The star of that film was Glen Roper, who was the instructor for my student trips in 1967. Mr. Roper had done some work as a stunt man in pictures before coming to the UP, and yet I am amazed to see a man of his age then doing those stunts. I remember him walking us around the yard for about five mornings in a row, cigarette clenched between his teeth until the filter was squashed flat, naming every track in the East Yard. At the end of the week we had to fill in the names on a mimeographed map.

Afternoons were classroom sessions, including signals, rules, hand signs, air brakes, etc.

Years later he invited me down to the offices next door to the East L.A. Depot. He rolled out the original ink-on-cloth-vellum plans for the yard for me to take notes against someday building a model of it. He also arranged for me to photograph the blueprints of the depot, which I have since drawn in CAD. While there, the same P.R. rep gave me a dozen or so 8x10 glossy black and white photos, including aerials of the yard taken from the Goodyear blimp, the City of Las Vegas Aerotrain, some promotional shots of the City of Los Angeles at East Los Angeles, and some turbines.

They were all great people, especially Mr. Roper. I didn't know him very well, but he left an impression on me. I am glad to have met him.