by Carl Graves/photos by the author except as noted
As I said in a previous article, with slide film in my SLR cameras, I chased (and sometimes cursed) trains from 1971 to 2015. What follows is another installment of memories and photos from the first two decades of my railfan photo hobby. In this instance, my focus is on recollections of pursuing a dozen railroads in eight states and one foreign country located to the south. Writing this review brought back memories, mostly good, including trips with railfan friends as well as non-railfan friends and family. Perhaps you have had experiences similar to mine.
You will notice that I have occasionally gone railfanning with my female companion of the time. While I look at railfanning as a social activity that I have enjoyed with many male friends, there is something special about bringing a woman along to share the experience. In a few instances, that experience was successful for me. In late December 1971, I persuaded girlfriend Cheri (we were both in college) to accompany me on a 90-mile car trip to Tulsa. While I was attempting to get up into Frisco’s West Tulsa Cherokee Yard tower, her cute presence charmed the gruff yardmaster into letting us climb the steps into that tower. There I snapped a shot that landed in my Frisco story in TRP April/May/June 2010. She made no more trips like that, preferring visits to the Edmond movie theater instead.
ABOVE: Westbound Amtrak Texas Chief is heading geographically south after its station stop in Fort Worth on July 14, 1973. Dale and railfan friend Paul Walters drove down here the day after Cheri and I got married in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City. She and I were on this train, bound for Houston and then Mexico, during our honeymoon. —Photo by Dale Jacobson
Two years later, she became my first wife (married 1973-1982) and she clearly knew I was an avid railfan. When we were dating in high school, I often drove her back to her parents’ house via the Santa Fe north-south main line passing through Edmond, Okla. She cheerfully agreed to honeymoon in Mexico by using passenger trains, even though she was not a railfan. While we were married, and living in Lawrence, Kansas, she always trusted me when I was away for an afternoon or a week when I was railfanning by myself or with my friend Paul. She and I cared deeply about each other, and besides, she knew that hanging around railroad tracks was not a place where I would pick up women! After I came back from a week of history research in Chicago, where I railfanned when libraries were closed, she and I went to Colorado to camp with neighbors. Running into a Rio Grande train was a one-time lucky event. During the three years we lived in the Boston area (1975-78), she was happy to let me go trackside in search of the Boston & Maine and Penn Central. Only once did she take a long day railfanning trip with me to western Massachusetts.
SOUTH: Mexico by Train
Inspired by the positive Mexican train-riding experiences related to me by railfan friend Dale Jacobson and his wife, my bride-to-be Cheri and I decided we would honeymoon in Mexico, using passenger trains as our main form of transportation. After our July 1973 wedding in Edmond, Okla., we took Amtrak’s Texas Chief the next day from nearby Oklahoma City to Houston. Dale drove south to Fort Worth, Texas, and snapped a photo of our train there.
ABOVE: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy SD9s lead a low priority westbound Burlington Northern freight through the commuter passenger station at Aurora, Ill., west of Chicago, in August 1971. Paul and I came here to photograph the commuter train action, so this freight with its pre-merger Chinese red power was a pleasant surprise.
Once across the border, our travel experiences were not always positive. For example, the air conditioning in our bedroom compartment broke during our long journey from Nuevo Laredo to Mexico City on the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico’s Aguila Azteca (Aztec Eagle). On the other hand, everything worked well on El Tapatio, the train that took us from Mexico City to Guadalajara. Our later journey over the Sierra Madres on a spiffy two-car Ferrocarril del Pacifico Vista Train powered by rare diesels built by Fiat, was spectacular due to the dramatic scenery, including the famous Copper Canyon. From our ten days south of the border, we brought back mostly pleasant memories, while I got some good photos of Mexican people, places, and a few trains.
WEST: That’s No Bull
Following the Rio Grande in Colorado gave me more satisfaction than chasing any other railroad in any other state. The Tennessee Pass/Royal Gorge Route, the Craig Branch and the Moffat Road provided a wealth of positive memories. On one of my later trips, how-ever, there was a problem. Paul and I hopped a roadside fence at Big Ten Loop to get close-up shots of D&RGW trains near Denver. Soon, we realized that we were not alone. About a hundred yards away stood half a dozen huge long-horned bulls! Paul and I quickly retreated from the pasture and went back to our car where we breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, we had previously gotten other great photos of Big Ten action from a more distant, and safer, spot.
ABOVE: Basic black Penn Central GP38-2 7989 will soon leave Beacon Park Yard in Boston with westbound BC-1 on a September afternoon in 1975. Long blocks of empty reefers were commonly found on this train, since eastbound Penn Central trains brought them into Boston loaded with produce from California. This yard was closed in August 2013.
High Plains: Front Range
While exploring Colorado in 1984, Paul and I discovered a beautiful Burlington Northern line that angled north from Trinidad to Walsenburg. To its immediate east was the barren high plains. To the west were foothills of the Front Range near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We hiked up a hill near Walsenburg after an afternoon rainstorm had given way to early evening sun. A northbound manifest appeared as if on cue, giving us great photos and memories. Years later, we noticed No Trespassing signs around the hill. We were also saddened that BN Cascade green had given way to BNSF Heritage orange…
