Red Oak
Note: This article was first published in 2001 in the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) National Railway Bulletin magazine in the Volume 66, Number 1 edition. The 1522's image even made the cover of the magazine in a photo from fellow crewman Welly Lazier. Please enjoy this reprint of the article. All photos are by the author, all rights reserved.
The view was spectacular - the last rays of the setting sun left the hazy sky ablaze in color behind the station at Red Oak, Iowa. We sat in the lounge area of Burlington Northern's Super Dome car Glacier View, sipping our sodas and quietly discussing the day's run from Lincoln, Nebraska, as we watched the sunset fade away. It had been a busy day for both crews - the Burlington Northern's hard working cooks and car attendants as well as those of us in the blue uniforms of the St. Louis Steam Train Association (SLSTA) who had tended the needs of Frisco steam locomotive 1522, the motive power for this special trip.
Leaving Lincoln after lunch, we stopped in Omaha in mid afternoon to service and water the engine, and then continued on - crossing the Missouri River near Pacific Junction, Iowa, before beginning the climb out of the Missouri River valley to an early evening arrival at Red Oak. After moving the train onto the siding and servicing the engine once again, we retired to dinner and then to the dome of the Glacier View.
Sitting in a lounge chair, the air conditioning slowly drawing out the day's heat from within me, I suddenly came to realize just how privileged we were to be here. A decade before, the 1522 was nothing more than a cold museum display, yet she now simmered quietly on the next track. Slowly, year by year, she was restored to operating condition and her crew built up experience in mainline steam operations. Gradually, we had developed a relationship with the Burlington Northern Railroad, disproving the skeptics' accusations that the BN would never run steam. Now, we had reached the highest milestone - the BN had entrusted their corporate reputation and their beautifully restored passenger train to us and had invited the people of the Great Plains to have a look.
And look they did. We departed Kansas City nearly a week before, heading North to our first night's layover in St. Joseph. Parking on a siding in a residential area, we watched our new neighbors frantically dialing their cellular phones to call their friends over to see what had arrived in their back yard. The following morning, we continued our trek North, pausing at Tecumseh, NE, for water and service before rolling again toward Lincoln. Arriving at Lincoln in the late afternoon, we made a grand entrance into the restored CB&Q depot to discharge our riding passengers, then backed slowly out into the sprawling freight yard west of town to clear the station track for AMTRAK's nightly Zephyrs.
Over the next few days we would make a quick trip to Omaha and return, then back briefly out of town to pick up the Governor of Nebraska for the grand banner-breaking ceremony to start Lincoln's Haymarket Heydays. However, most of the time we sat at the station on display. At night, we would pack up the train and back slowly out of the station into the freight yard - trading the blare of the nightly Heydays concerts for the quiet rumble of idling diesels and a good night's sleep.
An offer of another soda returns my thoughts to Red Oak. I glance again at my watch - wondering what is delaying the westbound California Zephyr's nightly visit. I notice the date is June 18 - a year to the day that we left St. Louis on our way to Atlanta with the 1522 and 16 cars full of passengers. What a difference a year makes. While the weather on our Iowa trip has been sunny and hot, the run to Atlanta was made in the midst of a searing heat wave and high humidity. Not only did we have the steam engine demanding attention, but the passenger cars needed to be watered as well and it took forever in the evening heat. By the time our crew finished watering the train the first night in Springfield, checked into the motel for a quick shower and ate some dinner, it was well past midnight. No chance to sleep in, however, as we had to be up and at the train by 5:30 the following morning for an early departure to Memphis. The scenic vistas of the Ozarks stole our chances of catching up on any sleep and the continual heat and humidity took its toll on crew and equipment alike. The red and black NS train soaked up the heat and taxed the air conditioning systems while up front, the SLSTA crew's un-air conditioned cars acted like ovens. The heat finally got to one of our crew in Memphis and put her in the hospital. A rookie crewman turned back at Birmingham. The rest of us made it to Atlanta, but we were a tired and cooked bunch when we arrived.
