Trackwoman Number Two

“Track Woman Number Two” is a revised book of “Four Years of Track Life” which was an autobiography by Frances Armstrong Wood. My husband, Cliff, and I lived on the tracks of the AT&SF (Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe) railroad. Cliff was a heavy equipment operator on a floating crew and did the maintenance and installation of the new welded rail railroad track. We were moved along the track from Los Angeles, California to Albuquerque, New Mexico, every thirty days or more.

I was free to travel and it was a pleasure to fix meals, shop and just to be there when Cliff got off work. We tried to look after the less fortunate members of the crew. We assisted the workers as they called on us for help.

During the four years, we made most of the railroad stops along the track from Los Angeles to Needles. One major project in Williams, Arizona was a million dollar job.

The AT&SF was known as the Santa Fe at the time we spent on the track. The company merged with another railway company and is called the BNSF today. There are no more passenger trains, only freight trains. There was a time when the Santa Fe had two passenger trains. The El Capitan, which was known as the deluxe passenger train, the other was the Chief. They both had super dining service. All the waiters wore white coats and gave the look of elegance. They furnished real butter, cream, cloth napkins, tablecloths, real silver and china. The service was excellent. There were lounge cars for the passengers to play card games and listen to music. A long ride would require a bed or a compartment that was provided on this train. The El Capitan had a dome car with a glass top and the view was fantastic either day or night.

At the train stations, there were Harvey House restaurants serving special foods. The waitresses were known as Harvey House girls and wore black and white uniforms. Fred Harvey was the founder of The Harvey House Association. Today, Amtrak furnishes pleasant train rides, but there are no existing Harvey Houses.