Margin Notes: Drill, Repel, Jackson, Bicycles

A drilling rig installed a post near the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario on 27-August-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Are they drilling for oil near the CN Tower? (And if so, who are "they" with the black drilling rigs?) It sure looked like it for some of this week, as the above drilling rig roamed about the area south and east of what until recently was the world's tallest free-standing structure. However, after a "drilling session" next to one of the paths, a post was found left behind, so apparently that's all the exercise was about--why a drilling rig was required for that is not clear. File it under you never know what you'll see in Toronto.

* * * * * *


A man repelled down a support column of the Canadian Pacific bridge over the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario on 26-August-2009

Even mundane places can provide surprises. While waiting along the Humber River for rail photography possibilities near sunset last Wednesday, I was surprised to see a man repelling down one of the bridge's support columns above the Humber River. I'm sure the Canadian Pacific would not have been happy to know he was engaging in that activity.

* * * * * *


This Union Pacific concession car, named the "Sherman Hill" as it passed through Carkeek Park in Seattle, Washington on 18-May-2007, will soon be re-named for Reed Jackson.

Out west on another railroad, the Union Pacific decided to name one of the cars in its excursion fleet after the recently-deceased steam program conductor Reed Jackson. The "Sherman Hill" concession car has been renamed the "Reed Jackson". While this is certainly a classy move on the part of Union Pacific, I have to admit that it would be a bit weird to me if I were working on their train. The concession car is often a focal point of on-board services, and I remember many times in 1995 being told "go to the Sherman Hill and get {something}." It would be distracting to be told "go to the Reed Jackson and ..." as my mind would drift off the memories of Jackson--and I barely knew him. I have a feeling the on-board crews may have to just call it the "concession car" now in day to day operations.

* * * * * *

Sometimes when hauling things from the concession car to the end of the Pacific Limited train, I wished I could have been riding a bicycle. That's one area where a bicycle is not allowed, and apparently the drive-through lanes at the Burgerville chain was another. The Vancouver, Washington-based burger chain with most locations in Oregon has apologized to a cyclist for not serving her at their drive-through window. Long-time readers of this blog know that I have been a fan of Burgerville and see no reason why they should not serve bicycles at the drive-through; it matches their green image.

* * * * * *

It certainly helped my self-image to be reading Ruth Walker's column in the Christian Science Monitor and find her citing the same episode of WNYC and NPR's On the Media that was my weekly radio pick a couple weeks ago. I guess I may be operating in the media bubble after all.

Transport: Remembering Reed Jackson

Union Pacific conductor Reed Jackson was in his element--talking with passengers in the theater car "Idaho" during the "Puget Sound Steam Special" excursion at Orillia, Washington on 19-May-2007

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The railroad and railfan community is mourning the loss of Union Pacific conductor Reed Jackson, who died on 11-August-2009 after surgery to remove a brain tumor. In the past two decades, Jackson had become the public face of the Union Pacific Steam Program, one of the railroad's major public relations efforts. He was 55.

According to Hal Lewis, who served as Train Manager for Pacific Limited, a consortium of railroad historical groups that operated trains in conjunction with the Union Pacific steam program, Jackson was added to the team in the early 1990's by program head Steve Lee to reduce Lewis' workload. Indeed, it was on a Pacific Limited trip, the "Portland Rose" excursion from Denver, Colorado to the Pacific Northwest, that I first met Jackson in 1995. That train was more than 2500 feet long, so he tended to be in the theater car at the end of the train in case a reverse move were necessary. I had the pleasure of relieving the normal car host in that car during some of her breaks, and thus I had the privilege of watching Jackson interact with ease with the passengers on the train, a number of whom were from foreign countries.


It's an obscure scan, but conductor Reed Jackson was at left in this view of the "Fox River" theater car during the "Portland Rose" Pacific Limited trip as it passed Shoshone, Idaho on 17-September-1995. I was about to relieve veteran car host Anita Kratville, at center, for her lunch break.

Jackson was a perfect choice for the Steam Program Conductor--his easy-going manner and ease in speaking with the public made him popular with everyone from Union Pacific's partner organizations to the press to members of the general public surprised to find a steam locomotive stopping in their home town. The impression that he made in his meticulously-prepared uniform created memories for thousands of people that never learned his name, as well as those of us who came to view him as an integral part of seeing a Union Pacific steam train.

