I was rummaging thru my slides tonight, and I ran into some slides that I shot back in 1952.
My friend Al and I both worked at United States Steel W. Michael Bjornson works in Bessemer ID. Al was a recent Electrical Engineering grad who was hired as a production support engineer for the rolling mills. I had just completed my toolmaker apprenticeship, and I also worked in production support as a toolmaker.
It was a nice sunny Friday afternoon, and we were both heading after work to Harolds Hideway for a beer or six, but wanted to get in some railfanning before heading over. My Dad was a shop foreman on the Spokane Southern at Worley yard. He had heard that GN had just outshopped their Z-6 4001 out of Hillyard, and it was making its maiden voyage over the Spokane Southern that afternoon.
We didn't have to wait long for 4001 to show up. She was on train Extra GN4001 West , and was stuck in the siding at Bessemer.
A short while later, a consist of Northern Pacific F7s showed up on train Extra NP 6017D East.
Another shot showing the F units a bit better.
Since we didn't know how much longer we would see steam on the Spokane Southern, we wanted to get a few more shots of her. About 10 miles east of Bessemer is tunnel 4, so we hot footed it over there to shoot her on her way to tunnel 4.
After that, both Al and I were getting a powerful thirst for an Oly, so we headed back towards Bessemer. We caught Extra GN263A East on its way to Farmington with the daily freight.
I hope you enjoyed our afternoon railfan adventure.
Regards,
GNNPNUT
