island boxcars even on the east and west coasts. But disappear, it did. And when it did, it sent shivers up the spines of every railroader in the country. Conrail barely saved the East Coast. The mergers saved the rest. Santa Fe held out the longest. And believe me, they were scared, too. When I tried to get a job on the Santa Fe in 1976, they were not hiring. They weren't in the mood to talk about it. They didn't know if they'd ever hire again. That was the AT&SF! People do not know what happened to the railroads. The "regulatory agencies" and taxes sucked them dry. Classic "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs" scenario. Despite warnings that began in the late 1940s, the pressures continued, the government extracted more golden eggs, and finally just went for the goose. The stupidity of the regulators and Congress nearly caused the collapse of the American economy over the lack of our main carriers. The Staggers Act was finally a life-saver, but thrown about 30 years too late. It brought back some lines, but most of the small roads were lost, as well as many large ones. Then the mergers finished off the names of all but 5 major US railroads. People don't understand what we once had. What was lost. When you see little ghost towns all over the country side, it might be worth considering that there once was a railroad there. There once was an economy there. Gone now.
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ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tribute for the once mighty Rock Island. I live in Missouri, where efforts to try and keep the St. Louis to Kansas City line active were undertaken, but the west end of the line was never reactivated, while trains continued as far west as Belle -- just a few miles east of the longest trestle in the state of Missouri spanned the Gasconade -- until 1983 and then slowly retreated eastward...to Owensville, then Union. The line from St. Louis to Union is still operated today by Central Midland Railroad, while the remainder of the line, which was never officially abandoned is being converted to a trail...the lines rails and ties removed over the past 18-24 months.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to that connection to the Rock, I went to school at the University of Oklahoma (after the line had shut down). In a span of weeks, I fell hard for the wide open space of the state. I was only there for a few years, but when I read "The north-south main traversed those fields in some of the loveliest, red dirt country you will ever see.", I knew exactly what you meant. The winter wheat, the blaze of a sunset, the forks of lightning across a canopy of thunderheads...it may not be everybody's embodiment of picturesque, but it is and always will be mine.
Thanks for your efforts to document the line and sharing it!
Paul, this is a fantastic collection of beautiful photos of one of my favorite parts of the Rock Island. My grandparents lived in Okarche. In your photo of 4154 South, their house is hidden in the cluster of trees directly above the locomotive and to the right of the municipal airport hangar; my uncle's house, which was originally my grandparents' house, is visible at the extreme right-hand edge of the photo, across the road from my grandparents' later house among the trees. As a kid I would be able to hear southbound trains climbing the hill out of Kingfisher long before they got there, because the house was generally quiet since there were few electronic distractions and noisemakers in the house. I would be able to walk back to the fence line opposite the airfield and watch those trains move through town - sometimes at a crawl, and sometimes really moving. It was a great theater. My family lived there - cousins still do - throughout the 20th Century, including when a 5000-class Northern blew its boiler in town, an event they remembered clearly. In the 30's they would feed transients from the trains in exchange for farm work. My dad was RI's safety manager in the 1970's, and we would always stop for a roll-by for any train we saw while we were driving US 81 en route to Okarche. These photos are pure gold for me. Thanks for sharing them!
ReplyDeleteLove the photos. My memories are from the “Little Rock” that ran from Biddle Yard to Ville Plat, LA. I went to college Ruston, LA and would watch the Saturday local exchange cars there with the east west ICG. Have some pictures from a local going thru Ruston near the end that I am willing to share. The freight house is still there & functions as a bank.
ReplyDeletershendjr@comcast.net
Thank you for posting this. This is history that MUST be recorded and remembered. So many little towns in western Oklahoma exist only because these railroads were their life blood. What is left today is just remnants of what is left behind.
ReplyDeleteCRI&P 301 West Meets F-Units In Oklahoma City -- July 1978 - Nope, not 1978.
ReplyDeleteSame Train "Rocking and Rolling" Through Oklahoma City on Way to El Reno
No, The Biltmore hotel is still standing in the picture. The Biltmore Hotel was demolished in October of 1977.
Just a friendly correction. Great pictures of the Rock Island.
Enjoyed this very much! Great photos and text! Thanks for putting this together and posting it for all to see!
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