All the hype surrounding the Golden Spike 150th got me thinking about the many rail-related events our family has been able to attend over the last 30 years, and realizing that the memories from them are fading. Film and videotape taken at the time, and meant to prevent this from happening, are getting old themselves. I thought that this might be a good time to set our memories in stone before they were lost, and to provide forum followers a little entertainment in the process.
This posting is the third in a series of three flashbacks that recall the 125th Anniversary celebration of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10,1994, and related events immediately before and after.
Follow these links for the first two postings:
Flashback No. 1: https://ogrforum.com/...gden-utah-may-9-1994
Flashback No. 2: https://ogrforum.com/...ory-utah-may-10-1994
Warning: All 'facts' captured below are subject to correction. Given the advancing years since the event I sometimes can't remember my own name. Feel free to highlight and suggest corrections to any contentious points. Any and all comments will be welcomed.
Overview:
Over the past 10 days festivities surrounding the 150th Anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike involved ferry moves that relayed Union Pacific’s equipment to and from the display site at Ogden Union Station. In addition to celebrating the anniversary they have also been touted as getting Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 broken in and safely to and from the celebration site.
For the 125th, in 1994, UP ran at least one full open-to-the-public excursion to serve the same sort of purpose, in several segments. The family and I were fortunate enough on May 14, 1994 to ride one of them, from Las Vegas, Nevada to Southern California, as things were being disbursed on the way out of Ogden after the Golden Spike 125th ceremonies. Since my wife and I had relatives to visit in both Las Vegas and the L.A. Area this segment fit us well.
While the restored Big Boy has been a big part of this year's related events, for the 125th it was UP's then-newly-restored ABA set of E9's, and they looked sharp.
Foreword:
While in Vegas we stayed at the Rio Hotel and Casino. The stay was quite uneventful until the day of our departure, when things escalated very quickly.
In order to make sure that we had sufficient time to make it to the excursion departure site, at the old Amtrak station in Las Vegas, we ordered room service for breakfast and packed up while we were waiting for it. Just after it was delivered, and in the middle of eating, the fire alarms in the hotel began to wail -- we had to evacuate pronto.
In a split second we decided to exit and take our luggage with us. It was very clear that we would miss the train if we had to be cleared back into the building to get it after the ‘fire’ had been dealt with by the hotel staff and the authorities. Recalling the inferno at the MGM Grand in the 80’s my wife hustled our little guy out of the room. I carried all our luggage, fully packed at that point fortunately. It consisted of some 7 very heavy pieces. We made our way down 6 floors and out the back of the hotel to our car.
On the way to the fire escape on our floor we passed a room with water cascading under the door and out into the hallway. There really was a fire! Thank goodness that the fire sprinkler systems required of all hotels in Vegas after the MGM Grand tragedy, and in place at the Rio, had worked.
In spite of our haste this commotion had delayed our exit and departure from the hotel substantially. We had only enough time to turn in our rental car and get to the Amtrak station. Just as I sat down in the station boarding was called and we hurried onto the train. We had made it.
Itinerary:
Third Stop (departure): Amtrak Passenger station, Las Vegas, NV
This station was inactive for rail service for years since Amtrak dropped the Desert Wind (in 1979?), but oddly enough open for departure for our excursion.
to
Fourth Stop (arrival): East Ontario Metrolink Commuter Rail Station, Ontario, CA
This station was brand-new in 1994, as commuter rail, and Metrolink, were just coming on line.
Aboard: Union Pacific Steam-Diesel Excursion 'City of Los Angeles'
Motive Power: UP Challenger 3985 in the lead, with newly-restored E9’s Nos. 949, 963B, and 951 behind it
Our car: Dome Coach 'Columbine'
For additional details see: https://www.up.com/cs/groups/p...cs/pdf_columbine.pdf
Video:
Two professional video overviews of this excursion were published at the time (1994):
'3985 On the Move! The City of Los Angeles', by Valhalla Video (VHS, currently out of print)
'UP 3985 Over Cajon', by Pentrex (VHS, currently out of print)
You may also like these two amateur ones (mine), the first was shot immediately before, and the second a few days after, our trip. I pulled these off 25-year-old videotape two days ago:
On the Trip:
The Send-Off Committee -- I would have preferred to get a departure shot in Las Vegas, but two things intervened. We arrived at the station a little late due to the ruckus at the Rio, and the head end of the train was not easily accessible from the station. This shot, and my video above, were taken instead when the return trip left the L.A. area. We weren’t on it at that point but that fact allowed me to camp out with the rest of these folks, awaiting departure.
Notice the broad mix of people in the crowd here. There are certainly railfans, and photographers but there are also many common folk. Several kids came with their parents, some came by themselves on bikes. Another fan road the motorcycle you see as part of his plan to get as close as possible to the excitement. Now the real railfan in this picture is the guy with the crutches – NOTHING was going to stop him from coming out to see the train.
