the DISPATCHER

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL OKLAHOMA RAILFAN CLUB LTD

VOLUME XXV JULY 1993 NUMBER 7

THE NEXT CORC CLUB MEETING TO RI & KATY former agent Jimmy Bounds, and BE HELD JULY 10 Yukon Museum Director Jack Austerman. By Howard Thornton Members are welcome to suggest program ideas as well as assist with refreshments. Just call Ron Clarkson, Union Pacific Manager of Train HOWARD at 732-0566. • Operations for the Oklahoma City area will be the speaker for the Saturday, July 10, Central OK. HOUSE BILL 1078 PASSES BOTH Oklahoma Railfan Club meeting at the HOUSES! OMNIPLEX at 7 pm. He will show a Video Reprinted from Oklahoma Passenger Rail sent by Alex Tice, Union Pacific Director of By Roger Carter, President, OPRA Public Relations outlining the history of the railroad as well as its current operations, and (Friday, June 4, 1993; Chickasha, Oklahoma) then be ready to answer any questions members Yes! You've read the headline correctly! Barring might have. The usual refreshments and draw any negative action by Governor Walters it ap­ prizes will be program features. • pears that H.B. ft 1078 will become state law. This is a significant milestone for the Oklahoma EXCELLENT CORA PROGRAMS Passenger Rail Association as it is the first real PLANNED FOR NEXT SIX MONTHS victory for us in getting Amtrak back to Oklahoma for good. Top-notch programs featuring at least two major speakers monthly as well as refreshments and The battle is not over, however. Amtrak sup­ railroad draw prizes have been planned for the porters are contacting Amtrak and their elected next six months by CORA Program Director, representatives and Senators. Our own Howard Thornton. eight-member Oklahoma Delegation can help Amtrak get sufficient capital in order to make it All meetings except December will be held in the easier for Amtrak to restore and then maintain Goldman Room of the Kirkpatrick Center at NE Oklahoma Amtrak service to a high standard of 52 and Eastern. Meetings will start at 7 pm on quality. Saturdays, July 10, August 7, September 11, (See HOUSE, Page 2) October 2, November 6 and December 4. Normally CORA meets on 1st Saturday, two are TABLE OF CONTENTS on the second Saturdays because of the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays. Members are in­ Of Sealing Wax 2 vited to bring items of railroad interest to be June Picnic 3 used as draw prizes. Excellent Anttendance 3 Summary of Board Meeting 3 Speakers being invited include the Union Pacific Policeman Honored for Valor 4 Railroad, Oklahoma State Secretary of Amtrak on the Brink 4 Transportation, Delmas Ford; Railroad Builder 50th Anniversary at McAlester 5 Bob Hussey Jr., AT&L President Steve Smola, Trains in Trouble 7 Kiamichi Railroad President, a repeat visit by Watonga Chief needs Ticket Agent 10 Oklahoma Senator Dave Herbert, Oklahoma City Conrail says Height Clearance Pavs Off.... 10 SF, BN Pact Begins June 15 .- 10 Transit Director Steve Klika, Former Chairman Scanner Frequencies 11 of the Oklahoma State Corporation Commission, Timetable 12 and AMTRAK Enthusiast Jim Townsend. Bricktown Museum Planner Tom Elmore, UP, Page 2 the DISPATCHER (HOUSE, From Page 1) OF SEALING WAX, HASWELL, (& The following is a list of all eight members of CARR?) by Roger Carter our delegation: It was Tony again. Yes, there he was - Anthony U.S. Senator David Boren Haswell in the current Passenger Train Journal U.S. Senate Office Building suffering a dyspeptic fit over the existence of Washington, D.C. 20510 those big bad long distance trains that are just literally sucking the life out of Amtrak financially U.S. Senator Don Nickles and stand in the way of true high speed rail. Is U.S. Senate Office Building that so? Then would Tony Haswell be interested Washington, D.C. 20510 in my special breed of Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs? When they reach maturity they develop U.S. Representative David McCurdy (Fourth wings and have proven themselves capable of District) true flight. U.S. Representative Bill Brewster (Third District) I do not know what has gotten into Mr. Haswell U.S. Representative Glenn English (Sixth for these last fifteen years that he would behave District) and write as though he were born with a burr in U.S. Representative Ernest Istook (Fifth District) his saddle. His arguments against long distance U.S. Representative Inholfe (First District) trains and that they need to improve and add new U.S. Representative Mike Synar (Second routes on an incremental basis, are nothing but District) weak crossfiring of cliches. He has resurrected the old Jimmy Carter-Brock Adams Heresy All Congressmen answer to this address: which falsely assumes that any train that isn't a U.S. House Office Building, Washington, commuter train or can't compete with an airline D.C. 20515. They also have offices in the has no legitimate reason to exist and certainly is Sooner State. not being sufficiently patronized. It was the aiding and abetting of this heresy (with the ,. Congressmen Bill Brewster and Ernest Istook are assistance of then-Amtrak president Alan Boyd) the newer members of our delegation replacing that resulted in Oklahoma losing its train in the Mickey Edwards and Wes Watkins. Some say Fall of 1979. Because of this Amtrak is virtually they don't have the knowledge to combat efforts nonexistent and unusable to Sooners. or cut Amtrak funding especially as the current federal budget deficit may tempt them to There is a place, contrary to Mr. Haswell, for all embrace the current speculative theory that cut­ types of modern train services from the workaday ting Amtrak funding (including trains) may be commuter to those trains that travel greater ecessary to bring about a balanced budget. distances that link scenic and rural areas with ftSenato r David Boren voted for the surprise larger urban areas. Each type of train can stand

