The proposals and arguments to get the Santa Fe, now BNSF, out of Fresno have been brewing for decades. Rarely is it noted that the Santa Fe was there FIRST, and that the City of Fresno expanded clear past Figarden, to the San Joaquin River. The Fresno Bee reporter and other members of media, seem to focus on the noise and the "danger" perceived by often irrational complainers. The same type of complainers who move next to an airport, then complain about noise, and the possibility of a plane crashing on their home.

When the Santa Fe Train Dispatchers Office was on the back side of the depot at Fresno, we used to listen to the rumble of trains passing, and blowing their horns for the crossing at Tulare Street. There was often the sense of dread that the rumbling would cease with that awful sound of blasting trainline air, followed by the screech of brake shoes, forced against steel wheels, then abrupt silence, marking a U.D.E. Trains is such a position stopped blocking multiple crossings. Radio Channel 36 would crackle with "The air is not coming up, we will have to walk the train." The process went quicker with full crews and cabooses. Calwa Mechanical Dept would often send a truck, if anyone was available. At that point all planned meets with other trains went out the window. Alternate plans had to be made. If very many other trains were in the vicinity, the U.D.E. often initiated what Train Dispatchers like to call "a cluster."

Inevitably, within minutes,the outside phone would ring. It would be the Fresno Police Department demanding to know, "How long will this train be here?" Their follow-up calls would demand in authoritative tones "HOW much longer?!!!!" If the slack had run in on the stopped train, cut levers and pins would get pulled by opportunistic lowlifes, or impatient "neighbors." The train immediately went back into an emergency application, when the head end tried to pull, resulting in the uncoupled cars, separating the trainline again. More walking the train to recouple and/or reset pulled bleeder valves and retainers.

Sometimes the cause of the initial U.D.E. was separation of air hoses, dragging or bumping on the uneven pavement, of the now reduced, Fresno street trackage. Minor slack action sometimes compressed cushioned underframes, bringing the air hoses closer to the ground, and such snags. Sometimes the hoses just came uncoupled, but it was not too unusual for glad hands to pull out or be damaged. Also holes sometimes wore into the hoses themselves. Debris such as discarded tires, placed between the rails by Fresno's overabundance of lowlifes, also caught and separated air hoses.

On a number of occasions, I was either on duty, or going to/from work at Santa Fe, and went out to help crews stopped in the streets, west of the Fresno Depot. After seeing how ineffective the railroad's boomerang type fixed wrenches were, for changing air hoses, I bought a pair of big pipe wrenches at a swap meet. My pipe wrenches got put to work on changing a few of those air hoses, as did my hammer. Just giving brakemen and conductors rides to/from the power or caboose, helped to reduce the delays. Those pipe wrenches are still riding around in the '71 Pontiac.

There were a couple of incidents where trains and automobiles came together, along with the resultant string of blocked crossings. The Fresno Police were of course notified as first responders, yet more than once I answered the outside phone to hear the Fresno Police demand, "How long will these crossings be blocked?" I felt like saying, "Uh, remember that train vs auto accident that was just reported?" "Well, that is the TRAIN part of the train vs auto."

In the 1980's into the 1990's, the hot 991 Train tended to be pulling across Fresno during early morning rush hour. Frequently the 991 and Amtrak No. 711 met at the end of two main tracks at Fresno, or at Figarden. Often a few other freight trains were involved shortly before or after they passed. The 991 Train, being very hot, and very punctual, was noticed by the media and the Fresno Police. One must remember that due to the track speed, and crossings, that even the hot 991 Train had to slow down between Palm Ave and Calwa, while rumbling across Fresno. This made the hot pig train seem longer than it was, to those waiting impatiently at a crossing. The Fresno Bee certainly made notice of it in print, as did traffic reporters for Fresno TV and radio stations, all of whom failed to recognize the hot 991 Train with the high regard it was given by railroad employees.

Regarding the 991 Train, I will never will forget the phone calls, some from the Fresno Police, demanding, "Must THAT train run during rush hour every morning?" Considering that UPS was Santa Fe's number one customer, the answer should have been "Yes!" One morning a pinhead, who identified himself as a PG&E employee, angrily questioned, "Why can't you keep THAT train in it's yard, until after rush hour?" Seems he had been caught a crossing a couple of days in a row, enroute to work. He hung up when I suggested he leave for work sooner.