My thoughts are again brought back to the present when I notice a headlight rounding the curve to our east and watch AMTRAK #5 roar by. As the markers on the last Superliner disappear around the curve, my vigil is ended and I am ready to retire. No need to water the cars tonight, no need to drive to a hotel or to find a late dinner. I say goodnight to my companions and walk forward four cars to my lower duplex room - my home for the past week and the week to come. I slide out the bed, close up the ceiling vent, crawl under the covers and am soon asleep.
WHERE DOES ONE SIGN UP?
We, in the SLSTA, are often asked what it is like to be on the crew of a steam locomotive and what one has to do to become a crew member. The qualifications for joining the SLSTA crew are actually quite easy and straightforward - you spend nearly every Saturday, year round, at the train working on the various maintenance projects. Athletes spend countless hours practicing for the goal of a winning few moments of performance and operating a steam locomotive is no different. Any Saturday, rain or shine, summer or winter, you will find the crew of the 1522 working hard on some aspect of the engine or its supporting train. Add to this the logistical planning, paperwork, machining of spare parts and other duties and you find that the operation of the 1522 takes up much of one's spare time. Yes, SPARE time - for none of the people on the SLSTA crew are full time paid staff. We all hold down regular jobs (except for the retirees - several of whom work long hours as volunteers at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation) and shoehorn our SLSTA activities in between family and social obligations. This dedication is definitely not for everyone - many have joined our group, put in a few weekends of work and have never returned. For those of us who stay with it, however, the camaraderie and pride of keeping the 1522 running make the long hours of hard work worthwhile. And then, there are the trips!
LIFE ON THE ROAD WITH A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
You've made it - you've served your apprenticeship and are now one of the 25 crew people on the road with the 1522. What would your typical day be like? That is hard to say - for I, personally, have yet to have a 'typical' day on the road with the engine. No two days ever seem alike nor do any two trips ever seem alike. However, let us use the Red Oak to Creston, Iowa, segment as a typical day - at least for the 1995 BN Heartland Whistle Stop Tour what we are pulling. Our morning fireman is up early to light the engine off at 5:00 am, but the rest of us get to sleep in until the leisurely hour of 6:00 am. As soon as full steam pressure is available, the engine must be spotted back on the siding where the fuel truck can reach it - a move which involves re-spotting the passenger cars on the adjacent track. This done, the fuel truck maneuvers next to the tender and starts pumping the heavy fuel oil. We also welcome the arrival of a pumper from the local fire department. The firemen are laying a fire hose back to the distant hydrant, saving our water crew a tremendous amount of work. While we have the hose and tools necessary to take water ourselves, we often recruit the local fire department at towns enroute to assist us in watering the engine and they are usually very willing to help.
With the engine fueled and watered, we retire to the Skaggit River, BN's ex-gallery commuter car turned hi-level coach, for breakfast of biscuits and gravy with a side of grits. The BN crew has been stuffing us with generous helpings of good food all week and we must keep up an active pace to keep our uniforms from bursting their seams.
After breakfast, we venture out again. The lubrication crews gave the engine a thorough greasing the night before, so they mingle with the gathering crowd around the engine cheerfully answering the usual questions. Where are you from? When was she built? What does she burn? How fast does she go? The ladies of the souvenir crew and I roll open the baggage door on SLSTA's Tool/Souvenir car Black Gold and hang out our shingle, soon drawing a curious crowd of shoppers. Our run today is a mere hour and a half to cover the 50 miles to Creston, so we aren't scheduled out of Red Oak until noon. Back aboard the Glacier View, the BN dining car crew begins serving the first meal to invited guests of the railroad. BN is maximizing the public relations and goodwill value of this trip, setting up meals for local customers, employees, politicians and law enforcement officials along the route as well as inviting groups of employees, retirees and other special guests to ride between stops. It is not at all unusual for the car attendants to serve 6-7 meals a day to different groups, plus feeding themselves and the SLSTA crew. In addition, they fight a never ending battle to keep the train clean including our two sleepers up front. In a big change from our past trips, the BN has sent two sleepers along for the crews. The BN car attendants feel right at home in the Jefferson Pass while the SLSTA crew has stuffed themselves into the Stevens Pass, saving many of us the hotel bills we would usually have to pay on the road. In fact, with the BN providing lodging and most food, our two week 'vacation' is costing us practically nothing.
