Re: Nifty Video, Minor Errors

Olaf Rasmussen Wrote:
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> Thanks for posting this video. 

I'll enthusiastically second that motion!  Thank You, Earl!!    

> I was especially impressed with the two scenes
> of 483 and the last westbound revenue freight
> near Arboles.

The brief preceding scene of #483 with a Farmington turn is also of the same last revenue freight, two days later on August 31, 1968.  The two bulkhead flats just in front of the caboose with wallboard wrapped in white vinyl are a dead giveaway — here's Ernie's shot of them being delivered in Farmington:

Photo copyright © 1968, 2018 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.

> It is my understanding that the last eastbound
> revenue freight was to be double headed, but
> because Andy Payne laid off to chase the last
> trains, no engineer was available for the second
> engine, so that 498 took the train alone and cars
> had to be left behind.
>
> The statement that 483 took the last passenger
> train from Alamosa to Durango is incorrect. The
> last passenger train hauling passengers Alamosa-
> Durango was the September 30, 1966, Kiwanis
> Kolor Karavan hauled by 487.

But, as noted by Rod below, #483 did haul the last passenger train eastbound from Durango – the National Park Service Special on November 23 & 24, 1968.  Here's Ernie's photo of the train leaving Durango:

Photo copyright © 1968, 2018 by Ernest W. Robart - All Rights Reserved.
>
> The last run of empty passenger cars Alamosa-
> Durango was 473 & 478 with 20 cars on May 29,
> 1967.
>
> 473 hauled the last mixed consist that included
> empty passenger cars on the final run Alamosa-
> Durango in December 1968.
>
> So much for narrow gauge trivia . . .

John West Wrote:
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> About the same time as I read Olaf's post I got
> an email from two friends about the errors in a
> Classic Trains article on the LA-Oakland Owl.
> As I age and read what a younger generation
> has to say about railroading as I knew it, it is
> clear that keeping the facts straight is a grow-
> ing challenge.  Even us oldsters are part of the
> problem, since our memories tend to fade. The
> only thing that we can really trust are the records
> written back in the day . . . . rule books, train-
> sheets, train registers, time books, and so on.
> And even they can occasionally have errors.
>
> JBWX


Right on, John -

Back in the Age of Photoshop you couldn't even trust photos,* and with AI coming down the pike we won't have the foggiest idea what's real and what's just a Fig Newton of Willie's imagination . . .

- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender

* See [ngdiscussion.net].



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2024 12:51PM by Russo Loco.