"ASSEMBLING A FREIGHT TRAIN" 1950s SANTA FE RAILROAD EDUCATIONAL FILM XD81165

[@kq2799]

The good ol' days of 16hr duty days and on the job drinking!!!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

As a retired railroader myself (37 years) I heard from some of the "old heads" about those 16-hour days and if you didn't drink on the job the rest of the train crew was suspicious of you. Thankfully those times are long gone.

[@godoftheinterwebz]

Hic!

[@smwca123]

@@WAL_DC-6BDidn't the dreaded Rule G hang over everyone's heads?

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@smwca123 Still does and it continues to prevent accidents and save lives.

[@donstarr7261]

UP guys get drug tested randomly 3 or 4 times a month or on cause or suspicion...Lot's of rats employed there now foe lousy CBA jobs.

[@ChiefBridgeFuser]

The amount of paper shuffling and the number of people involved is amazing. So much automation has happened since, from the yard to the accounting of the cars, all computerized.

[@rockkicker5527]

Yeah wonderful isn't it,though ""modernization"" they put more work on fewer people and everyday want to eliminate more and more in order to pile even more work on the already overwhelming task and expect whimsical results from the overworked!

[@fumingriley]

Before everything had a bar code and was scanned

[@TheMusicalElitist]

Well duh...

[@williammain7281]

As a Gen X, career IT worker I regret all the automation I built. Sorry.

[@rockkicker5527]

@@williammain7281 it just puts more work on fewer people running around in circles trying to manage the data input

[@timothyadcock5103]

All that out door paperwork. Good thing the weather is always nice.

[@yuckyool]

😂

[@donstarr7261]

I used plastic timetable covers! I steal them from my Manager and his lunch too

[@comicus01]

It's LA. We usually go about 6 months each summer without any rain.

[@brianbickley8368]

Love this old stuff!😊

[@yuckyool]

I worked for ATSF in Texas during the early 1980's, and things weren't that different. Spent quite a few days and nights in Amarillo and Dallas (flat) switching yards and terminal districts. Early days of computerization and railroads were big users. Pre-dawn of intermodal under Lawrence Cena. Lots of earnest, good people. Safety was HIGHLY emphasized. Deregulation led to a lot of innovation, "right-sizing" and layoffs. But also profitability and a sustainable business and industry. I enjoyed being part of it for a while.

[@aaronharvey7523]

Oh yeah, I heard The Caboose was attached eventually... 😂 They were called Guards Vans here in NZ... They haven't run on the network here for 30 + years now... The Guards were usually drunk, and missed their own trains, from time to time... As in hopped off and couldn't get back on... 😂

[@maynardcarmer3148]

They used to show films like this in our Industrial Arts classes ( shop classes), back in the late 50s- early 60s.

[@johnbrown5565]

I hired out a few months before radios on the ground. It was a big advantage compared to the guys who went to work later. The old time flat switchmen knew their craft passing signals around curves with fusees and lanterns. Once everyone on the crew had the 'dope' (instructions from the yardmaster) you could get a train together from three or four tracks and pull it to the departure yard without saying a word. 18 years with the Santa Fe before the merger.

[@rockkicker5527]

Anyone notice how steady everyone is working, plenty of help to complete the task at hand,no one walking back and forth back and forth covering 1/4 of a mile up and down the lead..and look at the walking conditions in the yard!!!

[@zackbobby5550]

I'm a freight conductor in the US and it immediately occurred to me that basically every single job in this video is now handled by a single conductor. I've got a tablet that shows me what cars are ready to go, where they are, and where they're going. After that everything else is up to me and me alone. Most of the time I don't even have a switchman/brakeman. Most of the time there are no carmen around to assist with the inspection of the train. Basically every job in this video except for the engineer is now done by the conductor, and they're even trying to fold those 2 jobs into 1. It's not surprising, with that in mind, that things get missed or rushed on a regular basis and cause a lot of these incidents.

[@rockkicker5527]

@zackbobby5550 what took you so long and why haven't you departed yet is what the guy in the custom office chair wants to know

[@Bongofurry]

It's staged.