There is little time to think about food, though, as we near our noontime departure from Red Oak. The 1522 is coupled back onto the train, the crew and guests climb aboard, the last few souvenirs are sold, and we are buttoned up and ready to depart. Engineer Jeff Schmid whistles off and we are on our way, waving back to the friendly people of Red Oak who have turned out to see our departure. Fireman Willie Webster has the steam gauge pegged at 210 pounds as we gradually pick up speed climbing the grade east of town and we are soon rolling at track speed through the Iowa hills. Back in the crew cars, the SLSTA crew lines the railings of the crew car doors to watch the scenery, wave at the people who have come trackside to see us, and listen to the steady beat of our engine. The time passes quickly and soon we find ourselves rounding the curve into downtown Creston. Jeff eases the train to stop in front of the majestic Creston Depot, once the division headquarters for this section of the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. We switch our train onto a siding across the main line from the station and then park the 1522 and crew cars around the corner from the BN's yard office on the site where Creston's roundhouse used to be. Creston is still a BN crew change point and we watch a steady stream of trains arriving, swapping crews, and departing.
Once our engine is spotted and our blue flag set, the crew gets busy with its servicing duties. Although the engine has only gone 50 miles from its last servicing, we must service it again in preparation for our 113 mile run to Ottumwa. Woodie Bell and Don Kingsborough break out the alemite gun and a curious crowd of onlookers watches the noisy 'shooting of the rods'. Bud Purcell and John Calcaterra struggle into their coveralls for the tedious and messy job of shooting soft grease into the various moving parts of the valve gear. Don Miller and Bob Diekmann add steam oil to the lubricators on either side of the engine and check the oil level in the journal boxes. Jim Merkle seems to be everywhere - climbing atop the boiler to check the oil in the dynamo, inspecting the power reverse under the running board, and adding air and steam oils to the steam driven air compressor. While overseeing the servicing, Crew Chief Dave Roeder talks with BN Liaison Jim Schwinkendorf and SLSTA President Bob Meier to find out the latest changes in the schedule. Only the water crew has no immediate duties - the short trip and small train have not even used half of the water in our tenders and we will use relatively little in the next 24 hours sitting on display in Creston. Still, water crewmen Ted Cover, Jim Butler, Charlie Dischinger and David Graham assist the other crews or answer onlookers' questions while Frank Willis keeps the fireman's seat, as well as the rest of the engine, warm. Dick Sopp borrows his wife Ellie from the souvenir crew for a trip to the grocery store for more supplies. The remaining souvenir crew, Jean Kingsborough, Judy Koepke, Rose Purcell and I, are busy in the Black Gold handing out flyers about the engine and selling the shirts, hats, coffee cups, pins, videos and postcards that help keep scarce dollars in the SLSTA's treasury. Despite the heat, the servicing goes quickly and the service crew retires to the sleeper for a cold shower and a change of clothes. They got off easy this time - a year ago this day the trip from Springfield to Memphis required 3 engine servicing stops and left the entire crew hot and dehydrated.