Union Pacific E9’s Nos. 949, 963B, and 951 – Newly restored in 1994 these locomotives were fresh out of the shop, if I recall correctly, and on their first voyage as part of UP’s excursion and business fleet. When they were outshopped a great deal of controversy about their ditch lights arose among purists. You can see them above in this shot I was able to get a couple of days after our journey at UP’s Los Angeles area yards (Colton?). These of course were not part of original equipment when the units were new. But it turned out that they are removable. For photography requiring historical authenticity they would be removed, as long as it didn’t impact safety while underway.
A Familiar Sight – Would you expect anything less? With roads paralleling UP’s line in many places along the way we saw a constant stream of followers pacing us that day. Most of the route was through the desert, with very few communities. As a result there was little obstructing traffic for these drivers and they kept up with us nicely.
A Not-so-Familiar Sight – Since it was a bright, sunny day it was not only good for a rail event, but also beautiful for flying. I’m sure this pilot had excellent views from above, and perhaps even took a few pictures while he was at it. If you look closely you can see his passenger doing so with a camera in his hands, pointed directly at us.
A Rare Sight Indeed – The California Highway Patrol was also present, probably on an official basis to ensure order, but we could tell that unofficially it was just to have fun. We could see and hear the helicopter above us over the eastern portion of the route, once we had crossed out of Nevada and into California. After about 20 minutes of pacing us the CHiPs flew ahead and landed at this spot to allow the officers and officials aboard to get out and catch us running by – some people go to the most incredible lengths in order to make sure that there are no errant railfans in their shots. I assume that they also got some beautiful shots in the air. Today it’s not as difficult; we now have drones.
You might be getting the idea by now that traffic was intense that day, not only on the rails, but also on the road and in the air. You’re right. There was a lot to keep us occupied.
The Greatest Generation is in the House – We were pleasantly surprised to find a large contingent of WWII veterans aboard. They were all fairly-recently retired back then and looking to enjoy their retirement. I found out in a conversation with this gentleman that this he had been a bomber pilot leading a B-24 crew over Europe in the war. He was at most 24 years old at the time. It always amazes me that so much responsibility had to be placed in the hands of kids. And they all came through, delivering splendidly on it. Now 25 years later most of them are gone, with more passing away every day. We can’t be allowed to forget their sacrifices. His wife, who preferred to go by the name ‘Grammy’, hit it off big-time instantly with my little assistant.
WWII Veterans also in the Crew – We’ve ridden on two Union Pacific excursions over the years, the one described here and another behind UP 844 between Chicago and Milwaukee about 5 years later. In each case the volunteers staffing the cars have been gracious, knowledgeable, patient and thoroughly professional. That as certainly the case here. Our car staffer was all of the above and, we were told, also a WWII veteran.
Mission Revival Station at Kelso – The Santa Fe is famous for its widespread use of mission revival architecture in its stations, big and small, throughout the southwest U.S. However this one in Kelso, California wasn't built by them; it was built instead by the U.P. It was erected in 1923 to serve a growing town that had built up around mining interests in the area, which eventually dried up leaving it abandoned and without a thriving community. Although it doesn’t look too bad here a couple of years after this was taken a full restoration effort was initiated and completed, inside and out, by new residents moving in, restoring it to its former glory.
Passing the ‘Southwest Chief’ – As we approached Barstow we caught up with, and passed, what appears to be Amtrak’s No. 3, the Southwest Chief also on its way to L.A. Until I saw this shot again, while putting this together, I had forgotten that Amtrak’s Genesis locomotives had been introduced about this time. They were apparently still in short supply, at least on this day, since the Chief also has an older F40PH in its consist. Eight years after this, after watching Amtrak scurry about the country from the ground in many places, we finally made our first long-distance Amtrak trip, on No. 3 from Chicago to Flagstaff, Arizona. Here the striping on the side of the first car implies that it’s a transition sleeper, as you would expect, because the rear of these trains always consists of high-level Superliners. Question: Why is there no baggage car, typically found in front of it on Amtrak?
Santa Fe’s Yard at Barstow – If I’m not mistaken we were traveling on UP trackage rights on the Santa Fe as we made our way through Barstow, California, and around the Santa Fe’s yard there. This is a big facility. It took several minutes of relatively slow running to get us past it. As we passed we had a chance to take in the size of the incoming and outgoing areas within the yard, as well as the rest of its facilities, like the locomotive servicing shops.
More Excitement –To complement our ride my assistant spotted a large carnival off to the train’s right side and immediately began to make plans to return. To me what makes train riding so compelling, whether excursion or regularly-scheduled, are the sights through which we pass. We did come back to Barstow a few days later, but sadly the carnival had moved on before we arrived. We had to settle for lunch in the railroad-themed McDonald’s, at that time famous in Barstow.
