STAYING ON TRACK
TEXAS STATE RAILROADSomeone sent me a brochure on the Texas State Railroad at the State Historical Park in Pineywoods, TX. I must admit that I was not aware this line existed, and so thought there may be a possibility that others did not know of it either.
The Texas State Railroad (TSRR) runs through the pineywoods and hardwood creek bottoms of East Texas. Today, the historic state railroad is still maintained as a fully self-contained railroad system. Its' train crews maintain and operate four steam engines, four antique diesel locomotives and a complete steam-engine restoration shop; its track crew maintains more than 25 miles of track and 24 bridges. Passengers may board the train at either Rusk or Palestine.
Both ends of the line have turn-of-the-century style train stations. The trip takes 1 hours to reach the opposite station. Once visitors arrive, they have an hour to have lunch, browse through the depot's train store, ride paddle boats or take a short nature hike. One then reboards for the return trip home. The State Historical Park's 50 mile round-trip steam-engine excursion takes four hours.
The TSRR is one of the nation's largest steam-train operations. The TSRR is the only steam railroad in the United States that runs two steam trains simultaneously each day of operation.
The locomotive roster is impressive and includes the following:
STEAM ENGINES Number Date Type Builder Weight in tons 201 1901 4-6-0 A. L. Cooke 79 300 1917 2-8-0 Baldwin 83 400 1917 2-8-2 Baldwin 87 500 1911 4-6-2 Baldwin 137 610 1927 2-10-4 Lima 224DIESEL ENGINES
Number Date Type Builder Weight in tons 1 1944 B-B Siderod GE 45 7 1947 RS-2 ALCO 120 8 1953 MRS_3 ALCO 120 22 1956 B-B GE 70The eastbound and westbound trains meet twice daily at the midpoint of the run. This gives rail enthusiasts a chance to see the steam engines switch and pass.
State Park camping and picnicking facilities are adjacent to both depots. The park at Rusk offers shaded picnic tables, a scenic 15-acre lake, group picnic pavilions and full-hookup camping. The Palestine park has shaded picnic tables and water-only camping sites. For information on camping or pavilion rentals contact Rusk/Palestine State Park (903) 683-5126
The railroad will run from March 11 through November 3, 2000. The exact schedule is complicated so it would be best to call them at 1-800-442-8951 for detailed information or reservations.
WOMEN IN RAILROADING (continued from last issue)
(...regarding Harvey Girls) "We wore a black uniform about 7 inches from the floor and a little black tie," Ms. Petersen recalls. "We'd work six months, then go home for a vacation. They paid your way. Then you could go anyplace there was an opening. They were wonderful years," she says. She worked in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., living with other Harvey Girls "either in a hotel or a home that had a room available."Sue Ann Taggart of San Diego, a former Santa Fe clerk, wrote to Ms. Moses and Ms Lindeman about her grandmother, who in the '20s was a railroad telegrapher in Kansas. The stories she'd told Ms. Taggart included tales of drunk cowboys on horseback circling and then shooting at the boxcar in which the women lived. Her grandmother took to tucking a pearl-handled revolver into her garter.
Ms. Levinsen learned that, starting in the 1830s, women entered the ranks of railroad workers as domestics. The two world wars created new opportunities, but, she found, "women railroaders have not always been accepted or welcomed" by their bosses or male co-workers, and they were often paid less and subjected to harassment.
According to her research, the number of women working in railroading peaked at about 260,000 in 1945. She estimates that 27,000 women hold railroad jobs today, less than 10 percent of the total work force. Most do office work. (To be continued) see WOMEN 3 WOMEN
Since I am giving the September program, and it is on detailing, this article will be short (or you will have an undetailed model for the program). Ron and I attended the NMRA convention. It was fantastic, as always. At National, there are always 10 things scheduled for each time slot for a week. Of those, you might want to be at five. This means that 2200 people with different interests are always busy. They may not always be happy or satisfied, but that is their choice. Each hour there are five clinics, special interest rooms, auctions, contests, and the National Train Show; in addition a full calendar for kids four and older, plus non-rail activities. These are included in your basic registration. For a little extra, to cover transportation, there are three layout tours, two prototypes, an industry, and a non-rail tour. At a later date, we will be writing articles on each aspect of these.
Others attending, that some of you know, were the Virgil Youngs from Amarillo, Ben Pearlman and Ken Caulking from Houston. We were sorry to see Casey using a walker to get around, but it wasn't slowing him down much. Jerry Dukes made it to the Train Show on Friday. He was in town for a work related seminar.