With the day's run a success, the engine serviced, and no operations the following day, the crew is noticeably more relaxed. While steam railroading appears to be a lot of fun, there is also a large amount of stress involved in operating a trip like ours. We face the same challenges as the crews in the trains which pass us, but add several unique ones of our own. No matter how well we prepare our locomotive for these trips, there is always the chance of a mechanical problem which could sideline us in the midst of a trip and, worse still, could leave us blocking the railroad's main line. If this should happen, there is not much the railroad can do to help us as most of the railroads' steam experience has retired. BN has in the past been more than generous in providing shop equipment, manpower and other assistance when we've needed it, but in the end, we have to be ready at any time, anywhere, to make a repair. Another constant concern are the people who come to see us. Most of them are not used to a railroad environment, and we need to keep a vigilant eye around the train to make sure everyone stays safe. All the attention from the railfans, public and media, while flattering, adds another factor of stress to our operation and makes us appreciate a day off in mid trip even more. As evening approaches, we wander off in small groups to explore the interesting old buildings that make up downtown Creston. Word comes from the dining car that we are on our own for dinner, so we head over to the hotel restaurant and then to Dairy Queen for an after-dinner ice cream cone. Eventually, our feet take us back to the 1522 for one last check, but Don Miller has the engine lights on and the purring of the dynamo to keep him company and all is well here. Don will keep the fire going until 11:00 pm, then shut it off and cap the smokestack so we will still have steam pressure to light off the fire in the morning. The shutterbugs in the crew make plans to take some night photos of the California Zephyr as she stops in Creston and later set up some photos of the old Creston Depot before calling it a night.
We spend the following day on display at Creston, washing the train in the morning with the water from a fire truck and doing little else but tend the fire and chat with the friendly Iowans. An impromptu pizza party, courtesy of BN Communications Director Susan Green, finishes off the evening before another stroll around town. Bright and early the next morning, we are ready to roll again as Engineer Wellie Lazier and Fireman Don Morice take the train east. Large crowds awaited us at the intermediate stops of Osceola, Chariton, Melrose and Albia. Rolling to a stop at Melrose, we notice what appears to be a small group of protesters, but it turns out to be local children carrying signs thanking the BN, and BN's Susan Green in particular, for the donation of a caboose for their park. Susan was hustled off the train to receive a corsage and the thanks of the local townspeople - a welcome surprise for her and us.
Our lunchtime arrival at Ottumwa's depot draws a huge audience - many of whom had been following the travels of our train in the local paper. While we had to clear the station track and move into a yard east of town, the crowd followed us over and for the next 10 hours a non-stop parade of people dropped by the yard to see the train. Neither the brief rain showers nor the stifling heat seemed to deter them.
The next morning, we continued our trip east through Iowa past the BN's locomotive shop at West Burlington. They knew we were coming, and the entire shop force turned out to see us. Shortly afterwards, we began our descent down the hill where George Westinghouse once tested his air brake designs and arrived at Burlington, Iowa. We would spend a day with the engine and train on display at the riverfront depot as part of a fund raising effort to restore the depot building. We awoke next morning to our first real rain of the trip which, thankfully, cleared up shortly after we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois on our way to the familiar town of Galesburg for our third Railroad Days display.
After several days on display there, it was time to say goodbye to our BN executive train, hello to Dan Maguire and his lounge car Chouteau Club, and let Engineer Don Wirth run the 1522 through Hannibal to St. Louis, our home. It had been 2 months since the 1522 had left home and, while she did not operate the entire time she was gone, she had still run over 1400 miles.
EPILOGUE One morning I am riding in the cab of the 1522, running South out of Galesburg at 60mph toward Macomb. The next morning, I pack a sandwich, put on shirt and tie and head in for a day at the office. After two weeks of adventure, it is quite a shock to return to the mundane. I look at the pile of mail and phone call slips that have accumulated during my absence and answer polite queries from my coworkers about how my 'vacation' went. How can I convey to these people that I just spent two weeks with a close knit group of people wrestling a 69 year old steam locomotive over the road - riding in hot, bouncing cars and sleeping in a room just slightly bigger than my desk. To them, the steam engine is merely a picture on my wall - not 600,000 lbs of steel, fuel and water blasting along the right of way. No amount of stories, photos and newspaper clippings could convey to them the excitement, work and just plain fun we have had - in fact, I can scarcely believe it myself. I close my eyes for a moment, remembering the sights, smells and motion of my ride on the footplate the previous morning. It was real, all right - just ask the people of Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.
I open my eyes, pick up the first piece of mail and begin to look forward to our next adventure with the 1522.