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AL'S RAILINGS-

NEWS & NOTES ON RAILWAY PHILATELY

Volume 8 Number 5 ................ PRICE $1.50 (10 ISSUES FOR $12.00)............... July 1 2004

Dear Fellow Rail Philatelist:

This recent HAGAR cartoon probably sums up the situation better than any thing I can say. Thanks to all of you who have called or written inquiring about my health since you haven't heard from me for so long. My apologies! I'm not sure whether it is burnout, depression or just plain laziness and procrastination, but I just haven't been able to force myself to work on stamps for more than an hour or so a day compared with the 10-12 hours per day I used to put in so needless to say not much is getting done. At least not much that is immediately evident to my many loyal clients and friends. I have managed to clean out my garage so I now can get both cars in. That involved not only moving about 100 boxes of magazines to a rented storage unit where I installed a couple tables so I have half a chance of locating a magazine without breaking my back moving several boxes (now I only have to move two or three!), but also moving all of Sue's teaching paraphernalia from the garage to the basement now that she has officially retired. I also moved four six-shelf bookcase kits that I bought a couple years ago from the garage to the basement where I assembled them and filed several boxes of train books I had accumulated over the past few years. I still haven't gotten all of them from stacks on the floor to the proper shelves nor have I entered them into my library database. I also spent a considerable amount of time figuring out how to change my website to the PAYPAL shopping cart, but encountered a couple "gottchas" that have made me hesitate about implementing the changes on all the data pages I currently have floating around cyberspace. Plus the time required to convert all the pages was a commitment I couldn't bring myself to make until recently. It will still take me several months to get all the pages converted to the PAYPAL shopping basket, but I have started the process with the "H", "I" and "J" lists. I have also changed the format on over 150 of my pages including the 31 exhibit pages and all 74 newsletters to make them easier to navigate, replaced invalid email numbers on all the pages and corrected a few errors encountered along the way. In the process, I have probably introduced some new ones since I have never read a book on HTML - I use the trial and error method of implementing changes so it usually takes me a few tries to get it right. I also developed a new appreciation for all the hard work and attention to detail Larry Piekenbrock dba LJP put into setting up the pages originally. Now I have to get busy updating the content. Let me know what you think of the "improvements"?

As to my health, Sue, Sadie and I have been walking for an hour before breakfast most mornings. This is our view of Pikes Peak from the trail a couple blocks from home.

To the south we can usually see the Spanish Peaks over 100 miles away. The walks and giving up my can of Pepsi at lunch each day helped me lose a few pounds so I'm feeling pretty good. (However the trip to SUNPEX in November and all the holiday goodies added back about a third of the lost weight so I'm still working at it.) Unfortunately, none of this behind the scenes effort has translated into faster order filling, web page updates or even getting a newsletter out on time. The fact that this newsletter (most of which was composed some time ago but never got published) and the "I" and "J" price lists are now in your hands may mean I've finally turned the corner - but don't hold your breath.

AIMEE AND ELIZABETH: Thank you for all the cards and prayers for our twin granddaughters. They are making progress, but still have some challenges. At about twelve pounds each now, they act and sound like real babies and are starting to show some individual personalities. In spite of all they've been through, they seem to have cheery, happy dispositions all the times I've been around them. Here is how they looked at their first Christmas - cute aren't they!

The monitors have been removed but they still require oxygen at night. That certainly makes the logistics of caring for them simpler. Up until recently, Sue has spent most weekdays helping Diane with them and our precocious Christine, now in the "terrible twos".

NEW ISSUES: It is with a great sense of relief (and only a few regrets) that I have decided to cancel my new issue service. As you well know I have been disgusted with the new issue trash that has been foisted upon us for sometime and have found it increasingly difficult to work on them so they have just piled up. I let a few good collectors talk me into continuing the service when I decided to give it up a couple years ago, but this time the decision is final. I have already cancelled my contracts with the new issue suppliers I relied on and have no intentions of resuming the "service". That is one of the key points - it was a "service", never really a major profit center, mostly just a drain on my limited resources. It took an inordinate amount of time to separate and package the new issues as they came in, particularly when sets actually arrived piecemeal over the course of several months. I had to withdraw funds from my IRA and borrow from my home equity line of credit on occasion to pay the multi-thousand dollar invoices that arrived some months. It was becoming an albatross around my neck, but the final straw was when good, long-time clients sent me nasty notes about the new issues I was mailing them. Since about half of my former new issue clients had already given up collecting new issues, it just doesn't make economic nor psychological sense to continue frustrating myself to provide a "service" that few of you want nor appreciate. Henceforth, my ARRIVAL TRACK (no room this time) will consist of new acquisitions, some of which may be new issues, but most will be train stamps I haven't had in stock before.

Those of you who wish to continue the pursuit of new issues should contact Brian Diaz at Bombay Philatelic Co. Inc., P.O. Box 480009, Delray Beach, FL 33448, Telephone 561-499-7990 or email sales@bombay.com . Of the many new issue services I have employed over the years, I have found Bombay to be the most comprehensive, reasonably priced and cooperative. Give them a try!