[@whiteknightcat]

"Here is the freight yard of a big city ..." that just happens to have the Los Angeles City Hall building in the distance. The yard appears to be the ATSF yard that was along the west bank of the Los Angeles River between 1st and 4th Streets. It is now the large Metro facility. The roundhouse appears to be the nearby Redondo Junction Roundhouse at the end of E 16th Street.

[@comicus01]

I immediately recognized LA City Hall, but I wasn't sure about which yard they were at (I don't know the individual rail yards). And the mountains at the end look like that was out near San Bernardino and heading up towards the Cajon pass.

[@stephenheath8465]

@@comicus01 most likely Hobart Yard

[@themechanic9226]

6:06 The locomotive shown here (2602) is a very rare Baldwin diesel road switcher. Baldwin only made 45 of this model locomotive total and ATSF had only 6 of the 45, numbered 2600-2605.

[@tomservo56954]

It was originally expected that diesel powered locomotives were only going to be used for switching...

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@tomservo56954 I bet that's what the steam locomotive, salesmen from Baldwin, ALCO and Lima used to say.

[@danielfantino1714]

Well the war board decided that EMD would do mainline units, and others switchers. After the war, guess who took advantage of knowledges and research on mainline units. Other builders almost started from scratch. EMD survived and others finally shut down. Lima was the first. He produced only switchers and not many. May be less than 100. Baldwin was a late comer,with big trust in modern steam. Alco closed down in 69. Was the first to bring roadswitcher with small 539 engine RS1 limited to 1 000 hp. Put 2 of them in DL109, just like EMD in E series, but was far behind. Rushed production the 244 that was a bad engine, make improvments with 251, but by then sale were falling. Fairbanks Morse came from nowhere. Excellent engine in submarine, but not so good in rsilroad applications. Their too powerful H24-66 was offered in an era where railroads where not ready for such monster. The hp race wasn´t in vogue yet. Little kiddy GE with tiny switcher will eventually put a big slap in EMD face and kill him.

[@mackpines]

10:13 Notice the round disc on the cupola of the caboose. This was called a "Highballer" which was used to signal the head end of the train in the days before radios were standard equipment. Santa Fe used them from about the 1920s to the 1950s.

[@jackoesterlejr.3454]

Thank You Sir For The Info!

[@JDsHouseofHobbies]

I remember there being an article in one of the model railroading magazines about those.

[@njlarry100]

How did the front of the train see it and what did it mean?

[@constanttraveler]

@@njlarry100 I'm shadow banned, so you'll probably not see this. The trains were short enough so that the caboose could be viewed on curves from the engine. The caboose would keep the high ball up to indicate that no problems were detected and to keep going.

[@michaelflores2318]

Today there are no cabooses needed anymore they have been eliminated since the 80s

[@marks-the-spot]

Narrated by Art Balinger. You may recall him from TV shows including Emergency! and Dragnet.

[@ngathprasathay9657]

I’ll bet he said “progrum” and “robutt” instead of “program” and “robot.”

[@1989Mazda2200]

You have to smoke a lot of cigarettes to get your voice to sound like that.

[@ElDarren]

Things certainly have changed. So many of those jobs are now automated. It's a fun look at how it all used to work. I like how many rounds of checking and double checking these systems require. Thanks for posting!

[@billiebobbienorton2556]

My late husband spent most of his time on the SF boxcars. He was a hobo. He said almost all of the cabooses were used as outhouses.

[@NebulaM57]

I know people had problems back then just like we do today and there have been some great advancements in medicine and technology. But it's so relaxing and peaceful to see how different life was in those days. Just seems much less stressful. Maybe that's just nostaliga.....

[@ronaldheld3899]

As a Carman with Conrail in the late 70's I found this fascinating.

[@BRIANumber7-RCandModels]

Man those were some smooth mounts at 10:08 and 10:10

[@oubrioko]

Rear end crews had to hope that their engineer wasn't in a hurry ...or that he was in a mischievous mood

[@RussellNelson]

Yes, I was admiring that.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

That's a rare Baldwin, center-cab, transfer unit at 6:08. ATSF #2602.

[@GreatBowlsAfire]

its a real beauty!

