burlingtonroute

This is the 1959 "Greenbelt Bowl" Football Special after it arrived at Wichita Falls Union Station about 1:30-2:00 on the afternoon of August 15, 1959. The special train was operated by the Ft. Worth & Denver Railroad (now part of BNSF) to the 1959 Greenbelt Football Game. The game used to be played in mid-August but is now played in June and features the top players in Northwest Texas. The FW&D was ending its steam operations that summer and decided to allow the 409 to make one last historic run leading a fantrip for the big game. It was sent to the FW&D shops in Childress where it was repainted and shopped for the big day. Tickets were sold and passengers came from all across Texas and the US just to ride behind the FW&D's final steam locomotive. The train originated that morning at Dallas Union Station and made stops at Ft. Worth, Decatur, Bowie, Wichita Falls, Vernon, Quanah and Childress. At Ft. Worth it picked up several cars full of the Tarrant County Sheriff's Posse including one Santa Fe horse car full of their mounts which would participate later that day in the Greenbelt Bowl Parade. The photos taken in Wichita Falls show the Wichita Falls Fire Department filling the 409's tender with water. There used to be a railroad water column at this same location that would have normally been used but the FW&D had already removed it since none of their passenger trains were steam powered by 1959 and no longer needed it. The train arrived in Childress later that afternoon about the same time as a West Texas thunderstorm hit. In spite of the weather the train was met by just about everyone in Childress. A parade was formed and everyone, including the Tarrant County Sheriff's Posse made their way to the football stadium where a buffalo Bar-B-Q was served. While everyone was at the game, the 409 was quietly cut off the train and hostled to the Childress roundhouse where its fire was cut. That act officially ended all steam operations on the Ft. Worth & Denver and the next day the "Denver Road" was 100% diesel. The FW&D would use two SD7 diesels to take the train back to Dallas later that night. Photos of the train after it arrived in Childress are also included in this same album. In spite of the 409 being shopped and repainted for the big event, and in excellent operating condition, it sat dead in the Childress roundhouse for another six months or so before it was sold for scrap and cut up. No steam operated on the FW&D from August 16, 1959 until Texas & Pacific #610 operated its break-in run from Ft. Worth to Wichita Falls in February 1976 for the American Freedom Train. Two weeks later SP #4449 made the actual AFT trip to Wichita Falls. This was by far the most historic Greenbelt Bowl game in history, and all because the FW&D decided to operate a steam special to Childress. They even went so far as to give away a brand new 1959 Studebaker at halftime, along with several purses of silver dollars. I have many photos, color slides, a full page advertisement, and both 8mm and 16mm color movies of this trip. I feature a complete chapter on that day's historic events in my Ft. Worth & Denver book.

Pix of this train's diesel power are at www.flickr.com/photos/smu_cul_digitalcollections/15902725987 and following pages.

Model SD7 (Special Duty) built by Electro-Motive Division, La Grange, Illinois.

For further examples of Pullman Coaches in the US in the Clerestory Group click here.... . .