There is nothing as American as the mythological old west. A staple of the silver screen since the dawn of cinema, the wide-open spaces and big sky are as much a part of Americana as baseball and apple pie.
Even in this day and age of wireless communications, superhighways and urban sprawl, the spirit of the Old West of the American mythos can still be found. The descendants of the railroads that pushed an advancing nation into the west are still as much a part of the scene as they were when pioneering photographers such as William Henry Jackson first trained their lenses on a smoking 4-4-0.
The Southwest Chief on Raton Pass – Wooten, Colorado
Standing at the summit of Raton Pass on the Colorado / New Mexico border, the southern Rockies can look almost as untouched by western civilization as they did a century and a half ago. Almost, in this view, but for the former Santa Fe mainline at Wooten, Colorado.
When I was eleven years old, I was very lucky to have many engineers from the New York Central take me in the cab with them for train rides. Going east I rode the head end from North White Plains to New York City and went west as far as Chatham, New York in Duchess County. Today I can talk about it because none of the men I rode with can get fired for letting a kid in the cab. Sad to say, many of them have passed away and have gone off to Heaven where the trains never break down, all signals are clear and all the jobs work days with weekends off. Some of the jobs even pay overtime.
However, my story today is not about those men that were great to me as a kid. It’s about a special engineer that I fired for on the New Haven line. Back in 1973 I was lucky enough to be the firemen on NU-2, UN-1 with Norris Myers. We had a very good train crew. John Molyneux was the conductor, Bernie Sullivan was our head end brakeman and Eddy Sapinski was our flagman. Without a doubt they were one of the best crews I had the privilege of working with. This train crew could really make the best out of one work-horse of a job.
We reported at 8:00 P.M. at Cedar Hill engine house. We would go out and put our grip on the power and I would check out to make sure everything was ok on our three units. After a call to the yard master we would head for our train in the “departure yard.” While we were pumping air for our break test, our conductor would be making his calls. When we left, we knew just what we would do at all our stops the rest of the night. I mention this because later I worked with train crews that left much to be desired.
Back in 1980, the member railroads authorized the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to conduct testing of locomotives to study diesel exhaust emissions. The Research & Test Department was allocated a budget to develop a mobile testing lab that could be taken to railroad facilities to measure fuel and air flow inputs and emissions and power outputs of locomotives. Our test plan was to select locomotives that had recently been overhauled and compare their emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide to locomotives of a similar make and model that were at the end of their useful lives, just prior to overhaul.
The R&T Department had offices in Washington, D.C., where I was located, and in Chicago on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Chicago office conducted a great deal of testing in support of the AAR’s Mechanical Standards and had much useful equipment available. We converted a motor home they had into the new mobile lab and worked with a contractor that was experienced in measuring emissions from fixed facilities like power plants. Bench-work and equipment racks were designed and installed, measurement equipment purchased, computers acquired, (which we had to learn how to use—remember, this was 1980), and an array of other equipment obtained and outfitted. This is a little story about the creativity and ingenuity of some of the railroad people who actually made it work.
Most railfans, at some point or another, are asked what their first train sighting was. For me, I can’t remember the first time I saw a train, but I do remember the first time I took a picture of a train. May 16, 2010 was the date. The event was the annual Railroad Days festival held in Homewood, Illinois.
Railroad Days, located in downtown Homewood near the entrance to Canadian National’s (CN) bustling Markham Yard, has been held every year since 2004 (except 2020 due to the pandemic). It’s the town’s way of celebrating their 150+ years of being a major railroad hub. Model train displays, vendors, rides on the CN’s little “train on tires” that drives around a parking lot adjacent to the yard, and lots of railfanning make up the special day.
For seven-year-old me, this was something exciting beyond belief, and in all likelihood, I did not get any sleep the previous night as I eagerly awaited for my dad to get up and take me to Homewood. When we finally got there, we first checked out the model train displays. I talked my dad into getting me an HO scale locomotive for my rapidly expanding model collection, and then we headed over to the then new Homewood Railfanning Platform, located near the Amtrak station, to watch some trains before heading home.