[@Andy1805-y8w]

Well spotted!

[@mackpines]

Further research indicates this model is a DT-6-6-20. They were in production from 1946 to 1950 and only 46 were built. The units were 70 feet long and made 2,000 horsepower. Santa Fe had six of these locomotives: #2600-2606.

[@iBackshift]

And at 53 seconds on the turntable

[@greglivo]

I noticed that too. Illinois Railway Museum has one, although its a different roadname.

[@keithsuggs7935]

Things work much faster now! Due to Precision Scheduled Railroading. The railroad only serve industries when they want to, not when the customer wants service. Switching is done by 1 man, with a remote control box strapped to his chest. He is responsible for assembly brake testing and disassembly of multiple trains a day. Because the railroad makes the shift the maximum legal length of time every day, the Foreman/Switchman/Engineer/Fireman, has not seen his family for some time now, because he goes right to bed as soon as he gets home.

[@donstarr7261]

Biden said he has made it better with the 11 on 4 days off

[@dj196301]

Love the modern walkie talkie - only 18 pounds.

[@chrisfallis5851]

I think that size equipment was being carted around by young American boys in Vietnam, Republic Of, in that era.

[@donstarr7261]

That's the new UP narrow band radios

[@jamesroberts2115]

It's a pleasure to see railcars free of that horrible, unsightly and ugly graffiti that you see defacing them today.

[@Capitanvolume]

That bearing at 7:53 is wild. Friction bearings were terrible and caused so many accidents.

[@BrooksMoses]

On the other hand, the practice of calling journal bearings "friction bearings" was completely created by the Timken Roller Bearing Company's sales team.

[@Capitanvolume]

@@BrooksMoses even so they are demonstrated to be much worse. They're bearly even a bearing a more of a bushing. They're not terrible with a pressurized oil supply but still.

[@benbrubaker7896]

How did they handle the paper tagging during bad weather? I can't imagine the mess of a thousand wet paper tags written in pencil.

[@BrooksMoses]

Good question! As far as I know, they still used paper tags, but they probably used grease pencils.

[@themechanic9226]

What’s really interesting to see is all the kerosene switch lamps still in use in a freight yard near downtown Los Angeles… heck this film *starts* with one. I would have thought by the 1950’s this would have been electrified, especially in a metro area.

[@Mas4449]

Not till the 60s I believe

[@BrooksMoses]

Based on the reweigh dates on the cars (I saw 2-52, 10-52, and 3-53 clearly), this was probably filmed in early 1953. Most of those reweigh dates would have been updated yearly or so, so it's unlikely to be later than that.

[@Bongofurry]

I'm not based.

[@kibashisiyoto6771]

Interesting load of automobile bodies at 1:14. SP was credited with the Verti-Pac cars that loaded Chevy Vegas nose down on ramps that were lifted up to be the walls of a sort of boxcar. Looks like they got the idea from Santa Fe loading the bodies in a gondola car.

[@RussellNelson]

The Vegas were specially designed to be shipped nose-down. Special compartments inside the engine to keep the oil from leaking.

[@bwhog]

The narrator forgot to mention the 20 minutes the engineer has to wait while the air compressors build up enough pressure for him to actually operate those brake levers! 😴

[@makeart5070]

Earlier in the video, it shows the car men charging the train brake line with the yard air system before the locomotives are added.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@makeart5070 Good catch!

[@thomasgoodwin2648]

Oh to experience the excitement and trills lived daily by Mr. ManAtTheFrightOffice! His word is LAW! ✌😎👍

[@monolight1327]

Watched and tried this technique, brilliant! Not that hard, just a little patience and a small brush 0 or smaller. Question…any comments on removing residual dried mousse?

[@williamschlenger1518]

That's an amazing model railroad.A lot of work.I was about twelve years old when this was made.

[@Richard-t7q1f]

Around 6:30 where it talks about blocking the train it says that cars for distant points are put on the rear and cars for nearby points on the front. That seems backward to me. I wonder if it is an error in the script.

[@cdavid8139]

It depends on how the setouts are done. If you pull into a siding and drop off from the rear then you would put that cut on the end. But if you back your setout into a siding you put it up front. Just depends on what you have to do in route.

