Please notice the member of the crew who is carrying grease and having to find a path around the three men in conversation. Of the three men, Mr. Bill Purdie is partly obscured but his green Southern Railway hat is visible. On a steam trip from Lexington, Ky. to Louisville, Ky. pulled by #610. After arriving in Louisville, our trip was delayed when one of the tender trucks derailed while turning the locomotive on the K & IT railroad. As if a late return departure was not bad enough, our train crew got a radio call asking if we had a doctor or nurse on board. We had both. Our train came to a stop with our concession car's door across from the rear steps of the lead diesel of a west bound freight that was in the siding. The doctor and nurse were handed over to handle the injuries. The Bluegrass Railroad Club never ran a trip with out Medically trained members on board. One of the freight's crewmen had been cut in the neck by flying glass from a bottle thrown at their train ! After treatment of the injured man, both trains continued on. Upon arrival at SJ tower our train picked up a C.N.O. & T.P. crew. Now many hours lateand once we were on C.N.O. & T.P. rail, MR. Purdie had green boards all the way to Lexington, and decided to do his best to get us home as soon as possible ! I think that every one on board can state that those miles were the fastest ever ridden behind a steam powered train ! What a thrill it was to stand in one of the four doors of that concession car and see the trees flying by at great speed in the bright glow from the firebox. Bill Purdie was the hero or idol everyone on board. If you had tired children, he was a hero ! If you were a rail fan he was your idol ! If you were aboard that night you now understood the true meaning of the word "Superpower" as applied to steam locomotives, as demonstrated by Mr. Purdie. T & P #610 now lives at the Texas State Railroad Museum.
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Excellent. Very nice color and light and a well done scan. But was it really over 30 years ago already?
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Good spot by Bill Caywood on Bill Purdie. You can bet, if one of his steam locomotives was out on the road, he was somewhere to be found nearby with his ever-present green cap. Also, notice the old Central of Georgia loaded woodchip hopper in the background. Very nice photo JJ
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