MORE THAN 100 ATTENDED JUNE SUMMARY OF MAY CORC BOARD PICNIC AT DOLLARS MEETING By Howard Thornton By Roy Thornton

More than 100 CORA members and families The CORC Board Meeting was held at Piggy's were present at the June 5 picnic and meeting at BBQ, 303 E. Sheridan, OKC. DOLLAR'S SMALL CHANGE RAILROAD park in Moore. 150 hot dogs and much other CORC is still looking for a bookkeeper. food brought by members were consumed with Watonga Chief will be using a voucher system to many winning the draw prizes as well as taking be instituted by the new ticketing agent beginning part in Sam Neely's club fund raising auction with the Fall 1993 season. This will coincide where Carl Webb paid $9.00 for a $5.00 with the resignation of Mistletoe Railcar as tick­ Lincoln Bill and Roger Carter paid $20.00 for a eting agent. The excursion train will produce 1983 CORA Calendar. about $2500 toward restoration and maintenance of prototype equipment owned by CORC. Both adults and children spent time riding David Dollars two deluxe trains on his 3300' of 16" A letter was sent to Ed Bowers, Houston, TX on gauge track (one was Santa Fe and the other April 30, who was granted a two week extension Rock Island.) to make the final payment. This was done to ac­ commodate Ed's military obligation to attend summer camp with the reserves. Bowers has con­ Draw prizes were won by Carl Webb, Bob tacted Sunbelt Car Company about performing Cook, Carman Ansell, Beth Warm, Perry air brake tests on the E8A. Phillips, H.K. Glenn, John Ansell, Tom Terrell, Mary Carpentier, John Bjork and Ashley Dunn. The board tabled Matt Stitt's motion that CORC control any board of directors that is to be in­ volved in the OKC MKT Freight Depot restora­ EIGHTEEN FAMILIES HAVE tion. EXCELLENT ATTENDANCE FIRST SIX In Watonga, the CORC caboose end plate is still MONTHS being damaged. The 2 year air brake test is due By Howard Thornton this year. The AT&L Railroad has given permis­ sion to use motor cars to transport railroad ties Eighteen CORA families have attendance from the south to the east side of Watonga. records at regular meetings for the first six CORC also plans to transfer tools and miscel­ months of the present year. Those with 100% laneous railroad items from Sunbelt's baggage include Neal Baucom and Matt Stitt. car to one of CORC's automobile box cars, which is now spotted near the baggage car on the Those with 83 % include John Ansell, Robert east side of town. CORC will check into running an ad in TRAINLINE to sell excess crater grease Cook, H.K. Glenn, Gene Johnson, David Sagin, at $4/pound bag. Jim McClellan, Wichita, will Richard Setzer, Howard Thornton and Roy drop off a 40" Pullman Standard trainline to have Thornton. us check for fit. He will sell it for $49. The board approved Guy Linn's motion to have Sixty-seven percent attendance honors go to CORC and Mistletoe Railcar share the cost of John Bjork, Harry Currie, David Dollar, Bob brake inspection on the passenger cars on a 50/50 Hussey Jr., Larry Murrell, Vernon Preston, basis. Drake Rice and Carl Webb. Special recognition will go to members with the best attendance by Ed Birch and Jim Terrell will move their RS-1 the time of the Christmas Dinner and meeting on from Watonga to El Reno for repairs by John Saturday, December 4, according to Howard Henson for his later use. Thornton, Program Chairman. • (See BOARD, Page 4) rage 4 uie uior/\ i ^liiiK. (BOARD, From Page 3) investigation following the shooting. He was N-Rail and Section Gang HO RR club lost their found to have acted in the line of duty when he lease in North Park Mall and are now searching fired at Plummer. for a new home. CORC items in storage at the mall need to be moved to the old depot in In Brook's trial, Vassilakos testified he shouted Watonga. to the woman to drop her gun and fired once at her when she ignored his shouts, raised the gun Matt Stitt has volunteered to manage the produc­ and pointed it toward another office. tion of 2000 1994 CORC calendars to be priced at $5. This 15th edition will be dedicated to the Chief of Police David Boyett honored Vassilakos late Preston George, whose photos filled the pre­ with the Medal of Valor in special ceremonies vious calendar editions. recently.