[@meanwolverine4573]

It's funny how they haul the bodies at 1:11! We should know the narrator by name. He worked all the documentaries. The Nicki Hopkins of narration.

[@dominicmartinelli5762]

I'm pretty sure those are Studebaker bodies for their assembly plant in Los Angeles.

[@MrDastardly]

Really cool film. 👏👏

[@aaronharvey7523]

Man that's sweet... Anything American '50's or '60's is really interesting... I see in the Shunt yard, locos are doing what we call "Kicking" here in New Zealand... Just pushing wagons onto their rake, to go wherever... Lots of guys got killed here doing that... Shunters, they were called... A switch loco is called a shunting loco here.... Unmanned, remote controlled now days... Thanks for that clip anyhoo.... Americana... ❤

[@heronimousbrapson863]

I notice that the yard switches are still exclusively manually operated. Also, no retarders; brakemen seem to be positioned precariously on the cars to operate the brake wheels.

[@caseyjonessnr1200]

Fantastic footage. A great insight into railroad history. The Periscope Films are absolutely incredible. 10:42

[@whiteclifffl]

It is unbelievable to witness the loss of so many railroad jobs!!

[@njlarry100]

Very interesting video of fright yards. Always wondered how cars were sorted. First time I have heard if blocking the cars. Still wonder how they were able to get every car in the proper place and track it. As others have noted, the vertical auto bodies reminded me of the Vega shipping. Anybody kniw what model autos are shown?

[@matteng2332]

Another amazing video

[@JackieontheTrunk]

Art Ballinger for sure as voice actor.

[@telquad1953]

What does a fireman do on a diesel locomotive??

[@kq2799]

Gets paid, complements of the UNION!

[@eddiebolt5781]

He used to shovel coal, add firewood to the firebox

[@warmstrong5612]

Sits on his butt and collects a paycheck, same as the two brakemen on a train with airbrakes controlled from the cab by the driver. A 5 man crew for a 2 man job courtesy of the unions.

[@dougbrowning82]

@@warmstrong5612 Nowadays they want to get rid of conductors and have just one person run the train.

[@gregrowe1168]

@@warmstrong5612part of the reason 95% of railroads end up going bankrupt. Santa Fe was just lucky they had Burlington Northern to save them in a merger.

[@stanleydomalewski8497]

Great Video, Thanks for Sharing !😊

[@jasonervoes1326]

Great video. I like trains especially freight trains. I like to see the caboose at the end. It seems that nowadays you only see cabooses at the end of freight trains just at the state borders for long hauls. Other places they use a caboose once in a blue moon not too often. The deliveries they make are local runs. That's probably why you don't see cabooses that much anymore blah. 😂

[@DPBGMODELRAILROAD]

If you see a caboose on a train these days it's most likely because the train has to make a long backing move and the Conductor needs a place to ride other than hanging on the side of a railcar. Also, the doors and windows are probably welded shut so they can't go inside and sit or lay down!

[@jaminova_1969]

Silly question Periscope, but do these films ever have credits?

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Some do ... some don't...and sometimes they did (but our print is missing them!)

[@jaminova_1969]

@@PeriscopeFilm Your organization does wonderful work preserving these films! Thank You very much!

[@gaborgredely1848]

​@@PeriscopeFilmFantasztikus kortörténeti dokomentumok, igen , értékelni kell!!! További sikres kutatatást, jò munkát kivànok! Thanks! ❤❤❤❤

[@tommyhaynes9157]

That was super cool !

[@GeneralLiuofBoston1911]

Another amazing video!

[@kennethhall289]

Must’ve been awesome to be a Brakeman riding in the Caboose

[@yuckyool]

I rode with a Conductor and Brakeman in the caboose of a through-freight between North Platte and Fremont (where the train was interchanged with the CNW) during 1980. Let's just say, they weren't that busy with work duties.

[@bostedtap8399]

Very interesting, amazing organisation

[@danielboone3770]

I love this Santa Fe film. ❤❤❤❤

[@danielfantino1714]

Wow at 0:50 , if it´s a Baldwin Center Cab, it´s quite a rarity.