DEALING WITH THE DEVIL: Clive Feigenbaum, dba Stampdile Ltd, G. Rosen & Sons and other entities, is a very personable man, belying his less than stellar philatelic reputation. I first met him at the World Stamp Expo 2000 in Anaheim, CA and bought some interesting material from him. It was only later that I learned that he was primarily responsible not only for the infamous "Leaders of the World" series but also for much of the questionable or "illegal" trash that is currently being issued. Since WSE2000 he had sent me material from time to time, but as I became increasingly disenchanted with the flood of new issues I sent him a somewhat nasty note (even for me) telling him I didn't want to receive any more mailings from him. At the APS show in Atlantic City in 2002 I noticed him approach my booth a couple times but he didn't come over, probably because I usually had a customer or two. At the APS show in Columbus in August 2003, his booth was across the aisle from mine so there was no way to avoid a discussion. Before the show opened Thursday morning, he came over so I reiterated my dislike for the excessive numbers of miniature sheets, etc. that were being issued from third world entities. After I had my say, he politely suggested that I should view my new issue customers as I would someone addicted to smoking cigarettes, "They are going to buy their cigarettes somewhere so they might as well buy them from you." I told him that I couldn't accept that and that I "felt like a pimp when I sent out new issues that I wouldn't want to collect". He assured me that he has a valid contract for all the issues he has printed but I never determined that the "contract" was actually with a legitimate stamp issuing authority. Over the course of the four-day show we had several discussions and left our differences of opinion unresolved. He did indicate that he has cut back both in the quantities of "stamps" printed in each issue and also in the number of issues released so maybe there is some hope for the future.

APS STAMPSHOW 2003: There were several highlights from the American Philatelic Society's STAMPSHOW 2003 held August in Columbus, OH, not the least of which was that I had Sue with me in the booth both Thursday and Sunday. She has always been extremely supportive of my vocation but she finds stamp (and train) shows somewhat slow and boring. Therefore, I need some other attraction to get her to "waste" a day in my booth. For the Columbus show we were able to stay with my Mother-in-law about 80 miles away (attraction #1) and on Thursday evening the National Stamp Dealers Assn. held their annual dinner (previously just a cocktail party) at Buca di Beppo (an Italian Restaurant we both enjoy - attraction #2!) so Sue helped in the booth all day and did some cross-stitching when it got too slow. On Sunday we had the traditional dealers breakfast (attraction #3) so Sue worked the booth all day as I ran around the floor shopping and viewing the exhibits and while I gave my "Railway Philately" talk. Even though my talk was the last hour of the show, 3 PM on Sunday, I actually had a couple interested listeners! Of course having long-time friends like Norm and Florence Wright at my booth for most of the show is always a treat, but I was disappointed that none of my Ohio mail order customers made it to the show. Even so, sales were respectable - not as good as Cleveland, but much better than Atlantic City! It was with mixed emotions that I learned that the convention center in general and the location of my booth in particular was on the site of the former Columbus Union Station. I did hear a couple trains go by on the tracks near the facility. One of my new acquaintances told me of a good train watching location not far away, the former Scioto tower so I spent some time there Saturday evening watching a couple trains before a group of homeless people started gathering for a party and I decided it was best to leave - the train watching may be good but you don't want to be near there after dark (or even dusk!). A lovely young lady from LINNS STAMP NEWS (or maybe Amos Press) distributed a shopping bag each morning of the show that contained information about the area, a candy or cookie treat, and two bottles of water- that was certainly an unexpected but much appreciated highlight of the show. A dealer from Detroit sold me his entire train stamp inventory at a price I couldn't refuse but I didn't find much else worthwhile to buy. All in all, the show was a pleasant experience. Even the load in and load out went smoothly!

COVER CORNER: Having just read LAST TRAIN TO PARADISE, Les Standiford's interesting narrative of the building and destruction of the Florida East Coast Railroad's Key West Extension, it seemed appropriate to select this series of cacheted covers commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Oversea Railway and the trains that ran on it. I have collected twelve different covers produced in 1933 and 1934. The cover shown was the first and seems to be the most common. From numbers stamped on the back, it appears that about 2000 were produced. The same cachet was used in blue on 9/23/1933 and again in orange but without the "The St. Augustine Route" 11/21/33. Since all twelve have a purple rubber stamped return address on the back reading Arthur L. Marsh, Box 545, St. Augustine, Florida, I assume he is the cachet designer and producer. Many of the covers also have a rubber stamped "Oversea Cachet Club" on the back also in purple. I have even found a few of the covers with an attractive silver, blue and red Florida East Coast label as shown. Based on part of an informative stuffer found in one cover, the cachets were evidently provided free to anyone sending a SSAE, although the return mail form was missing (if there ever was one). That would explain the variety of envelope qualities and styles the cachets are found on.