Charles Osborn, Oklahoma Passenger Rail Assn, (This preceeding article was sent to us by Guy has indicated that OPRA may want to subscribe Lynn, CORC member. Dean Vassilakos was a to the Dispatcher as a group. The board voted to past member of CORC.) Thanks, Guy • authorize this action for one year.

The next meeting will be held June 25, 7 pm at AMTRAK ON THE BRINK Carl Webb's OKC home at 5713 NW 83. • Furloughs Delayed for Now (Reprinted from National Association of Railroad POLICEMAN HONORED FOR VALOR Passengers) Reprinted from The Norman (Okla) Transcript, Thursday, May 27, 1993 "We are in the third year of a recession in the travel industry. Amtrak's revenues are $18 mil­ Norman police Lt. Dean Vassilakos has been lion under budget through March [1993 awarded the departments Medal of Valor ~ the year-to-date] with no prospect that they will im­ departments highest honor — for action he took prove dramatically anytime soon. " in a police confrontation with an armed suspect —Amtrak President W. Graham Claytor, Jr., at two years ago. May 5 House Transportation Appropriations hearing, arguing for a 1993 supplemental ap­ Vassilakos was cited for his "exemplary courage propriation. and disregard for his personal safety in an effort to gain control of an extremely dangerous situa­ The April death of the Clinton stimulus package tion. " (March News) was a big setback for Amtrak. Part of Amtrak's $188 million in the stimulus Vassilakos shot and killed Andrea Plummer was to have permitted recalling some of the 257 Aug. 8, 1991, in a standoff with Plummer near maintenance workers laid off last fall. the Norman police station. The officer repeated­ ly told the woman to drop a shotgun she had Instead, Amtrak may have to furlough 450 more pointed at other officers. employees at Beech Grove, Indiana, and in Delaware. Furlough notices were to go up May Shots had been fired from the van in which the 14 to take effect May 21, but this was postponed woman had been riding. The driver of the van two months when the appropriations commit­ had jumped from it, but Plummer ignored com­ tees, convinced of the administration's sincerity mands to drop her weapon and surrender. in pushing FY '93 supplemental funding for Amtrak (albeit far less than $188 million), agreed to reprogram $10 mill, for heavy over­ Plummer's companion, Tony Brooks, was later hauls. charged with getting the woman high on drugs, arming her and driving her to the police station At the May 5 hearing, Amtrak presented a table for a confrontation with police. Brooks, showing overhauls from FY '89 to the present, however, was acquitted of that first-degree mur­ with recommended levels not achieved in any of der by setup charge in a jury trial a year later. those years. In FY'92, for example, 68 Vassilakos was routinely suspended pending an (See BRINK, Page 5) the DISPATCHER Page 5