[@astrotog7265]

Thank you for posting this film. Has computerization changed the overall operations of building a train?

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Yes, especially for railroad clerks who've had their ranks decimated by computerization around 30-40 years ago.

[@dziban303]

Are you kidding?

[@johnbrown5565]

Today's switchmen could not find their ass with both hands, working old school.

[@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

Nah. 5 man crews and towing around a caboose helps keep efficiency as low as possible to keep costs as high as possible

[@cdavid8139]

@@johnbrown5565 I disagree. Switchmen these days are on the ground by themselves and have to do everything themselves.

[@robadams5799]

3:10 - My first model train had a maroon and silver switcher locomotive that I've never found on any website on an actual railroad.

[@yanzhao7298]

70 years ago. No more typewriters, cabooses, five man crews, brown rail cars. Times have changed

[@rjl110919581]

THANK YOU

[@PRRTrainFan06]

6:14 steamers lined up on the track in the background

[@arman6119]

so nice ....no graffetti.....

[@OgaugeTrainsplusslotCars]

The was very Educational

[@Richard-t7q1f]

Around 6:30 it talks about blocking the train with cars for distant cities being put on the rear and nearby places near the front. That sounds backward and I wonder if its an error in the script. Should not cars for nearby places be on the rear where they can be cut out?

[@DPBGMODELRAILROAD]

Depends upon from which end the train will be worked from at the yards along the route. My late Uncle Vernon Simmons, a MOP clerk and later switchman, told me that when making up a northbound train out of Alexandria would leave with three blocks, Block 1 for Monroe, LA, Block 2 for MeGehee, AR and the last block would be everything for Little Rock. AR and beyond since Little Rock had a hump yard and everything would go over the hump. In the train the Monroe block would be ahead of the caboose since Monroe worked the train from the south end. The MeGehee block would be in the middle with the Litte Rock block behind the engines. Also, it there were enough cars for St. Louis and beyond they would be put into a separate train bypassing the hump yard in LIttle Rock!

[@rohnkd4hct260]

I remember when trains had 5 or more on a crew. Now days, you have 2 or 3, and if they get their way , will be ONE running remote control for switching. So far, the unions have fought it. Looks like a safety concern to me. Love trains, grew up beside tracks, listened to them on the radio.

[@asd36f]

1:10 - Unusual way to transport cars

[@asullivan4047]

Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what the orator is describing. Wishing viewers & R.R. employees a safe/healthy ( 2024 ). 🌈🎉😉.

[@D...M...A...]

I'll wait til 3am for this jewel ...

[@CountryFenderBass]

I shifted many cars in the yard for Conrail… I would get a “shift sheet” from the yard master.

[@tomservo56954]

Wouldn't the cans loaded directly into the boxcar be damaged?

[@jlinnlinn4241]

Noboby today takes this much pride in their work like these people did. Sad.

[@Wheelgauge-bt7ox]

I do and have been for 34yrs now! Know that old railroad like the back of my hand.

[@JalissonMiranda]

Good memory

[@JamesCook-u9h]

I worked at A Railcar manufacturer Thrall car Mffg in Chicago heights Illinois from 78 to 85

[@jrranch9712]

ATSF Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe

[@Ozgrade3]

How the hell did they do this without a single Hi-Viz vest😗

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Railroad accident rates were higher when this film was made than they are today.

[@jeanneblondewomanstamping9788]

Working in the freight yard was and still is extremely dangerous work.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@jeanneblondewomanstamping9788 Back in the early 1900s there used to be around 4 to 5 fatalities per day in the U.S. railroad industry. Now that number is down to around 10 per year.

[@pjwick2437]

😂

[@Joe-d7m6k]

They had alot more men on the ground back then--- now it's down to engineer and conductor.

[@danielfantino1714]

Thanks Periscope for that look in the past. Some have complaints about modern art of graffitis. I have a secret i must tell. Me too i dream of being such an artist but not with paint. I dream of pouring paint remover in those artist´s short. Just to see if they like their art so much. I doubt. You can do what you want with your belonging. It´s not yours ? Don´t touch !