MY 2004 TOYOTA SIENNA: After all my problems with the Previa in 2003, many of you suggested that it was time to put it out of its misery. While stuck in Flagstaff, AZ waiting for the rear axle to be replaced in May, I learned that Toyota had redesigned the Sienna van that had replaced the Previa, making the 2004 model larger with more power and cargo space. Unfortunately, they were in high demand and short supply so I couldn't even find one to look at until August when I was in Ohio for the APS show and the one I found had already been sold (and orders would take 60 days or more)! I started doing almost daily Internet searches for 2004 Siennas and used Previas. Unfortunately all the Previas available seemed to have almost 100,000 miles on them already which wouldn't be any better that where I was since mine only had 219,000 miles on it and had been mostly rebuilt. Realizing that Tom and Diane would need a vehicle to transport their five girls around town once the twins were released from the hospital, I decided to make them a great deal on my Previa as soon as I could buy a 2004 Sienna so I intensified my search. That led to quite a bit of frustration:

1. After three or four telephone calls, one listed as available by a Pueblo Toyota dealer turned out not to be for sale.

2. When one showed up at the local dealer where I bought three of my previous Toyotas, they wouldn't sell it -they wanted it as a demonstrator to take orders.

3. A demonstrator was listed as available at a Denver dealership. When I called to express interest, I was told that it needed to undergo some dealer prep, but they would call me in a day or two. When they didn't call, I called them only to learn that the car had been vandalized on their lot.

Late Friday afternoon the Denver dealership called me to say they had just received another Sienna, so they would sell one of the two they had. Sue and I were there before they opened Saturday morning, relieved to see that there were still two Siennas on the lot, neither with a "SOLD" sign. Because of the high demand, I couldn't even get the dealership to throw in a set of floormats, but I drove away satisfied with the no-hassle deal. And I have been really pleased with the Sienna. Not only does it have much more power than the Previa, but it also gets almost 50% more miles per gallon even fully loaded. The gasoline savings alone should help cover at least one monthly payment each year. The better gas mileage also gives the Sienna longer legs - I could probably travel almost 600 miles between stops if it weren't for other physiological limitations. The seats are much more comfortable than the Previa's and are also easier to remove. The third row seats actually are designed to fold down into a well, but there is no sense carrying around dead weight so I figured out how to remove them and was pleasantly surprised to find that my cover boxes fit perfectly into the well, saving space for other cargo. On our trip to California for SUNPEX in November, the Sienna was able to take all the hills at the speed limit without falling out of overdrive! With sliding doors on both sides, the Sienna is much easier to load and unload - I can even load it in the garage in inclement weather. It has a small display that can show the outside temperature, direction of travel, both average and instantaneous fuel efficiency (it pegs at 99 mpg rolling down hill) and distance to empty (this I didn't quite dare test all the way to zero but I did let it get down to nine miles before the first fill-up). When I top off the tank as I always do to get the maximum mileage, the dte display shows "0" for up to 75 miles before displaying a real distance, typically "510". This then adjusts depending on the driving conditions so there is some adaptive logic at work. I'm not sure what algorithm the computer uses for calculating mpg and DTE' but my actual fuel efficiency seems somewhat lower than the displayed average. With over 16,500 miles on it now, the ave. mpg display shows 27.5 but my actual mpg is closer to 25 or so. My only minor complaint is that the radio seems to have a mind of its own - it comes on and turns off at random intervals. Still, it is a great vehicle!

MY FAREWELL TO AMTRAK TOUR PART 6: NEW ORLEANS TO LOS ANGELES ON THE SUNSET LIMITED: With my early turn in, I was awake before 6 AM on June 10 eager for my ride on the SUNSET LIMITED having suffered no ill-effects from my Cajun dinner the night before. I made coffee while I showered, then checked emails and also noted the SL was actually due into New Orleans an hour early! After putting stamps on the remaining 70 envelopes and writing a note to a friend, I walked thru the Holiday Inn's restaurant to take photos of the "Streetcar Named Desire" themed buffet and the many streetcar

paintings on the walls, then sat and waited for the 10 AM shuttle to the station - it was already too hot and steamy to even think about walking. I was the first stop for the hotel van so I was at the station at 10:05! There was a train with three Express Trak cars on the rear that I assumed was the SL on track 1(?) and a string of express boxes on track 4. There was even a mail drop box just outside the side door with pickup at 2 PM so everything was going well today! There were quite a few passengers in the plastic seats of the waiting room as I headed for the First Class "Magnolia Lounge". There was no attendant, just a couple plush couches and chairs, a TV and a credenza with coffee and soft drinks. Of the two elderly couples waiting patiently, a true Atlanta lady commented that Amtrak would have more customers if they served Coke rather than Pepsi! About 11:30 the room started filling up as I sat reading my book. Three guys about my age came into the lounge dressed alike with identical hats with railroad pins, etc. Turned out they were starting the second leg of a 17,000 mile train trip. The first leg was from their home in North Carolina to Washington, DC, to Chicago on the CAPITOL LIMITED, CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR to San Francisco, COAST STARLIGHT to Seattle, CASCADE to Vancouver, BC, then VIA RAIL across Canada to Montreal, the ADIRONDACK to New York City, then on South to NC to rest for six days before starting the second leg last night on the CRESCENTto NO, today the SL to LA, then a COASTER to San Diego and back to LA, the SOUTHWEST CHIEF to Chicago, the CARDINAL to DC, then back home to NC! Whew! We started boarding the sleeper cars at noon and the SL started rolling out of the station at 12:22 PM, then waited as the NB #58 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS was backed into track #6 (it had the same locos as the #59 I came in on last night and most of the consist was the same except the malfunctioning Sightseer Lounge was replaced with a Coach behind the locos and ahead of the mail car (probably repaired and headed back to Chicago for service) and instead of four coaches on the rear there were only two plus a new Sightseer lounge and a diner (couldn't get their numbers!).

