Here's a photo taken March 06, 1984, THIRTY EIGHT YEARS AGO, of two Santa Fe Railway employees discussing a switching move at Watson Yard in Wilmington, CA. I made a round trip from Hobart to Watson Yard on a Harbor Extra to familiarize myself with the route, take some photos, and walk away, content with the knowledge that I had ridden the freight-only line and could so mark it on my Rand McNally Railroad Atlas. With the opening of the Alameda Corridor, the ATSF Harbor District now has portions that are abandoned and some of the right-of-way will become part of a new light-rail line.

The conductor on the ground is Maurice "Super Star" Forrest, who got that nickname because he was always running a mile-a-minute and was more productive than other freight conductors. The engineer leaning out the window is Gary R. Ledoux. Tragically, six years after this photo was taken, Ledoux was killed along with three other railroaders on November 07, 1990 in a collision involving two freight trains at Corona, CA.

Even with all the safety improvements, railroading continues to be a dangerous profession.