CSX Santa Train in 1989

By Scott Jessee and Bob Harvey. Photos by Ron Flanary.

Scott Jessee’s ‘Operational’ Memories

November 16th, Thursday – Train Prep in Erwin

The 1989 Santa Train would be a little easier after I had experienced my first one in 1988.

The  train was being prepped at Erwin when I was notified one of the car’s heating system was down. I drove to Erwin and discovered the car affected was a dome car, The Pride of the Genesee. The ground was snow covered, still snowing, and rather cold. A man lying on a bed of cardboard was under the car attempting repairs. The man was Bill Connelly who also was a member of the Collis P Huntington Society. I would run into Bill again when I was transferred to Huntington WV in 2003. Bill said he would be able to fix the car so I went into the GOB. I returned a couple of times for updates and Bill maintained he would get the car fixed. I finally left him alone and drove home. Sure enough Bill got the car repaired.

November 17th, Friday – North to Kingsport and Kentucky

This Santa Train would be the first one for my wife to ride. Karen drove to Erwin and rode the F unit from Erwin to Kingsport. She was thrilled. Karen’s 40 mile ride was actually more than I ever rode the Fs.  My only ride had been an early 1980s Dante to Boody N&W delivery on the 2nd Mine Run.

The Santa Train arrived Kingsport, got spotted at the station, and began loading. An Extra North to Loyall passed Kingsport about 145pm to veer off at Frisco and also meet the Yellow Dog South.  These two trains would be long gone before our 300pm departure…….but……A NS train suffered  a mechanical issue on NS tracks and blocked the Extra North from clearing CSX’s main at Frisco. The dispatcher contacted me and I called NS Trainmaster Rick Webster to see if he could help us out. Rick was already on his way to assist. CSX media personnel became concerned about the train not leaving on time. I told them we had no where to go, people could mingle and enjoy refreshments, plus it is the Friday train, not Saturday requiring us to be on time. Eventually the Frisco issue was resolved, the Yellow Dog South cleared at Kingsport, and we departed about an hour or so late.  No big deal.

Saturday, November 19th – South to Kingsport

The next morning we departed Shelby on time and had no operational issues. We did encounter several teenage kids who tried to climb on the train for more gifts but we successfully fended them off. This year like last year, and all the years thereafter, Gene Rhyan appeared on the rear platform after our Elkhorn City departure. Gene arrived with biscuits and coffee to help me get through the morning. Gene, Everett Allen, and RC Edwards had ridden the train for years doing a variety of chores to ensure the train operated successfully. They all worked at Erwin during the course of the year but the Santa Train was what they looked forward to each year. The Corbin Division Manager did not ride the train so there was less stress than normal. The officers were only myself and TM/RFE Jon Whittenberger.

We arrived Kingsport on time, Santa joined the parade, and after unloading passengers and boxes, we departed to Erwin. The 1989 Santa Train was a success; pretty easy to manage a four car train. At that particular time I did not suspect the difficulties of a Santa Train with about 10 cars and a Challenger steam engine.

Bob Harvey’s ‘Passenger’ Memories

November 17, Friday – Northbound on the Santa Claus Special

This looked as if it would be a much better day for the Santa Claus Special than Thursday: it snowed a considerable amount here and around one to two inches in Erwin, I heard later. I called Scott Jessee to see if he would put in a right word for me in Erwin since I wanted to get on the train there and possibly there wouldn’t be anybody there who would recognize me and let me on. He said there wouldn’t be any trouble. There was little activity there since nearly everyone gets on at Kingsport. I walked around with the Pentax, snapping away. The motive power was units 118 (A) and 119 (B), both looking handsome in blue and gray.

Photo above: Ron Flanary caught a Norfolk Southern train heading north at Waycross TN from the cab of the Santa Train.

There were four cars. The one for Santa’s use was the West Virginia, a former U. S. hospital car, donated to the state of West Virginia by the government, later acquired by Chessie in a trade and made into an office car with an observation platform. Then there was the Watauga Valley dining car, complete with Jim Magill and another member of the chapter; a Genesee & Wyoming car complete with a Huntington chapter member; and an ex-B&O dome car owned by Rick Abraham of Holden.