We then backed onto the string of 10 or so Express boxes on track 4 - we had four already ! They had made the first lunch call as I settled into compartment 9 in sleeper 0131 but I decided to wait until we were actually under way since I didn't want to miss the Amtrak service facilities on the way out. Over the scanner I heard "Amtrak #1 highball with 26 cars" as we started rolling at 12:43. Our consist was P42s #72 and #6 and GE Dash 8 -P40B #838, Baggage Car #1159,Transition Sleeper #39024, Sleeper #32070 (0131 - "Alabama"), Sleeper #32101 (0130-"North Carolina" where the three railfans were appropriately berthed), Diner #38048, Sightseer Lounge #33027, Coach #34134 (0213), Coach #34137 (0212), Coach #31545 (0211), Diner #38043 and 16 Express Boxcars! Probably the longest passenger train running - even if 62% of the cars are freight cars. I had a reasonable view of the service facilities on my left as we headed west, meeting an EB Kansas City Southern (KCS) local at 12:53 PM. I could see a large yard on the northside of I-10 as we rolled along the southside. Met an EB UP manifest near the New Orleans Public Belt RR yard as we started our climb up to the Huey P. Long Bridge over the Mississippi River. An EB UP stackpack was stopped on the descending track. After the curve on the downhill trestle I could see that we indeed had 16 express boxes in tow.

I stopped in the diner to make my lunch reservation as I walked the train recording the car numbers. I had planned to sit in the Sightseer Lounge for a while but they called my name just as I got there so I went on into the diner. Passed a BNSF yard on the North side as I sat down to lunch with a teacher of emotionally disturbed children from Georgia on her way to Lake Charles, LA with her young son (he was in the lounge car having pizza for lunch) to visit family before returning home for surgery. Our other tablemate was a big guy from Albany, NY on his way to Houston, TX for a Demolay convention. As a regular Amtrak rider he too lamented the new reduced menu. He said they used to have a great Western omelet for breakfast even though he normally doesn't like omelets. Since the SL got in early today, they had been part of a small group making the 15-block walk to Bourbon Street during their three hour stop in New Orleans. That a sleeper for the four-hour ride from New Orleans to Lake Charles costs $100 was also among the trivia I learned at lunch.

