From The Bumping Post by Stephen Shaw "In 1956, the Pennsylvania Railroad was faced with a power shortage on its coal-heavy Sandusky Branch in Ohio between Columbus and its namesake. While the mighty Pennsy still rostered many steam locomotives, most needed expensive repairs to reenter service so another source was necessary. Around April or May, a unique arsenal was found by leasing 12 massive mothballed 2-10-4’s from the Santa Fe. Part of the 5011 class, the 12 unit lease included engines 5012, 5013, 5014, 5016, 5018, 5020, 5022, 5026, 5028, 5032, 5034, and 5035. The Pennsy’s primary Sandusky power was the burly 2-10-4 J1 class, which all had a Walschaerts valve gear like Santa Fe’s 5011’s. But Santa Fe’s burned oil, had larger drivers, different fireboxes, and often boasted of quicker transit times to Sandusky, although the J1’s generally would have an easier time starting the heavy trains. Some crews even preferred the Santa Fe engines over their own and the two classes worked together in harmony over the next several months. By December and after accumulating enough grime unfamiliar to the Santa Fe faithful, enough motive power was on hand and the 12 5011’s were sent back to Chicago where they all languished until being scrapped. The J1’s continued in their role lugging coal to the Lake Erie docks until slowly succumbing to a similar fate. The last great steam show on the Sandusky Branch had drawn to a close." 5028 strutting her stuff. Alex Campbell photo. 5022 at St. Clair Roundhouse in November. The 5011’s were juuuuust too long for the turntable so crews fabricated makeshift extenders for when they were turned. They can be seen under the tender’s last wheel. Don Kaiser photo. The great 2-10-4 face off in Columbus. John Dziobko Jr photo.
This is quite an intriguing picture. Not just the power from two companies. But also all of the human activity ongoing. Not at all like the sterile, lifeless facilities of today!
i had a 350 that i had rebuilt ie MORE power like 400hp. that car was not stock at all. she would cruse right along.....no squirrels haha
All new castings, as the hi-performance engines were coming to have four bolt mains. Also, if I recall correctly, with the longer stroke, a 350 crank hits the cylinder casting of the old 327. But it has been a long time since last I built any street rod or racing engines. Forgetting more and more as the years pass.
ATSF 807 E/B mixed freight working downgrade approaching Belen, NM on October 21, 1995 with an unidentified ATSF EMD SD40-2. The ATSF 807 is on the Gallup Subdivision of the Arizona Division, North track. The crew is almost to the end of their run from Winslow. In the distant background you can see I-25 and the signal bridge.ATSF 807 is a C40-8W built in June of 1992. It became BNSF 807 and was repainted into the H2 paint scheme in 2003. The BNSF 807 was sold to Canadian National and renumbered to CN 2165. Lauren A. Scrafford photo.
Wow, what a beautiful moment in the world! Look at all the details in this shot, not to mention those "eerie Erie Builts", lol!
Undated photo from a "long" time ago from along the old Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe route somewhere between Sealy and Somerville.
On January 17, 1968 after over a year of rigorous testing, the Santa Fe launched the premier cross country TOFC service of the day, the Super C. Carrying train nos. 99/100, the record set by the inaugural 34 hour, 35 minute, 40 second sprint between Chicago and Los Angeles remains untouched for the old Santa Fe mainline. The train lasted until May 1976.
Yes, I was just going to write, people still wore hats, then. The Greatest Generation still young. Doug
By the late seventies, hat's pretty much gone. Now, my dad, from that generation, never liked wearing a hat. Doug
Fedoras were out by '69--except when it rained. Then, mysteriously, all that twenty year old felt reappeared, and kept the rain out of the back of many a collar. I was little, but I remember. Back when those hats were newer, a '50 Ford looks on as at least two FTs try to pull the drawbar off the front of a Mikado. They don't appear to have succeeded.
Grants, New Mexico in 1958. Route 66 is just above the Santa Fe railroad tracks. The California Hotel is on the left along Rt. 66, the Santa Fe Railway station at the bottom left. Grants has experienced many booms, from railway to logging to carrots. But when a local Navajo shepherd named Paddy Martinez discovered uranium ore in nearby Haystack Mesa in 1950, Grants was flooded with uranium prospectors and experienced a mining boom spanning the 1950s to the 1980s. Photo is courtesy of the Center for Southwest Research, Albuquerque, NM. Lee Marmom photo.
Replacing the Canyon Diablo bridge. Mikado 4004 pulls a freight past the construction using the old bridge.