I put my suitcase away in the G&W car in a roomette and rode in the head of the West Virginia, which was backwards and right behind the engines. I was joined for most of the trip to Kingsport by foreman Everett Allen, who is a most affable man. I often hear him called for on the radio by the Erwin yardmaster when engine troubles develop. Everett said that the reliability of EMD units had declined over the past ten years and G. E. units have gotten better. He is pleased with the Dash 8-40 units.

Running the engines was David T. Hill, who, I’m sure, must be the pilot engine man I talked to at Frisco at some length earlier this year. The conductor was Ronnie Laws and Jim Garland was the brakeman. There wasn’t any fireman. We left at 11:44, a minute early, following the northbound Yellow Dog, which was probably already in Johnson City by then, doing some work. I sat in a chair in the right front of the car and was entranced by the beauty of the countryside and the snowy mountains. The air was unusually clear that it was a pretty day.

At Hannum we had to go through the siding because the main line was occupied by a tied-down coal train. At Johnson City we ran around the Yellow Dog and at 12:17 we were going through Soldier Cut. Our arrival in Kingsport was around 12:55.

There was a small crowd at Kingsport because it was where the majority of the Santa Train passengers boarded and where all the supplies were being loaded. Raymond Galyean was much in evidence because Oakwood has a major role in providing the foods that Santa throws off the train. Lloyd Lewis soon appeared along with around eight to ten other CSX people. Reporters and television people were on hand. Somehow I met a young woman named Leslie Lloyd who was covering the event for the Associated Press and we talked a few minutes; she was busily jotting notes all the while. I was surprised to find that she lived in Unicoi – had come there a month ago from Philadelphia.

A number of fans were around, including David DeVault, but his office is now in the old freight depot, and it’s easy for him to get out to see what’s going on. Ron Flanary arrived and I was glad to know he would be on the train. I made several pictures of the train and the sun was just right for them. We were supposed to leave at 3:00, I think, but we didn’t. After a while I heard from someone that we had been stuck by a train on the Marrowbone track at Frisco: it couldn’t clear because it was stuck by a Norfolk Southern shifter. After a while they cleared that problem up but we then had to wait for the Yellow Dog South the, and as soon as it cleared the north end we were able to leave, and we were at least an hour late, I think.

The northbound trip was a beautiful ride – as long as the light lasted, but all too soon it got dark, and I think it was around St. Paul that it got too dark to look out. I had hoped to sit with Ron and looked for him, but I never did see him and Lloyd said he hadn’t seen him either. Then it occurred to Lloyd later that Ron was probably up in the engine, and indeed that was so.

I talked mainly with Everett Allen, R. C. Edwards and Gene Ryan. This Gene Ryan is a man who has been on the railroad for over 30 years. He started out as a trackman, and so he knew the railroad well from one end to the other. I think he now is a cook on a part-time basis, and I don’t know what else the rest of the time. He was Mr. Moore’s cook and evidently thought well of by him and his family; when he died, Mrs. Moore called Gene that day to tell him about it. I thought Gene had a keen mind and I enjoyed talking to him. He lives in Johnson City and I remember at least once when a passenger movement I was on stopped at Johnson City to let him off.

At some point on the trip I went back to the dome car and it was there that I found out that it was Rick Abraham’s car. He wasn’t on the car, but I found out all about it from his car attendant, Jimmy Eaton, who is a resident of Switzer. This car had a bar and Jimmy was dispensing drinks to all comers. As we got farther up the road, the conversation noise level went up some, but no one seemed to take on so much that they got ugly.

David Hill started calling Shelby Yard not far north of Elkhorn, but he didn’t get any response until we got close. I don’t remember the time of our arrival, but it wasn’t bad – David made up much of our lost time. Everett Young was there to get me and he also got Ron. The idea was to have a slide showing for Ron’s benefit, but we spent quite some time in a tour of Pikeville, with Everett showing us the sights –mostly a matter of looking at that huge public works project, now finished, of the river relocation.