(BRINK, From Page 4) The motive power, which is maintained in their locomotives were overhauled instead of the own 3 stall engine house, covers many decades recommended 92, 240 cars instead of the recom­ of manufacturers. There are 12 active locomo­ mended 401. Clearly, a further decline in tives and they range from a Center Cats production is totally unacceptable. Davenport up to their latest acquisition of four GP-9 rebuilts. During the week they have 5 The Amtrak board wrote to the appropriations switch crews working per day. leaders May 3 asking for a supplemental ap­ propriation. The letter was signed by Board For the open house, the Army provided bus and Members Haley R. Barbour (chairman of the train tours of the plant. The rail trips were a Republican National Committee), Gov. Tommy consist of a GP-9 (4610 or 4613) and a 53'6" flat G. Thompson (R-WI), David P. Girard-diCarlo car. The flat cars had side rails and wire fencing and Leon J. Lombardi. All are Bush appointees. installed and a length-wise double side bench for passenger seating of 65 people. Management has rejected further cuts in expen­ ses as being counterproductive. Claytor testified They operated two trains, one departing on the that reservations staff, on-board crew, main­ hour and the other one on the half hour. The tenance and amenities all have been cut—and ser­ trips left from the engine house at Savanna and vice quality has suffered. Management itself continued to Haywood (former Rock Island con­ took a 10 % reduction in force two years ago. nection) and onto Ashland and return, a distance "These cost reductions do not make good of approximately 22 miles. The speed on the long-term business sense, but for the short-term mainline is 25 MPH and 10 miles on all siding, they help with costs when revenues are inade­ spurs, crossing and curves. quate, said Claytor. "The short-term has passed and we cannot afford to make any further cuts The response was so great for the train rides that along these lines." • beginning at 1:00 pm they shortened the runs to a 1/2 hour ride. 50th ANNIVERSARY AT THE McALESTER ARMY AMMUNITION This was a great opportunity to see one of our PLANT Defense Agencies in action. With little notifica­ By John Ansell tion in our area, except for a small announcement in the Daily Oklahoman, many of our fellow rail- An open house was conducted Saturday, May 22, fans missed out on the chance to visit one of the 1993 at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant larger industrial railroads and to photograph (yes, in McAlester, OK, to celebrate the 50th they allowed cameras and mini-cams) many Anniversary of the plant. This was the first open vintage locomotives and cars. house since the 25th anniversary. The plant was built in 1943 and was under the control of the US Incidentally, the main source of cars for inter­ Navy until 1978 when the Army took over. change come from the Union Pacific at Savanna, Okla on the ex-MKT North-South line. This is a massive facility which encompasses Hope we do not have to wait another 25 years for 45,000 acres. another open house.

Of particular interest to me was the railroad Great story, John, thanks for sharing it with us. operations. A majority of the in-plant move­ Hope you have some more soon. • ments of munitions are by rail, which involves 280 miles of track, 1500 turnouts and 7 turning wyes. This track is maintained by their own modern mechanized maintenance crews. The mainline, throughout the complex, is laid with 90 You can join the NRHS for $7.00 for lb rail with hopes of soon replacing with 115 half a year. Carl Webb will have rail. The spur tracks ranging from 55 lbs to 85 lbs. Many of these tracks were laid with rail forms at the next meeting so you can during World War II and they used whatever rail sign up. was available. Page 6 the DISPATCHER

is

between Chicago -5f. Louis and Memphis 'Jackson • New Orleans and all Florida

The Panama Limited The City of Miami This is the train that has earned the Florida bound traveling in style. proud title of "The Aristocrat of Through streamliner service to both Mid-America's finest trains." All Florida coasts. Coach or Pullman. Pullman accommodations. Leaves every other day.

The City of New Orleans The Seminole Comfort supreme for the daytime Daily departures. Coach or Pullman traveler. Reclining de luxe easy-chair accommodations. Chicago and St. traveling. Daily departures*. Louis to Jacksonville, Florida.

