It’s all @#$% now “I
t’s all @#$% now!” For train fans, it’s a phrase that is usually uttered wherever we are, whatever our railroad, whatever the photographic possibility, or whenever we’re looking at what once was a great railroad terminal/station/right-of-way and today is, well, @#$% (in-
sert your favorite expletive here). It’s easy to see the railroad world through those glasses. Many of us remember passenger trains
before Amtrak, railroads with separate paint schemes for passenger locomotives, multiple rail- roads competing on multiple routes between cities, rural railroad stations with the door open and the light on, and, well, the list can go on seemingly forever. Admittedly, it’s getting harder to remember what was and then look around and see what is still around today. Cement slabs show where stations once stood. Rails-to-trails are pale reminders of once bustling main and branch lines. Mega railroads replace dozens of smaller Class 1’s competing for business. Gone are locomotive builders Alco, Baldwin, Lima, and Fairbanks-Morse. So are cab units, streamlined passenger locomotives, and an assortment of freight cars that were at times as numerous as buffalo. And, although not always the case, so are friendly railroad employees that were willing to take a moment to talk to us without fear of getting themselves into trouble. Before we start believing we’re being picked on, however, look at the tens of thousands of air- plane fans. Seriously. In about the same time, many older airports have closed. Names like TWA, Eastern, Chicago & Western, National, Wien Consolidated, PSA, Hughes Air West, Republic, Al- leghany, Air California, West Coast, the original Continental, Northeast, Pan Am, and Braniff are ancient history. All have been absorbed by other carriers or shut down forever. Gone, too, are the airplanes they and their surviving airlines flew. Multi-engine, propeller-driven airliners, their equivalent of steam, has all but vanished. Gone are Douglas DC3’s and 4’s, 6’s, 7’s. So are the triple-tailed Lockheed Constellation variants, and Boeing Stratocruisers. Douglas was absorbed by Boeing, and Lockheed got out of the civilian airliner business. Passenger jets aren’t ex- empt, either. It’s rare when you’ll see a Boeing 707, 720, or 727 flying in its original configuration. The same for the Lockheed Tri-Star. And don’t forget Convair with its speedy 880 and 990 jets. The point? The point is that just like the civilization we live in, the things we grew up with con- stantly change, and will continue to do so. So yes, if you care to look at it that way, it is all @#$% now. But you don’t have to see it that way. The late Chard Walker, a fixture at Summit on Cajon Pass in Southern California for decades, made it quite clear. He had hired out on the Santa Fe and for most of his career worked one of the shifts at Summit as an operator. Summit was its own little oasis on the mountain. Besides the station, there were homes for employees and their families, signals, a water tower, and a wye. For years, the Descan- so, an historical street car funeral car, was located there. Owned by Pacific Railroad Society, it was a clubhouse for members when train watching. The U.S. Post Office also had a small facility at Summit. And now? In his retirement, Chard lived in Hesperia, near Victorville, just a short distance from the eastern approach to Cajon Pass. Everything he saw, everything he remembered, even the railroad he hired on with, was gone. Summit was realigned, the right-of-way lowered a number of feet, and curves eased. All the buildings at Summit were history. Years later, the entire western approach was rebuilt, most of it triple-tracked. Steam disappeared, early diesels disappeared, as well as many of the companies that built them. The once vast and colorful passenger fleets of Santa Fe and Union Pa- cific went away. The funeral car turned clubhouse was trucked away by its owners. More than once he was asked if he was sad knowing that everything he knew and cherished was gone. His answer? Absolutely not. While it was nice to think of the old days, it was exhilarating to see what railroading had morphed into. The railroad, now BNSF, was busier than ever. Modern six- axle power with horsepower ratings he never dreamed of in a single unit moved a never ending stream of goods. Yes, passenger service was but a shell of its former self, but it was still there. The right-of-way had been improved with continuous welded rail, expanded with more sidings and eas- ier grades, and the physical plant in general was in far better shape than when he started his ca- reer. It was glorious to watch the steady parade go by, many times at speeds he never dreamed of while working at Summit.
But what about all those lost railroads, and steam? Isn’t it all @#$% now? That, he said, was business, and business doesn’t always mesh with nostalgia. It’s good to re- member, but it’s great to look forward. @#$%? No. Railroading is still vital, and seeing it is still ex- citing. Just stand trackside, he said, and watch progress going by. DAVID LUSTIG
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photography/DAVID LUSTIG MAY 2011
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