Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe

My husband was a railroader through and through. He worked for the Santa Fe RR for 41 years, starting in the summer he was 17 years old and, with time out for finishing high school and the service, retiring in 1984. We moved - a lot. The last time ATSF transferred him was to Argentine, Kansas, to the Kansas City Division. We started out in Chillicothe, Illinois, our home. Divisions were consolidated with Missouri and Illinois being headquartered in Ft. Madison, Iowa. Then he was transferred to the headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, next to Newton, Kansas, then to Argentine. I have found some nice memorabilia on the internet pertaining to the Santa Fe and I will post some once in a while along with other things I have. Above is the office building in Argentine where Ray was Division Engineer.

Here is a good picture of him at his desk. Above him on the wall is a needlepoint I did of the OS Railroad. Ray had a model railroad for many, many years, and I will also post some pictures of that at a later date, too. The reason I dubbed it the OS Railroad was for the expletive you could hear him utter when he would accidentally drive some rolling stock off the table to the floor.

(You probably notice the ashtray! Yes, he smoked - we both did. Not smart, but when we were young it was what it was. He quit first - then I did and it's been a long time for me now.)

Here is part of the hump yards at Argentine and the tower. His territory was only 7 miles long there so he was home much more than he had been in Newton where the territory was really big. Not many people anymore work for the same employer for so many years - times have changed so much. (Click to enlarge)