Reprinted from Trains. January 1961 the DISPATCHER Page 7

The following article has been retyped from an journey aboard the Cape Codder, an imposing August 1976 magazine. The article addresses procession of engine and cars. The train is problems Amtrak was having at the time. It's in­ rocking gently, clicking along, picking up speed teresting to note that Amtrak seems to still be to leave the city behind. And I feel enviable. having some of the same problems. Once there were thousands and thousands of TRAINS IN TROUBLE passenger trains in America. People thought of (Reprinted from The Atlantic) them as a national institution. To ride on the "limiteds" was the height of fashion. This was Once, some 20,000 trains traversed the United some of the "varnish" American railroads used to States, many of them elegant hotels on wheels. run: the Twentieth Century Limited, with barbers, Now, most of the great passenger railroads have ladies' maids, fresh- and salt-water baths, and withered and died and they have been replaced stock market reports on board. Twenty-five by Amtrak, which has mammoth troubles of its thousand people came to see the Century pull out own. Is there any hope for a rail travel revival? on it inaugural run in 1902. There was the Super Chief, which rambled across the Southwest while At 4:30 on summer afternoons, the New York, passengers in fancy clothes gorged on the New Haven and Hartford Railroads Cape champagne dinner or took in the scenery from Codder used to pull out of Grand Central Station the "Pleasure Dome Lounge Car." Within the bound for Woods Hole, where my grandmother memory of an old porter who still works on the kept a summer house. I rode up on the train train, the Broadway Limited - the Century's rival several times in the late 1950s when I was a boy. on the New York-Chicago run-had "drawing Sleeplessness, the ritual of laying out my best rooms and bedrooms finer than any hotel." clothes on a bedroom chair the night before preceeded the adventure. At the last minute, Now most of the old trains, elegant and ordinary, when the black and orange engine stood throb­ and the Cape Codder as well, have departed on bing at the platform, its contingent of stainless what is known as the graveyard run. A steel cars ranged behind, steam coming up from generation of Americans is growing up in under the doorways, my mother would safety-pin ignorance of passenger trains, which to all an envelope of emergency money to the inner outward appearances have outlived their pocket of my seersucker jacket. Then the con­ usefulness. Trains once dominated the intercity ductor would call. travel market. In 1976, the small fleet still in operation handles less than one percent of the A good-natured, cocktail drinking crowd pos­ business. Other things have declined. When the sessed that train. Once at a Connecticut stop, a Cape Codder disappeared, automobiles invaded man with an accordion got on. There was sing­ Woods Hole, bringing in traffic snarls, motels, ing in the coaches. Holidays began en route. and a particularly angry, harried breed of tourist. Faces shone. Salt air and pine tree smells came On my way to Woods Hole these days I aboard near dusk, at the Cape Cod stations: sometimes find myself immobilized in traffic Buzzards Bay, Monument Beach, Pocasset, near the Cape Cod Canal. From there you can Cataumet, the Falmouths, and Woods Hole at the see the silvery railroad lift bridge, frozen in the end of the line. I liked a window seat. The open position. Cape Codder traveled right next to the ocean, woods, and back yards, and views from the win­ Since 1971 the semi-public corporation called dow had both a remote and a close-up, sharply Amtrak has operated virtually all that are left of focused quality, like things seen through America's intercity passenger trains. Amtrak's binoculars. One day, when the train had come system stretches nationwide, encompassing about out of the tunnel from Manhattan and I was sit­ 450 cities on 25,000 miles of railroad track. But ting by the window, watching the Bronx flash the Amtrak route map looks barren beside a rail by, I saw a group of boys about my age playing map from the 1920s. In 1929, private railroads baseball on a weed patch set among some operated nearly 20,000 trains a day. Amtrak warehouses. I remember this scene clearly; the dispatches about 250, and it rarely makes them boys, all stationary at the moment, are at that old run on time. In fact, it's a hell of a way to run a lethargic game in the yellow afternoon and I'm railroad but for those who remember the great already passing them by. They are playing away days of passenger trains, it's the only game in a routine summer but I am bound on a substantial town. the DISPATCHER Superiiners are coming...

(TRAINS, From Page 7) roads of the giant, bankrupt Perm Central. Congress and the Nixon Administration created Diversifying their investments, the Illinois Amtrak in 1970 to take over intercity passenger Central and the Penn Central had neglected their operations from the declining private railroads. track; on the Illinois Central, the route of the It was a hazardous mission. The law required Panama Limited was a ruin. Schedules were that Amtrak run a "national, integrated" system, slow throughout the amtrak system, but on those which meant trains running the length and two lines most trains never came in on time. breadth of the country along routes where the Rides were so rough on one stretch of Penn public had long ago gotten out of the habit of Central rail that unwary passengers were going by rail. In 1970 private railroads had lost sometimes tipped out of their dining car chairs. an aggregate $400 million operating what was left of their passenger fleets, but Amtrak was Amtrak had internal problems as well. Its first supposed to operate its national system "for president, Roger Lewis, was a former aerospace profit." Moreover, Amtrak remained at the and airlines executive. Policies that worked aloft mercy of the private railroads it replaced. didn't always work on the rails. Crewmen felt misunderstood and called management "the Under the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, airlines bunch." And neither Lewis nor his vice private railroads-in exchange for freedom from presidents ever rode Amtrak's system extensively their passenger obligations-were to pay Amtrak to get a firsthand look at what was going on. $200 million, let Amtrak use their roads on What they would have seen was that the trains favorable terms until 1996, and provide (at cost) were falling apart. Amtrak had purchased its maintenance, operating crews, and myriad other cars and locomotives from the railroads, the only personnel, facilities, and services. Although possible source at the time, and the railroads some companies-such as the Santa Fe, the hadn't invested in new passenger equipment since Milwaukee Road, and the Union Pacific-served the middle 1950s. To repair and replace the Amtrak well, the offenses of other lines were worn-out fleet, Amtrak needed hundreds of legion. They cut corners on maintenance, millions of dollars more than the Rail Passenger overcharged Amtrak, delayed Amtrak trains to Service Act had provided. But the predominant let their own freights pass through. In 1973 the view in the Nixon Administration held that private railroads delivered Amtrak's trains late Amtrak was a passing phenomenon, a bridge to about 40 percent of the time. the graveyard for all but a few intercity passenger trains, the Administration opposed any Amtrak also suffered badly from the physical substantial, permanent investment in it. decline of a couple of the major railroads. Forth percent of Amtrak's trains used the deteriorating (See TROUBLE, Page 9) the DISPATCHER Page 9