Our dining car steward wore a shirt with a beautiful SL logo that he has made especially for him. We were stopped for nearly 10 minutes near the end of another delicious lunch, then crawled slowly past a work crew replacing ties a few miles later. I got back to my room just as we passed a siding with a silver, red and blue geep lettered "Mount Laurel" but I didn't get a picture unfortunately. When I turned on the scanner, the engineer was getting instructions on how to shutdown and reset one of the diesel motors they were evidently having problems with. We were really swaying on some bad track when the dining car steward came by taking dinner reservations. Sounds like we have the same lady engineer we had on the CNO yesterday. Since there was no one in room 10 yet, I was able to switch back and forth to get the best view of the passing scenes. Anna Rea, my car attendant, normally works the COAST STARLIGHT and was just filling in on the SL so she knew what I wanted when I asked for stationery but there evidently is none for the SL. We passed an EB UP manifest stopped at 3:42 PM, then passed a cupola-less caboose on display as we slowed for a stop in New Iberia, LA at 4:15, an hour late. I heard someone on the scanner say they would check out the axles on both sides but I didn't see anyone so maybe it wasn't my car. As I had observed on my driving trip from Houston to Phoenix last fall, all the truss bridges we have passed through are badly in need of paint, they are mostly just rust. I heard the engineer say that the axles on loco #6 had checked out as we started rolling again at 4:20 PM. As we left Lafayette, LA at 5:03, we passed a blue with orange lettering "Allegheny RR" GP-35 with a string of cars waiting to enter the mainline WB after we cleared (the loco was certainly a long way from it's Warren, PA home -maybe it had been sold to some local shortline). I heard him tell the dispatcher "Amtrak #72 (our lead loco) is by us" and heard the tail end of his WB track warrant and his brakeman say "I'll get the switch" about the time we passed a large BNSF yard on the south side filled with covered hopper cars. After a defect detector report of "Integrity failure" at MP 177.4 we rolled to a stop at MP 180, then crept over the Mermentau River bridge and stopped again (at least my car was across the bridge but most of the ones behind me weren't. I heard one of the crew members say "What do you want me to do?" Another replied "You can get back there and look at it!". Shortly after we started crawling forward again. I heard the dispatcher say to a WB evidently behind us that he couldn't talk with Amtrak. The Amtrak engineer (now a male voice) said they were on another frequency while checking out an integrity failure. The dispatcher replied that he needed some explanation of the delay before we left his railroad since we were running late. At that point the conductor broke in and told the dispatcher he was coming back from inspecting the train and would give a full report when he got back to his "office". That was the last of a flurry of transmissions as we stopped again on the mainline. Also heard them call a work crew about a large snake five yards behind them about the time we started rolling again at 6 PM. I must not have been scanning all the proper frequencies since I didn't hear the crew report on their inspections nor the conductor's final report to the dispatcher. So it was a relief to hear "No Defects" from the detector at MP 183.3. as we bounced along at speed. At 6:25 I heard the conductor say "I'll call him on my personal phone. I hope Amtrak thanks me." So he evidently didn't want to give the dispatcher his report on a nonsecure radio. We passed a fairly large UP yard on the north side at 6:40 just before getting to the Lake Charles depot 90 minutes late. After passing a large oil refinery, we met an EB BNSF manifest at 7 PM as I headed for dinner. There I was seated with a lady from Alabama on her way to Maricopa (Phoenix) to visit friends and her husband who is an airline pilot (she doesn't like to fly!). Our other companion was a gentleman about my age from Florida who stores his motor home in Deming, NM. He and his wife take the SL back and forth, usually in the winter, then use the motor home to tour the west. He too lamented the changed menu. Since the fish entrée was blackened catfish, I had to try it - a little mushy, but not spicy. As we rolled into Beaumont, TX there was a three unit KCS manifest waiting to go east. It started rolling as we made our station stop. The three railfans from NC were still in the diner as I left so I asked them what "Integrity failure" meant. They hadn't heard the term before either but understood it meant that there was something wrong with the detector. They said the crew had walked the train and not found any problem. Further west we passed an EB UP manifest and another WB, both waiting for us to clear as I returned to my room at 8:35 PM. As I was updating my journal, one of the NC guys (Jimbo) helped another passenger to her cabin and then stopped in to chat. Turns out all three of them met while volunteering as "Train Hosts" on the PIEDMONT and the CAROLINIAN between Charlotte and Rocky Mount, NC. They help people on and off the trains and answer questions for the state of North Carolina. There are over 100 in their group, but only NC has them. Jimbo made this tour in 1994 alone but is having a great time in a group. He said VIA Rail really knows how to run trains. The Canadian detectors say "No Alarms". One of their group has a Global Positioning System so they have been tracking their progress. They plan to do a demo in the lounge car tomorrow. Jimbo, a young 75, is a retired accountant who got his Masters degree at the University of Dayton, my wife's alma mater, while working as a bellhop! We rolled to a stop for a signal at MP350 while the engineer copied new track warrants from the dispatcher at 10:00 PM. Eleven minutes later we met a stopped EB UP manifest. A few minutes later we passed a stopped WB manifest in a small yard with about 10 locos at the service facility on the south side, then passed a stackpack yard. Into Houston about an hour late. The station agent took my covers for me. It was 10:44 when we left Houston, passing a Southern observation car on a fenced siding, but it was too dark to get a photo. Woke up at 3 AM stopped in the middle of nowhere. I heard the engineer say "We're meeting #4373"just as the EB intermodal came racing by. We started moving again slowly, passing a stopped EB manifest at the east end of a yard and refueling rack. We pulled on west and stopped in the refueling rack with a loaded coal train (SATX reporting marks) on the south side and a Diamond Shamrock station across the street with gas at $1.199 (THE GOOD OLD DAYS!). The track to our north was empty at this end with a string of autoracks on the next track up. There was a lot of chatter on the scanner but nothing that related to us. At 4:04 AM, an EB train rolled by on the north side of the autoracks. The coal train started rolling at 4:11 with distributed power - two locos on the rear (and two on the point I assume). At 4:21 I heard two toots and we started rolling. The autorack and a manifest were waiting to go WB. Met an EB intermodal as we passed another large yard where they were doing some flat switching. We passed a stopped WB manifest, then a string of Amtrak Superliners - two sleepers, diner, Sightseer Lounge, two coaches, then a loco with one Superliner, another Superliner on another siding, steam loco #781 and five Express Boxes in front of the San Antonio depot where about 100 people were waiting in groups of two or three as we pulled through at 4:47 AM, stopping briefly to drop our freight cars. As we backed into the station to pick up the TEXAS EAGLE run-through cars, an EB stackpack came racing by. I didn't even feel a bump when we made the pickup, but I had to wait until later to figure what we actually picked up. After passengers left, then boarded, the power was cut briefly, probably to add the freight cars back on. By that point I was dosing off and on. At 6:04 AM we moved west about four car lengths and at 6:44 we started rolling - just three hours late! It was almost time for breakfast so I performed my morning rituals and headed for the diner at 7:30 AM. My tablemates were a family of six - grandmother, mother, two teenage girls and two young boys. They had waited most of the night to get on at San Antonio for a trip to the MacDonald Observatory and other attractions in Alpine, TX. I had the pancakes for the first time - they were tasty, but a bit heavy. I walked to the end of the train to learn that they had added Coach # 31545 (2115) and Sleeper #32047 (2130) but I couldn't tell how many freight cars - the first one was #71124. In the space of 30 minutes we passed three mostly double stack trains, all "in the hole" (two EB and one WB). I sat in the lounge car for a short time watching one of the NC guys play with the GPS. He also had detailed maps from every state with the rail lines highlighted. Back to my room to hear a detector say "95 axles"! Either I heard wrong or the detector missed an axle since current railroad rolling stock has even numbers of axles. Assuming 96 axles means that if the 16 freight cars were removed, a coach and sleeper added, then 12 freight cars also were added. Amtrak employees call the rear flasher an "EOT" for "end-of train" device in contrast to the BNSF term "FRED - flashing rear end device or the Roseville, CA former Southern Pacific "tellie", probably short for telemetry unit. A couple moved into room 10 making me blind on that side so I guess I'll spend some time in the lounge car although from my drive through here last October I don't expect there to be much to see. Just after our stop in Del Rio, they announced that the National Park Service Trails & Rails volunteers would be describing scenic points, flora and fauna from here to Sanderson. While some parts would be heard throughout the train, most of the program would take place in the Sightseer lounge so I walked on back and found a seat. (This is one time that the train being late worked out. AMTRAK doesn't make announcements over the PA system before 8 AM so an on-time departure from Del Rio at 6:45 AM would have been too early to present the Park Service program.) They handed out maps and brochures of the Amistad National Recreation Area just and Big Bend National Park. During the presentation they passed around laminated pictures of the flowers and animals indigenous to the region with brief printed descriptions on the backs. We passed a stopped EB manifest just before the program started and crossed over the six truss bridges spanning the Devils River branch of the Amistad Reservoir. They also handed out a black & white photocopy of the new and old Pecos River High Bridge. Just the footings and approaches of the old bridge remain. There was an EB stackpack waiting for us at Langtry, home of the infamous Judge Roy Bean. At that point it was starting to get warm in the lounge car (outside temperature was 84 degrees and we were in a sun room!) so I headed back to my room to get ready for lunch. The only thing new at lunch was that they were using disposable dishes rather than real china as in all previous meals. Met an EB stackpack highballing as we rolled through a siding slowing only slightly. I was seated with a couple from Seattle who had just completed a cruise on the Mississippi Queen (They claim it is the best one - Delta Queen is too small and the American Queen is too big!). They've made the cruise 10 times - another woman has done it 150 times! They had lived in Colorado Springs during the big flood in the 60's, then moved to Evergreen. He is also a physicist (how many technical people is that now?) At 1:44 PM we passed a stopped EB intermodal lead by two UP and a CSX loco in the middle of nowhere. Met another EB stackpack ten minutes later, then an EB grain train at 2:08, a WB manifest at Stroebel siding with four locos at 2:31, a stopped WB stackpack led by two UP and a Norfolk Southern loco at 3:08, then a WB local in the hole at 3:37. As we went through Hot Wells we hit some rough track that our conductor reported to the dispatcher. When she asked if he wanted to go check it, he replied "Not my job!". I then heard the dispatcher call a track foreman to report the problem and have a track inspector check it out. Actually we've had a lot of rough track on this run. We've been bouncing and swaying so much I probably won't be able to read most of my journal entries (and I did have a tough time deciphering many of them!). There was a UP ballast train and a one car local sitting on the old Texas & Pacific wye just west of Sierra Blanca at 4:06 PM. At 4:15 I heard the dispatcher talking to Amtrak #2 so I thought we might meet it shortly but I never saw it. We met an EB manifest in the hole led by a UP and two Denver & Rio Grande locos at 4:19, then we took the siding for an EB manifest at 4:28. We were only doing about 40 mph when we met an EB stackpack at 4:40, an EB manifest at 5:09 and a WB manifest at 5:21, all on sidings. There was an EB manifest on main 2 and a couple more waiting to go each way in the big Alfalfa yard just east of El Paso as we rolled slowly by at 5:37PM. A WB stackpack started rolling as we pulled into the El Paso depot, still a grand old building.