According to the blog of former Union Pacific colleague Jim Burrill, Jackson started with the Union Pacific as a brakeman out of Denver, Colorado in the 1970's and later served as conductor on Amtrak's "San Francisco Zephyr" which then ran on the Union Pacific between Denver and Ogden, Utah. He was thus a passenger service veteran when appointed to the Steam Program.

Indeed, Jackson was known for his professionalism. One of my favorite Reed Jackson stories occurred during the "Puget Sound Steam Special" in May 2007. The train made a stop for engine servicing in Everett, Washington and the engineer of the lead locomotive wanted to "highball" or depart. Jackson was heard on the radio saying, "Just as a reminder, I'm the conductor of this train and for safety reasons I'm the one that determines when we can leave." It wasn't long after the acknowledgment from the engine that Jackson gave the official "highball."


In what turned out to be my last picture of him, Union Pacific conductor Reed Jackson (at left) rode a vestibule with Ed Dickens as the Western Heritage Express moved to a spot in Portola, California on 5-May-2009

It is said that there is a "great railway in the sky" where railroaders go after their deaths. Reed Jackson must surely have marked up as a conductor on that railroad now. This world has certainly lost a great ambassador with his passing.

Photos: Union Pacific Steam

Union Pacific's Western Heritage Express crested Sand Pass, Nevada with steam locomotive #844 providing the only power on 5-May-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site goes back a couple months. The early portion of a trip to the west coast of the United States in spring 2009 focused on following and riding the Union Pacific "Western Heritage Express" between Roseville, California and Winnemucca, Nevada via the former Western Pacific route through the Feather River Canyon between 29-April and 5-May-2009. The experience included riding the train from Portola, California to Winnemucca where the steam locomotive was unassisted and ran at 70 mph. Also included are aerial views from the westbound flights and scenery along the route.

Transport: Union Pacific's First SD40-2

Union Pacific's first SD40-2 locomotive, #3123, sat at the diesel shop in Roseville, California on 26-April-2006

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Even most railroad enthusiasts think my practice of doing thorough write-ups of my railroad observations is insane. In terms of efficiency, the research I try to do into the things I see when I later go to write them up doesn't hold up very well. Most of the time I end up confirming that locomotives or cars that I thought were mundane were indeed unremarkable. Every once in awhile, though, I discover that I have seen something significant without realizing it.

Recently, I was looking through the pictures from a trip on Amtrak's California Zephyr over Donner Pass between Reno, Nevada and Sacramento, California that I took in 2006 and had never finished writing up. Besides passing some phenomenal scenery, the route also passed the former Southern Pacific, now Union Pacific, diesel shops in Roseville, California. When passing Roseville, I tend to snap a lot of photos to get as many locomotive numbers as possible and most of them are never used in my write-ups. One picture from that trip, of a tattered-looking locomotive from the 1970's, Union Pacific #3123, was about to be passed over as boring until I suddenly had a thought--"3123, that must be an early SD40-2."

Sure enough, a little research on Don Strack's excellent website revealed that not only was it an early example of the SD40-2 model on the Union Pacific, it was the very first. It was built in February 1972, being stamped with frame number 7334-01. Union Pacific would eventually order 686 of the locomotives itself, and through merger with companies like the Chicago and Northwestern and Missouri Pacific would eventually roster more than 1000.

The SD40-2 model was not just important to the Union Pacific. 3,957 SD40-2's were built, not counting variants, used by every major railroad in the United States. The "SD" in its designation actually stood for "Special Duty," as the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) used to designate its six-axle locomotives, which to that point had indeed mostly been used for special duty. With the SD40, though, the six-axle locomotive became the standard instead of the four-axle, and with the "-2" electrical upgrades, the SD40-2 became the reliable, fuel-efficient standard locomotive of the era. There were more powerful locomotives and faster locomotives in EMD's own offerings, but it was the SD40-2 that was the best seller. The last variant was not built until December 1988--the run of production lasted a full 17 years, unheard of in the industry.

The 3123 was not the absolute first SD40-2 locomotive. That honor goes to Kansas City Southern #637, built in January 1972. But, as the first locomotive of what would become the largest fleet of SD40-2's under one flag, the 3123 was hardly a locomotive to be ignored. It received special attention in my write-up and the picture at the top of this post will appear in the "published" pages on the day--something that would not have happened had I not done a little extra research.