(TROUBLE. From Page 8) several years m the Army, but his entire business Roger Lewie also felt that Amtrak was tem­ career has been in railroading, He has worked as porary, or at best, an experiment. In the begin­ a division engineer, as a trainmaster, and as an ning, he spoke against buying any equipment at executive in railroad front offices, and he came all. In late 1971 he modified his stance: he to Amtrak with a reputation for being an asked for a capital grant to make new equipment "innovative " manager of passenger train purchases. But when the Administration's Office operations. of Management and Budget turned him down, Lewis toes the line. Senators found out about his In the mid-sixties, when Reistrup was director of request and voted him the capital grant. Lewis passenger services for the B&O Railroad, the spoke out against the Senate's action, telling management decided to move toward the reporters, "We can't very sensibly commit that elimination of all the company's passenger trains. extra money," though he'd been the one who had Reistrup was convinced that the situation had asked for it in the first place. Lewis did get become "impossible for private enterprise," and Amtrak a computerized reservations system and he presided over discontinuances without visible some new freight locomotives, which, the qualms, but in fact Reistrup cares deeply about Administration reasoned, could always be sold to trains, "I seem to be able to separate my interest the railroads. But for two and a half years clearly from my business responsibility. I didn't Amtrak failed to order any of the new passenger hesitate at all to eliminate some flagship trains," cars it desperately needed. he recalls. "But you didn't see me down at the depot to watch the last run pull out, because I The 1970 law gave Amtrak authority to start don't think I could have stood it emotionally." petitioning for the discontinuance of unprofitable Among the household possessions Reistrup routes in 1973. Amtrak didn't have any routes brought to Washington is an HO model railroad. that weren 't unprofitable, and when 1973 came He built it as a boy in Sioux City, Iowa, and has around, the Nixon Administration began in effect kept it for his children, he says. They operate to dismantle the new railroad. This was the year the trains. He performs the maintenance. of an extraordinary bureaucratic merry-go-round. The Administration instructed Amtrak to file for the discontinuance of three trains. Amtrak filed. But Congress objected. Amtrak withdrew the petitions. The Congress forbade the elimination of any routes for another year and increased amtrak's loan authority. And, in the fall of 1973, Lewis began placing a series of large orders for new cars and locomotives; but the initiative had come from Congress, not from Amtrak. It was at this time that the gasoline shortage began. Where it was acute, in the Northeast especially, people flocked to railroad stations only to find themselves left behind on the plat­ forms of ridding standing up or sitting in the dark, in cars without air-conditioning during the summer or heat during the winter.

Amtrak's shortcomings were now exposed to In his first meeting with Amtrak's board of general view. In 1974, an article in Fortune la­ directors, the earnest Reistrup tried to describe mented the loss of "a phenomenal opportunity" himself and his intentions by saying. "I'm a and suggested that Congress find someone "with graduate of West Point and a former Eagle the stuff to run a better railroad." Lewis and Scout." Two worldly board members piped up most of his board were fired in late 1974. in unison. "Don't worry, Paul. We won't hold that against you." Reistrup didn't seem amused. In March 1975, a forty-four-year-old railroad ex­ He took on the job with a sense of dedication. ecutive named Paul Reistrup took command of (Due to the length of this article, the Amtrak. A West Point graduate, Reistrup spent remainder will appear in the next issue.) Page 10 the DISPATCHER