November 18, Saturday – Southbound to Kingsport and Erwin

I didn’t have any trouble getting up –I didn’t sleep at all well. I heard some train crew right there in front of the house. They spent some time moving around and I could hear the slack running in and out several times. Everett later said they probably were cutting three crossings. The cars were still there when we left. We didn’t get away from the house as early as we had planned to, and so when we got to the train at Shelby, everybody else was already on board.

After getting on board I first rode in the galley of the West Virginia, talking to Bill Howes and Ron Flanary, mostly, and occasionally looking out a small window. I wish now I had gone somewhere next to a window so I could have seen the scenery; this was entirely new trackage for me from Shelby to Elkhorn. The weather wasn’t so good: cold and overcast. For quite a while I made no effort to go to the rear of the West Virginia where all the work was going on. In fact, I didn’t have any great desire to do any work at all, but it evidently is customary for all riders to take a turn at it. Raymond Galyon recruited me and Jim Magill of the Watauga Valley chapter, so I didn’t have to volunteer after all.

First I spent five to ten minutes flattening cardboard boxes and then I heaved full and empty crates of favors around. Then I graduated to the platform and it fell my lot to distribute writing tablets which Mead had donated. For the few minutes I was on this job we were somewhere around Delano, I think, and occasionally running along pretty fast. When I would toss the tablets down on the track they probably were much damaged. I wasn’t long on this job until I was relieved by someone else and I went forward to the Watauga Valley diner, where I got my breakfast, a jelly biscuit. This was around mid- morning and the sun had come out by this time.

At St. Paul there was a lengthy stop and a big crowd. Everett had asked if he could ride in the engine and they let him go from Elkhorn to Fremont, I think. Lloyd had promised me a ride, too, but I decided not to: it would have been interesting, but not a new experience, and I thought I could get along without it. From around Dante to Kingsport I rode where I could look out, and it was most enjoyable: I was in the dome car, which, strangely, wasn’t filled up.

It was a great ride down the river to Miller Yard because the steep valley is so rugged and not easily accessible. The train schedule is generous for the last several miles, so we crept in at a snail’s pace and still got to Kingsport a little ahead of time at 2:58. In a few minutes most people got off and some Brownies with their leaders got on. At 3:17 we left Kingsport. I had gone back up to the dome car, which was deserted, and happily watched the scenery roll by. We met a northbound grain train at Boone that was so long he was hanging out on the south end. I had my radio with me for this part of the trip, and it helped me keep up with events; it did a good job of receiving there in the dome car.

After a while Everett and Jason joined me. They had hoped to ride on the engine again, but Scott disallowed it. I asked Scott how the trip had gone and he said it had been all right except for an incident while we were stopped at Fremont. At Erwin we spent a few minutes taking final pictures of the train and then headed back to Kingsport. The trip had certainly been an unqualified success and if I ever get to go again, I know it couldn’t possibly measure up to this one.

Clinchfield.org Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Clinchfield Railroad. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Clinchfield.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.

• Associations: Carolina Clinchfield Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society, George L. Carter Railroad Historical Society, Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society
• Personal maps, timetables, track charts, and memorabilia
• Archives of Appalachia – ETSU, Johnson City TN
• Books – Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway,’ Drury: ‘The Historical Guide to North American Railroads’, Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’, Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’, Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields’, Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’, King: ‘Clinchfield Country’, Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’, Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’, Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’, Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’, Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’, Wolfe: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘ and ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division,’ and Young: ‘Appalachian Coal Mines and Railroads in Color.’ Volume 1: Kentucky, Volume 2: Virginia
• Magazines – ‘Trains‘ , ‘Classic Trains‘
• Newspaper Articles – Newspapers.com
• Online Article – Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘, Classic Trains: ‘Remembering the Clinchfield Railroad‘, Railway Age: ‘This Coal Road Is Also A Speedy Bridge Line,’ Sept 1, 1952 edition, ‘Railway Signaling and Communications‘, Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘, Flanary: ‘Men Against Mountains, Running Trains on the Clinchfield‘ October 2001
• Online Videos – Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1, Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
• Websites – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads, Johnson’s Depot hosted by StateOfFranklin.net, RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin, The Radio Reference Wiki, SteamLocomotive.com, VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia, Multimodalways.org

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org