My Dad was a locomotive engineer for a progression of names for the lines that went thru Ennis, TX between Dallas & Houston. Ennis was a crew hub and workshop/turntable. I grew up in the railroad.
Dad was with the H & T C. (Houston & Texas Central) and later to be Southern Pacific. He was a engineer on the Sunbeams #15 & #16 for years. I have a photo of him leaning out of the cab of #16. The locomotive is SP #650 and is a Pacific P-14 class. Three of these engines #650, # 651, & # 652 were built in 1937.
Of course those were the steam days and nothing can impress a kid like standing beside a operating steam locomotve--of the power and smell..in fact my Dad was the last engineer to shut down the Mikado Type 2-8-2 steam engine #794 parked on display here in San Antonio's Sunset Station (old SP depot) during Christmas and a old stock photo. He was working here in San Antonio when the SP donated the engine to the City in late 1957 and subsequently had the engine parked in a park on Broadway St. north of downtonw. The Sunset Station moved the engine several years ago..actually loaded the engine on a flatbed to move it to its present location east of downtown.
After Pearl Harbor most railways changed the name form Mikado to MacArthur.
# 794 THEN #794 NOW
SP Sunbeam #16 in Ennis, TX Old SP Depot now Sunset Station Venue
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