[@irish89055]

Now in Los Angeles it's just help yourself😊

[@irish89055]

No graffiti.... actually I spoke too soon. I thought I saw some on one of the cars.. nothing like the nasty stuff today though...

[@strapsworld3017]

Walk em on then walk em off 😎

[@andyjay729]

I wonder how long it'll take Rifftrax to pick this up.

[@augustopinochet2495]

Does anyone know how this film was shown? was it for classrooms, or personal use? I wouldn't imagine that this kind of film was shown on tv's back then but i don't really know.

[@djavidianmx1832]

Fireman?? Thank God the great american unions kept that job alive......on the diesel engines 😮😮

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Even today?

[@truthsayers8725]

@@WAL_DC-6B no. it was a concession the railroads gave into when they started dieselization. 'we wont get rid of firemen but we arent going to hire anymore. the job will go away (did go away) with attrition

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@truthsayers8725 I understand that as I'm a retired railroad locomotive engineer (Soo Line RR, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen). The firemen were long gone when I was promoted to an engineer in 1995.

[@leecowell8165]

Wow this video is at least 50 years old. Notice the typewriter? No computers here! Caboose? whats that?

[@mrspeeddemon727]

Cool video. Definitely don't use cabooses anymore these days.

[@J_Calvin_Hobbes]

👍

[@PowerTrain611]

Watching that guy kick the journal bix closed with his foot at 7:55 made me cringe a little. That's a good way to get sand and dirt into the journal and mess up the brass real good. Hotbox waiting to happen...

[@tedlawrence4189]

Looks like LA. Where is the damn graffiti? Society in USA has gone down the hill since this was filmed.

[@jaminova_1969]

Angelino's used to take pride in their city!

[@kq2799]

Why did you and the boomers let this happen?

[@crabbymilton390]

Thanks to cop hating democrats that they love to vote for. Interesting video just the same.

[@eddiebolt5781]

Parker center in the background. As seen on Dragnet

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Society has gone down almost everywhere on the globe since this was filmed as graffiti on freight trains pretty much exists worldwide.

[@luisreyes1963]

In Great Britain, this is called "trainspotting porn". 😂

[@tjmmcd1]

Posted 47 seconds ago and already has 4 thumbs-up likes...even though the video is over 10 minutes long. Interesting how people can 'like' a video prior to watching it.

[@bobbyinalaska.4186]

They know Dr. Who and they have seen it in the 1960s.

[@jaminova_1969]

Yeah, a huge conspiracy is at foot. If that's all you are worried about, consider yourself lucky!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

@tjmmcd1 I liked your comment before finishing reading it, FYI.

[@thomasgoodwin2648]

Auto-like! When your just too lazy to press a button every time. 😉

[@GreatBowlsAfire]

its a train thing.... you wouldnt understand.

[@glennpham2763]

It's still Mark Cuban.

[@aerialcat1]

Boxcars, without fin’g graffiti all over them… I remember them.

[@Jleed989]

Loved it. Back in the 70s when i unloaded them, never saw it

[@FourthWayRanch]

Hump yard is more fun

[@littlegp18]

Ah, the good ol' days. No gay assed reflective sh*t. Getting on and off moving equipment. Awesome. Today you have a boss who hates his wife and goes after you for the stupidest things to make him feel like a big man whlie being small in certain places

[@whiteclifffl]

This is Los Angeles, before the third world invasion.

[@timpriddy349]

40 foot boxcars

[@nounoufriend1442]

Great video but we would be fired doing some of the things the way they did they did then

[@jacklav1]

This video was made for people with the cognitive abilities of a two year old.

[@Jleed989]

Then enjoy

[@me3333]

I'm probably a weirdo but I miss seeing cabooses on trains. I live in a city that you just about can't drive ten blocks without getting railroaded and in general kind of hate trains because of that but for some reason I always enjoyed seeing the caboose at the end. Somehow the "FRED" just doesn't have the same appeal to me.

[@RussellNelson]

Fred Morse was a WWF volunteer. I gave him a magnetic blinking red light so he could have his own personal FRED. :-)