WATONGA CHIEF NEEDS TICKET transport new cars and trucks to travel the route. AGENT" Conrail said it embarked on the project, which By Roy Thornton included modifying 14 vertical obstructions to ensure that the tall multilevel railcars could Mistletoe Railcar Company and Midwest Travel operate along the route, prior to receiving any Service have written a letter to CORC President, traffic commitments from customers. Robert Cook, Treasurer, Ed Beaudette, and Watonga Chief manager, Matt Stitt, resigning With the clearance work completed late last year, their positions of promoting, making Conrail began transporting imported vehicles from reservations, and ticketing the Watonga Chief Dundalk Marine Terminal and trucks and vans Excursion train. from General Motors Corp.'s (GM) Baltimore assembly plant. • The decision was made due to the greater amount of time being taken from other activities of the two organizations. They had pioneered SANTA FE, BURLINGTON NORTHERN these functions since start-up of the train about PACT BEGINS JUNE 15 six years ago, while investing heavily in both (Reprinted from Prodigy) passenger cars being used on the train. Anyone interested in ticketing or promoting, should FORT WORTH, Texas - DJ- Atchison, Topeka contact Matthew Stitt at 405-354-0393 after 6 & Santa Fe Railway and Burlington Northern pm. Matt's address is 1105 Garden grove, Railroad Co., a unit of Burlington Northern Inc. Yukon,OK 73099. (BNI), signed an agreement for haulage to be carried over Burlington Northern lines extending During the ten day spring season, the Watonga from the southwest to the southeast United States. Chief carried 2542 passengers, plus 471 dining car passengers. These ate roast beef or baked In a press release, Santa Fe said that, under the chicken dinners, while riding the nineteen mile agreement signed June 3, it receives haulage round trip to Greenfield. Gross receipts were rights to begin service June 15 between Avard, approximately $27,000. Callers are already Oklahoma and Birmingham, Alabama. The asking about the schedule for the 1993 fall routes allow Santa Fe to provide service to season. • markets in Tulsa, Springfield, Missouri, Memphis and Birmingham and allow Burlington Northern to receive haulage-related revenues CONRAIL SAYS HEIGHT CLEARANCE from Santa Fe. WORK PAYS OFF IN FREIGHT (Reprinted from Prodigy) When service begins, Santa Fe will use Burlington Northern crews to operate one train in PHILADELPHIA - DJ- Consolidated Rail Corp. each direction six days a week, with possible (CRR) said domestic and international expansion if traffic volume increases. automakers shifted more than 11,000 new vehicles from truck to rail shipments from Santa Fe will perform all marketing functions for Baltimore during the first quarter of 1993 as a this service and will maintain personnel at result of Conrail raising the height clearance of Burlington Northern's intermodel facilities at the railroad. Tulsa, Memphis and Birmingham to coordinate operations. • In a press release, the company said its $4.3 million investment increased the vertical clearance to 19 feet, 1 inch along the tracks between Baltimore and Perryville, Md., allowing the tall multilevel railcars which the DISPATCHER Page 11 SCANNER FREQUENCIES (Reprinted from Prodigy) While on Prodigy I noticed and have retyped the following note from John McGregor If you are planning to travel on the Southwest Chief and do have a scanner and are without a timetable or the correct numbers, you're inluck. In the employee timetable there is a listing of Channel numbers for the radio. 30 - 160.560 32 - 160.590 36 - 160.650 55 - 160.935 72 - 161. 190 Compare these and you will know which channel to switch to. For those of you unfortunate ones without a current employee timetable for the ATSF Ry. I'll give you my latest information (checked by me a month or so ago) FROM TO CH FREQUENCY Los Angeles San Bernardino 30- 160.560 San Bernardino Lugo* 72-161.190 Lugo Lenwood# 36-160.650 Lenwood East Barstow 32-160.590 EastBarstow Needles 55-160.935 Needles West Seligman** 36- 160.650 West Seligman East Winslow## 55 - 160.935 EastWinslow Gallup 72-161.190 Gallup Dalies*# 36-160.650 Dalies La Junta 32-160.590 LaJunta Ellinor#* 55-160.935 Ellinor NR. Jct**$ 36-160.650 NR. JCT HolIiday*A 30-160.560 Holliday CongoA* 36-160.650 Congo West Ft. Madison.... 30 160.560 West Ft. Madison Chicago U.S 36 - 160.650 Now, I bet you're wondering about all of these weird stations I listed and the weird characters. Seems ATSF wants to make this as difficult as possible for us. Here we go with the decoding and locations... * is Lugo, CA. Lugo is 5 miles east of the Summit of Cajon pass. It is 31.4 miles EAST of San Bernardino and 53.2 miles WEST of Barstow, CA. ATSF MP 50.1 ft is Lenwood, CA. Lenwood is 74.8 miles EAST of San Bernardino and 9.8 miles WEST of Barstow. ATSVMP6.7 ** is West Seligman, AZ. W. Seligman is 148.2 miles EAST of Needles and 83.1 miles WEST of Flagstaff. ATSV MP 427.9 tttt is East Winslow, AZ. It's 2 miles East of the Depot. *tt is Dalies, NM. Dalies is where the ATSF mainline freight will diverge off to the south-east and Amtrak to the north on the Glorieta Sub. (replace "off to" with comming from for eastbound travel). The Frequency changes as the head end hits the switch. The double main to watch for is Engineer's side East and Fireman's side West. You'll likely also feel the switch. It's ATSF MP 27.4, use the detector at MP 28.3 as a warning to start thinking about changing. ft* is Ellinor, KS. It's 60.4 miles EAST of Newton, KS (a crew change) and 74 miles WEST of Topeka, KS. MP 124.7 **% is NR. JCT, in KS. It's 73.8 miles WEST of Newton and 60.6 EAST of Topeka. MP 111.3 *A is Holliday, in KS. It's 173.2 miles EAST of Newton and 13.4 WEST of KCY. Prodigy member William Hakkarinen joined in here and said Employee timetables are often sold at train or railroadiana shows. Or, write to: National Assn. of Time Table Collectors 125 American Inn Road Villa Ridge, MO 63089.

