 |
Re: WP 805A with California Zephyr at Keddie Aug 1969
Author: Lee Hower
Date: 02-09-2009 - 23:59
A trip to Wikipedia and a trip to the garage and I have the date when I was on the train.
I went to Wikipedia, because I was looking for the date that Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was Sunday, August 17, 1969. I wanted to verify that date, because three days later, August 20, I was supposed to return home to California from my mother's home town of Mobile, Alabama, by taking the L&N Pan American to New Orleans. Well, the L&N was out of service several weeks after that devastating storm, and ended up flying a Southern Airways DC9 from MOB to NOL. I then took the IC Panama Limited to Chicago on Wednesday, August 20, connecting there with the CZ leaving on Thursday, August 21, in roomette 5, car CZ15, which happened to be the DRGW Silver Rifle. That means, I came west into California two days later on Saturday, August 23. The equipment would have been turned and left the following day, Sunday, August 24, 1969. Sounds like the date you were up in the Canyon? The trip to the garage was to find my shoebox of ticket receipts, and that battered SP ticket envelope that at one time was so full of coupons.
If it wasn't that Sunday, if the train made another round trip with the same equipment - and remember that by that time, if a Cable Car dome was out of service, I'll bet they didn't work very hard to repair it - it was, I believe, a six day rotation cycle, so it would have passed through eastbound on the next trip on Saturday, August 30, 1969. Take your pick.
Incidentally, the reason I was down in Mobile was my high school graduation trip present. My parents said I could come back home to Redding any route I wanted, but I had to fly down with Mom. So we flew on National Airlines DC8 from SFO to NOL then a National 727 to MOB.
One of these days I'm going to have to scan some of my stuff!
Lee
I went to Wikipedia, because I was looking for the date that Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was Sunday, August 17, 1969. I wanted to verify that date, because three days later, August 20, I was supposed to return home to California from my mother's home town of Mobile, Alabama, by taking the L&N Pan American to New Orleans. Well, the L&N was out of service several weeks after that devastating storm, and ended up flying a Southern Airways DC9 from MOB to NOL. I then took the IC Panama Limited to Chicago on Wednesday, August 20, connecting there with the CZ leaving on Thursday, August 21, in roomette 5, car CZ15, which happened to be the DRGW Silver Rifle. That means, I came west into California two days later on Saturday, August 23. The equipment would have been turned and left the following day, Sunday, August 24, 1969. Sounds like the date you were up in the Canyon? The trip to the garage was to find my shoebox of ticket receipts, and that battered SP ticket envelope that at one time was so full of coupons.
If it wasn't that Sunday, if the train made another round trip with the same equipment - and remember that by that time, if a Cable Car dome was out of service, I'll bet they didn't work very hard to repair it - it was, I believe, a six day rotation cycle, so it would have passed through eastbound on the next trip on Saturday, August 30, 1969. Take your pick.
Incidentally, the reason I was down in Mobile was my high school graduation trip present. My parents said I could come back home to Redding any route I wanted, but I had to fly down with Mom. So we flew on National Airlines DC8 from SFO to NOL then a National 727 to MOB.
One of these days I'm going to have to scan some of my stuff!
Lee