Saw a pair of BNSF geeps roll by the south side of the station as I walked to the depot to check it out and get some photos (plus make a phone call home!). An EB stackpack pulled into the refueling racks while we were waiting and a BNSF autorack departed from the yard WB at 7:13 as I sat wondering what the big delay was. I couldn't listen to my scanner because it was overloaded with transmissions in Spanish! Finally I heard Amtrak #1 say, "The blue flags are removed and we are ready to roll when we get the high ball from you!" That was at 7:22. At 7:25 I heard the now familiar two toots of the horn and we started rolling into the sunset. Met an EB manifest as we wended our way out of El Paso and an EB autorack/stackpack (intermodal) just after we crossed the Rio Grande bridge into New Mexico at 7:43. I went to dinner at 8 PM and was seated with the lady from Alabama from dinner last night (what would my wife think?) and two girls from Plano, TX. Their parents wouldn't let them drive across the country as a high school graduation trip so they got jobs to earn enough money for a train trip on the TEXAS EAGLE from Dallas to Los Angeles, then the COAST STARLIGHT to Seattle, the EMPIRE BUILDER to Chicago, and theTE back to Dallas with visits to relatives at each stop. They were a bit confused this morning because their sleeper wasn't in the same location on the SL as it had been on the TE so they had to go the opposite direction to get to the diner. It's great to see such bright, eager young people riding the train - I hope they enjoyed a memorable trip. The lady from Alabama ordered the pork chop and I ordered the New York strip steak but when the orders came, she got BBQ ribs instead of a pork chop. She was going to send them back for a steak so I said, "Take my steak. I'll try the ribs." They were actually pretty good - could have been a little meatier but I always say that about ribs. Noticed a couple EB trains passing in the dark during dinner. We stopped briefly in Deming, NM next to a Pandrol Jackson rail grinding train (but too close to get a good picture). Got back to my room about 9:30 and read for a half hour or so, then turned in. Saw two WB manifests waiting at Lordsburg, NM and passed a couple more EB in the darkness. Shortly after turning out the lights, we stopped on a siding near the NM/AZ border as the engineers called the power desk. They were having problems with the second unit. They were advised to reseat a couple circuit boards and also check the MU cables since they sometimes work themselves loose. Whatever the problem was, it must have been fixed since we started rolling again a few minutes later. Woke up at 1:12 AM when we stopped at Tucson, AZ and again at 3:00 AM at Maricopa (the Phoenix stop where they have a former CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR dome observation car as the station. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a decent picture.)