The Little Guy’s Favorite Loads of the Day – Toddlers seem to have a limitless capacity to soak up details. The little guy new that these weren’t Shermans, or M60’s. When we came upon them he immediately shouted out ‘M1 Abrams’. These loads were another example of the passing view outside the window being a major part of the rail travel experience. As for his detail there’s a simple explanation: His grandparents had showered him, over time and mostly from flea markets and discount stores, an amazing fleet of tiny vehicles and trains numbering about 700. As he played with them, and by asking constant questions, he grew to know the make and model of each one, and could identify them on demand -- including these, his favorite military machines, M1 Abrams tanks.
Santa Fe and its Colorful Paint – Here you can see in Santa Fe’s yard several examples of its then-recent (early 90’s) push to bring back the famous color from its history, now on newer diesels. Just to the right of the bill on this guy’s cap we can see what appears to be one of its rare F45’s -- or perhaps it’s an FP-45 since it’s been repainted in its classic red-on-silver Warbonnet passenger livery. At the far right the cab of an unknown diesel peeks out in the blue-and-yellow freight version of the Warbonnet scheme.
Cuts and Fills – As we left Barstow we were starting to encounter the ups-and-downs you expect when you’re coming into the mountains. You get a good understanding of the work required to tame undulating terrain, transforming it into marginal grades and smooth, wide curves. As you can see here the dome car was a great vantage point to take it all in. This section of the line reminds me of twisting and turning travel through Raton Pass on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, although the curves aren’t as tight and the colors of the terrain are more muted.
Working the Brakes Hard; but Wait! – As we wound through we could see the Challenger working hard on the way upgrade. On the way down clouds of brake smoke and dust kicked up from the roadbed frequently accompanied our descents, as seen seemingly in this shot. I believe that the E9’s had dynamic braking, and so were helping with the process, although I don’t see the typical ‘heat mirage’ that would rise up over them if they were. Look closely though – you’ll see one of the more ambitious chasers responsible for, and enveloped in, this cloud.
Welcoming Crowd at Victorville –Since we didn’t travel through many sizable communities during the trip we didn’t see the kinds of crowds that day that you’d normally see greeting a steam locomotive pulling an excursion. An exception was encountered in Victorville, California. It looked like most of the town had turned out. In reality some of these people are departing the train because Victorville was one of the few interim station stops for the train that day. Others are getting on to join us for the remainder of the trip, on into the Los Angeles area.
What a View! – In this shot I can see why dome cars came to define the last incarnations of name trains in the late 40’s and early 50’s. We had an excellent view of the high desert terrain around us, but more importantly for us, the head end of the train as we snaked our way through SoCal.
‘Columbine’, a Darker Side? –Our car was the beautifully restored and maintained dome coach Columbine. We had run of the entire car, and most of train, so we could spend time in the dome watching the passing scenery and the head end do its work. We could also, and did occasionally, retreat to the lower level for a little peace and quiet. A few years after our trip the term Columbine took on a dark tone, after the shooting tragedy at the high school of the same name in Colorado. I had heard a rumor about that time that UP had renamed this car afterward to leave behind its association with the tragedy. Fast forward to the 150th celebration of this past week and I found out that this rumor wasn’t true. Video, taken by Trains magazine in its tour of the Ogden Union Station site, and of UP’s executive train parked at the station, shows Columbine present and still carrying its original name.
Bringing up the Markers, Which ‘City’ was it? –The rear of our train was brought up by Dome Lounge Observation City of San Francisco carrying the train’s tailsign ‘City of Los Angeles’, resplendent in neon nonetheless. Although the car City of Los Angeles was actually in the consist that day it’s not an observation car, but a dining car, and so it wouldn’t be appropriate to purists for it handle the rear-end duties. This made the City of S.F. the best choice to bring up the rear of our ‘City of L.A.’ -- even with its conflicting tailsign.
The Very Big, and the Very Little –Little boys, and some much, much older ones as well, are fascinated by big machines. There’s something about getting a machine that big to move, and indeed to race along at high speed, that’s mesmerizing to them. This shot captures one of each in 1:1. (By the way, he didn’t stand there very long – he had developed a healthy respect for the big monster during our trip and was afraid that the 3985 was going to move at any moment and run him over.)
Adding to the Fun, Growing the Hobby -- When he heard during our trip that there was an even bigger steam locomotive than the Challenger he couldn’t wait to ride behind it. Fast forward to 2019. The happy traveler you see here will be 30 years old very soon. Where did the time go? All these years later it looks like with the restoration of UP 4014 we might soon have a chance to take that ride, and with any luck our third excursion on the U.P.
I hope you enjoyed the flashbacks. Let's see some of yours. Don't let your film and videotape fade to oblivion.
Mike
