Rail Road Memerabilia / stuff

[Tom]

When the Flying Scotsman came to the USA and Canada for a North American Tour in the 1960's, the train was siezed by the IRS and put into storage at Sharpe Army Depot near Stockton, CA. My Dad was a carman for Western Pacific and two of the cars went to a scrapper here in town that hoped to sell the cars for storage sheds (?!). The two exhibit cars were dug out of storage, and were interchanged by the WP to the Central California Traction RR who delivered them to the scrapper. Since the cars were being interchanged and had vaccuum brakes, a "run-around" hose was fashioned to go be wired down one side of the cars to connect with gondolas at the rear. How they were coupled, Dad doesn't recall, as the cars obviously had buffer and screw type couplers, but when called out to attach the run-around hose, he noticed the cast iron builders plates. So, out came the torch off the work truck. Dad liberated two plates, the other carman he was working with got the other two. They went inside the cars and found a box of books on the train, and they each took one, and Dad brought the book home to me. I still have it in a box somewhere. Thus, starting my fascination with the train, which had a considerable little history on the WP anyway while it was out here. At any rate, the acetylene started running low, and was exhausted by the last rivet, thus, he had to use a crowbar to pop that last rivet breaking one plate (has since been glued by me). I have them sitting here in one of my curio cabinets with a Hornby model of the engine. Photos attached.