Woke again just before 5AM as we slowly passed WB manifest #4142 and woke for good at 6 AM as we were leaving Yuma, AZ. At the 6:30 breakfast call I was seated with a young lady who got on the TE in Longview, TX for a trip to visit her family in Las Vegas and two ladies who got on in Tucson, both going to San Diego, one to house and babysit while her daughter takes a European vacation, the other to see her great-grandchildren for the first time and to see her grandson ship out for Afghanistan on the USS Belknapp. According to one of the ladies, the reason for the delay in El Paso was to service and repair one of the cars that had come in on the TE. When I needed change to leave a tip at breakfast, the dining car steward dumped out a jumbled pile of crumpled bills from his fanny pack to find me five ones. He said, "They were supposed to install computers and a cash register but it never happened so we keep doing it the old way." We met three EB stackpacks and a manifest at speed during breakfast. As I was going back to my room, they made an announcement that since we were running so late (still about three hours) passengers for the COAST STARLIGHT would get off in Ontario and be bused from there to catch the CS probably in Santa Barbara. As we raced along the northern shore of the Salton Sea (235 feet below sea level) we passed a WB manifest in the hole, then stopped to let an EB stackpack roll by. About 8 AM as we were rolling by a stopped empty EB autorack, the conductor announced, "The Amtrak gods have just called back and decided that all northbound passengers will catch the bus at Palm Springs rather than Ontario. The transfer will take place in 30 minutes so please return to your car and get your personal belongings together." Passed another EB stackpack at 8:08. Made up my own bed this morning since Anna Rae was occupied elsewhere. I heard the dispatcher talking with an engineer about a track warrant for a welded rail train to go west into Palm Springs just in time to get my camera ready to film it as we raced by. Said to myself, "I'm getting better at this!" We met an EB stackpack at speed as we headed into Palm Springs, also passing a pair of locos sitting idle. When we stopped in Palm Springs at 8:37, three Southern Pacific locos came east running light in front of a large wind turbine complex. While stopped in Palm Springs, I walked to the center of the car to get some ice and noticed that two year old Isabella (a real handful on the trip thus far) and her mother were watching a movie on a laptop so I asked if they had a surge protector or had had any problems with power fluctuations. She said no but she had borrowed the computer from a friend and had given him a load of grief for buying a COMPAQ Presario (same type as I have). She said, "It is a piece of crap! Compaqs are notoriously bad - the absolute worst. And their service is terrible" (Now I find out! [Ed. Note: Two years later and I still haven't had any problems with my Compaq Presario Model 722US]). Back to my compartment in time to hear the dispatcher and crew talking. The buses won't be here for another 20 minutes and it will take 15 minutes to transfer the passengers and baggage so we have at least another 40-minute delay. The engine crew goes dead at 12:15 PDT and the train crew at 1:15. I hope they can get us into LA before that happens. A WB autorack rolled by at 9:15 while we waited patiently in Palm Springs, then an EB stackpack raced by a couple minutes later. We finally started rolling at 9:25, now six hours late! Our car attendant has only a year with Amtrak so she doesn't have enough seniority for a regular run. After her three days off, she'll go to Chicago on the SOUTHWEST CHIEF or to Seattle on the COAST STARLIGHT. She says this is better since she actually makes a little more money - senior crews get six days off between runs. At 9:36 we passed the WB autorack that had passed us, then met an EB stackpack waiting at 9:40 as we raced along I-10 not quite as fast as the WB traffic. We met another EB stackpack at speed at 9:48. We were doing 60 mph as we started up Beaumont Hill climbing into some LA haze (sounds better than smog). Passed the first orange groves as we crested the hill. It didn't really seem to be much of a grade on either side and we maintained our 60 mph all the way. Saw a gray with blue trim switcher working a string of covered hopper cars just east of the Colton yard. After passing the huge yard where they were humping a string of cars, we passed two WB stackpacks (one on each side) and a WB manifest, all waiting for us to clear. Another WB manifest was waiting to leave a yard on the north side as we started slowing for our stop in Ontario, five hours and 40 minutes late. Rolling at 11:14. just after leaving Ontario, we passed another yard on the south side with an EB manifest waiting to pull out and another EB manifest waiting on main 2. In and out of Pomona in about a minute, six hours late. The timetable shows three hours from here to LA but the announcer says we'll be there in 45 minutes so they evidently have some padding in the schedule! We followed Valley Blvd for awhile until there was a TOFC yard on the south side with a couple strings of locoless stackpacks sitting on the sidings closest to the mainline. Then an autorack unloading yard. Passed a couple EB manifests and a local as we rolled through an industrial area. Then into a concrete canyon along Mission Road through Alhambra. Back to the surface to pass a small yard with empty TOFC and double stack cars and an ADM tank car facility on the north side. Then along Valley Blvd again past Lincoln Park. We arrived at Los Angeles Union Station track 11 at 12:10 ! (The Union Pacific dispatcher must have cleared the tracks for us to keep our engineer from dying and really tying up the tracks!) As we pulled in, they announced that for those going to San Diego, a SURFLINER would be arriving on track 10 at 12:15, but you had to go down the ramp and back up to get there. I made the trip in time to wish the three NC railfans bon voyage as they hustled on board. After it departed, I went into the station to find a telephone and called the Amtrak upgrade desk. My original plan to sit up all night in coach watching trains on the SOUTHWEST CHIEF now seemed a little too macho and foolish - you really can't see much in the dark and coach isn't all that comfortable, so a good night's sleep seemed like a better deal if a sleeper was available. I gave the agent my reservation number and explained that a week before my twelve day trip they had offered me $100.00 sleeper upgrades on the COAST STARLIGHT. that I had accepted but I had delayed my decision on the SOUTHWEST CHIEF. I said, "I would like to reconsider the offer if it is still available." She said, "The standard sleeper rate to La Junta, CO is $403. Let me check on the other rate." When she came back on and said the rate would be $100.00, I said, "I'll take it!" (Meals alone would probably be over $70.00). That accomplished, I took a seat in the waiting room and had some of my emergency rations for lunch (cheese crackers with peanut butter and a Pepsi!) Then I went to the Amtrak ticket counter to get my ticket changed. Fortunately, there was no one else in line. Amtrak must have a really antiquated or complicated computer system. It took the ticket agent about ten minutes of almost constant typing to issue the new ticket. Now I was ready for the final leg of my journey, the SOUTHWEST CHIEF from Los Angeles to La Junta. Details next time.