They have a publication periodically in which a lot of dealers advertise, and members trade. Dues are $20. TIMETABLE Listings in this column are handled as follows: -REGULAR SCHEDULED- runs until a change is submitted -EXTRA BOARD- runs until date expires or canceled. Submit listings to: Neal Baucom; CORC Timetable; 431 E. Mohr Lane; Mustang, OK. 73064; - or Call 405/376-2148. Deadline for publication is first Saturday of month. -REGULAR SCHEDULED-

-METRO AREA- Central Oklahoma Railfan Club - Sat, July 10, 7 pm, at the Omniplex, NE 52 and Eastern CORC Board of Directors Mtg - Jun 25, 7 pm, at Carl Webb's home, 5713 NW 83. OKC. Oklahoma Passenger Rail Assoc.—Rail Consumer Advocate Organization. Meets bi-monthly. For information write or call Roger Carter: 1120 S. 21st; Chickasha, OK. 73018; 405/224-7423 Oklahoma Rail Enthusiasts (HO)--Wed 7:00 - 10:00 PM for Info call Bill Parks at 405/672-5015 Yukon's Best Railroad Museum—Thu/Sat/Sun and by appt. Located 1 Blk N of Main and UP tracks in Yukon, OK. Call John Knuppel 405/354-5079 for times and info

OUT of TOWN Railroad Museum of Oklahoma-Tues thru Fri afternoons, Sat mornings. HO & N layouts. Meets 3rd Tue 7:00 PM at old Santa Fe freight depot 702 N. Washington, Enid, OK 73701 405/233-3051 Enid Model Railroaders (HO & N) Thurs 7-9 pm, Sat 9 am to 12:00 noon. For info contact Jack Amos 405-237-2320 EXTRA BOARD TOY Train Operating Society- Looking for volunteers to help operate large toy train at Kirkpatrick Center, OKC, 405/528-1122, E. Swan

The DISPATCHER is the official monthly publication of the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Memberships are available at the following rates: Regular Membership - $15.00 per year, Senior Member (Retired) - $10.00 per year and Student Member (Full Time Student) - $10.00 per year. National Railway Historical Society dues are $14.00 per year (wives, an additional $2.00). Dues for membership will be sent to Membership Chairman, Carl Webb. 5713 NW 83rd, Oklahoma City, OK 73132. Any other correspondence should be mailed to Editor, (Roy Thornton) 2921 Bella Vista Dr., Midwest City, OK 73110.

Editor - the DISPATCHER NonProfit Org. 2921 Bella Vista Drive U.S. Postage Midwest City, OK 73110 Paid Permit No. 1323 Okla. City, OK

Steamboat Deason 617 SW 44th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73109