Number 17 in New Freedom, Pennsylvania – July 20, 2020
In December of 1854, the Northern Central Railway was formed by a merger of numerous rail companies. The rail line connected the city of Baltimore, Maryland, with the city of Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, and it connected numerous small towns in between. The line was later taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad. During its time, many towns were formed. Abraham Lincoln rode along this rail line numerous times. He first rode this line when he was on his way to Washington D.C. to take up residence in the White House to serve the nation as the President of the United States of America. While on his way to Washington D.C., the railroad thwarted the first assassination attempt which was supposed to take place at a station in Baltimore. He went along this line to connect to a train at a place called Hanover Junction while on his way to a Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg. Why was he going to Gettysburg? Months before, a battle of the American Civil War that was the turning point of the war, known as the ‘Battle of Gettysburg’, took place. He went to the cemetery to honor those who lost their lives fighting for freedom with ‘The Gettysburg Address’.
His last ride was when his casket was on its way to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. Throughout the years, the line changed ownership, but the trains kept rolling on.
Number 17 in New Freedom, Pennsylvania – July 20, 2020
Until 1972
Hurricanes Agnes struck the United States of America in the early Summer of 1972 making landfall in Panama City, Florida. The hurricane made its way to the Mid-Atlantic region causing much damage. The tracks that were the Northern Central Railway in the U.S. state of Maryland were destroyed. Penn Central Railroad, the last owner of the rail line, decided to abandon the line between Baltimore, Maryland and York, Pennsylvania. The Northern Central Railway was gone forever.
Not exactly . . .
In Maryland, the tracks were taken up, and it is now the Northern Central Rail Trail except for a stretch of track that is part of the Light Rail Transit System for Baltimore.
The Northern Central Rail Trail in Freeport, Maryland – April 18, 2021
What happened in Pennsylvania?
The two-track line (became double-track during World War I) became a single track leaving the one track to remain with the York County Heritage Trail, the northern continuation of the Northern Central Rail Trail, running alongside the rail line. For many years, no trains ran along this line despite that it was still an active rail line.
That changed in 2011 . . .
Number 17 in Seitzland, Pennsylvania – July 20, 2020
‘Steam Into History’ began train excursions with a newly built steam locomotive pulling newly built old time passenger cars giving passengers a one of a kind passenger experience. Many have come from across the United States of America and around the world to ride this train. The Number 17 William Simpson York locomotive pulled passengers from its south terminus in the town of New Freedom, Pennsylvania through the towns of Railroad, Glen Rock, and Hanover Junction, the same place where Abraham Lincoln changed trains while on his way to Gettysburg. Sadly, only a short section of this track remains.
Number 6076 in Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania – April 18, 2021
Today, ‘Steam Into History’ has been rebranded as the Northern Central Railway, and it continues to take passengers along the same route pulled by Number 17 but by a diesel locomotive, and you can now ride to the town of Seven Valleys. The Northern Central Railway is making a comeback, and they are looking to make its way to York.
The Northern Central Railway is at 2 W. Main Street in New Freedom, Pennsylvania. You can learn more about the excursions and buy tickets at https://www.northerncentralrailway.com/.
Railfans watching the train arrive in Seitzland, Pennsylvania – July 20, 2020
It may be not be ‘Steam Into History’ anymore, but the return on the Northern Central Railway will keep the history moving on.
John Cowgill – Photographs and text Copyright 20201
Southern Pacific’s freight traffic from Northern California to the Sunset Route to the southeast faced significant congestion in the Los Angeles area in the 1960s. SP’s solution was to build a 78-mile line across Cajon Pass and the western Mojave Desert. The line was completed in 1967.
The line starts at the San Joaquin Line in Palmdale, rises to the top of Cajon Pass (Summit on the Santa Fe, Hiland on the SP), and then roughly parallels the Santa Fe down the hill. It connects with the Sunset Route at Colton Yard.
Surveying the line in 1964. The Santa Fe at Summit is in the cut.Read more