RAIL THOUGHT OF THE MONTH: "At a stroke, the railroads made overland travel cheap, safe, rapid, and relatively comfortable. Even more importantly, the steam engine was undoubtedly the most dramatic, romantic and artistically appealing technological invention of any age (aside from, perhaps, the clipper ship)". On page 143 of THE FOUR PILLARS OF INVESTING: LESSONS FOR BUILDING A WINNING PORTFOLIO by William Bernstein. You never know where you'll stumble across an interesting railroad tidbit.

RAIL FACTS AND FEATS: On June 11, 1905, the Pennsylvania Railroad claimed to have "the fastest long-distance train in the world" when the PENNSYLVANIA SPECIAL began running between New York City and Chicago in 18 hours. Then next day the train with "Atlantic" type steam loco #7002 hit 127.2 mph for three miles near Elida, OH and covered the entire trip in just 16 hours, 3 minutes for an average speed of 56.07 mph. Those were the good old days!

STAMP OF THE MONTH: This is one of the "illegal" new issues that finally pushed me over the edge last fall. Part of a "set" of four souvenir sheets plus four miniature sheets of six featuring various steam, Eurostar and TGV locomotives ostensibly from the Ivory Coast they probably won't get any closer to that country than I will. They are included in the "I" list as number 7NI @$50.00 - a ridiculously high price but evidently what the promoter feels the traffic will bear. They are nice looking train pictures, but it is probably a sacrilege to select them as "stamp of the month". My apologies if they offend your sensibilities too.

May all your signals be green,

 

AL PETERSON

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