Frisco Action 1970. I watched a few videos of the waning years and closings of several different railroads. My goodness, what happened to the railroads? All I saw were heaps of rusted junk, dirty cars, and right of ways that looked like wrong all the ways. So sad even to see the Frisco in the shape she was in 1970. Truly sad...
The shaky indistinct filming, echoing my fading memories of those low days when railroading as we knew and loved it was dying, makes this clip all the more melancholy.
Bear in mind that almost all Class 1's were letting their surviving 1st Gen stuff run out their last miles with minimal cosmetic upkeep. The Frisco's F's were in their last gasps in the early 1970s. Condition was also dependent on the maintenance point assignment. GP7's (575-632) assigned to the Fort Smith roundhouse were kept in good repair and would even be cleaned and some of the paint touched up into the mid-1970s. Once the maintenance points were pooled (mid-1970s as I recall), other units began to be seen in Fort Smith. The Tulsa units in particular were in terrible condition mechanically and cosmetically. However, about the same time (mid-1970s) minimal cosmetic/mechanical work began to be defered on the FS units, too, in advance of the roundhouse being decommissioned. I think all GP7's were gone before the merger that we shall not mention. Andre
Two songs from the era which reflect the prevailing trends and spirit of the times (both from Merle Haggard's My Love Affair with Trains): "So Long Train Whistle" Daddy's been a railroad man Since he was twenty-one Two years of apprenticeship Brakeman on the Denver run Thirty he made fireman Thirty-five an engineer Now at sixty-five He's reached the end of his career Daddy said he's glad it's over But he ain't fooling me Last night I overheard him singing This sad old melody [Chorus] So long train whistle So long hmm-hmm This newr generation Has no need for you or I We both served the nation Long before it learned to fly Nothing last forever Now it's our turn to die Lord hear that whistle cry Daddy's not the only one The railroad lines have fired The New York Central Limited Has long since been retired The Chief is gone from Santa Fe The SP Lark as well How soon the rest will leave the rails Lord only time will tell I know that you can't stop progress New things happen every day But we going to mourn that lonely whistle If it finally fades away [Chorus] So long train whistle So long hmm-hmm This newr generation Has no need for you or I We both served the nation Long before it learned to fly Nothing last forever Now it's our turn to die Lord hear that whistle cry "No More Trains to Ride" I was raised in a Santa Fe Reefer In little California town Three doors down from the railroad track Where they set the old boxcar down Born the son of a railroad man Who rode 'em till he died I'd like to live like my daddy did But there's no more trains to ride [Chorus] No, no more trains to ride No more trains to ride I'd like to live like my daddy did But there's no more trains to ride I learned to be a guitar picker Singing and strummin' long Songs like "Hobo Bill's Last Ride" I love the good ramblin' song Bill was the son of a rambling man Who rambled until he died I'd like to live like Billy did But there's no more trains to ride [Chorus] No, no more trains to ride No more trains to ride I'd like to live like my daddy did But there's no more trains to ride
If that bothers you, you don't want to see the film Penn Central did to used in begging for more money for Congress. Or talk to veterans of the MKT during the 1960s and KCS in the early 1970s, bot of which were suffering from awful track and frequent derailments.
In, 1980 I think, the Steel Gang I was running went to Clinton, Oklahoma. We laid steel to Cordell, Oklahoma. A sore site, old Rock Island track, the yard crews was not getting paid. The equipment looked like an old movie, weeds 4 foot high. They didn't worry with broken rails, it was if they could get over the break or not. I ask one of those guys why they stayed and he told me that they hoped to save their jobs and the railroad by working for no pay. He said there was some guys who just couldn't stay. Maybe Karl can say, their was some Milwaukee track their also. Frisco or my crew was laying 112 ribbon and second hand switches. The old track was 56 pound. On a side note, my steel gang had 5 men over 70 years old. Some didn't know how old they was. They had worked on the gang all their life. Some before they was old enough to work. On payday, I lined up to sign their paycheck, they didn't know how to write. One of the guys told me a story, about Cordell, he had been their with the Steel Gang before, one of the men went into town to buy food and was hung right downtown. Course nobody went their off the gang. Who would know, about that story, I heard similar accounts from other guys. The crew was 95% black, I'm sure they went into some rough places. The crew worked all the days of the month, then took all the rest days off at the end of the month. I'm getting off the story, but at home, their wife's claimed they had been left by their husbands, so they got all the extra benefits from the State or Goverment. I really enjoyed my time with the Steel Gang, what a Education.
I always love your stories Bill. Although I'm not with the railroad I have been in large commercial construction for 30 years. I am kind of lucky because I was getting into to it at the end of the more dangerous pre OSHA years but I lived through it. HA The guys that were old then had great stories as well. Like the railroad it is sure not the same now. A different politically correct world for sure. Not nearly as rough a group as a result. I know I'm the same I used to feel like a Viking going into a new town or even a restaurant. I have been lucky to have worked a lot of places and with guys from almost every state and 4 continents. It teaches diversity for sure.In the middle of no where you are all in it together. One of my favorites ever was a guy from Guatemala that did not know one single word of English. We would always say "see you Monday Herbert" when we left him. No matter what day it was or what time of day. It got a lot of strange looks from people who were not in on it. I am sure that poor guy still thinks that is how people say good bye in the United States. HA We always joke my oldest boy was the last of the old skool construction guys to be born. HA He works for a concrete company which is hard filthy work. He has been to jail a couple times. Makes great money, but broke by Monday morning, buying gas with change by Thursday every week. Rougher than 50 grit sandpaper but works hard. He would have fit right in with your guys I'm sure.
....also the same RR president in different decades...........and that's all I'll say about that.....
