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Union Pacific Trackside with Lou Schmitz Dust Jacket 1998 Morning Sun Books
Union Pacific Trackside with Lou Schmitz
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
Copyright 1998
Morning Sun Books
128 pages
Table of Contents:
Nebraska Division
Kansas Div
Wyoming Division
The Diesel age
MY ALMOST LIFE-LONG INTEREST IN RAILROADS undoubtedly stems from growing up in my grandmother's big old two-story house with a bedroom overlooking the C&NW's North Omaha to Irvington line just two empty lots and a road away. There were usually two daily freights that charged up the hill westward and their eastbound counterparts, plus an almost daily CSt.PM&O switch engine that served a couple of coal yards and Fort Omaha on this line. The fall grain rush brought out double headed extras. As I grew older and more adventuresome, I would occasionally walk along the tracks the two or three miles to the joint CSt.PM&O - C&NW engine terminal to inspect the engines at the 15 stall roundhouse and servicing facilities. The Omaha Road has been a special interest of mine ever since.
I received my first very basic camera for Christmas in 1939 when I was 13 years old. Appropriately, my first photo was of CSt.PM&O 0-6-0 No. 1 switching the local coal yard. Film was hard for me to come by in those times, so there were few photos taken of rather selected subjects. I was into "00" scale model railroading when in high school pursuing a drafting course, and during my last or so I worked evenings and nights for Railway Express at Omaha's Union Station. These were exciting times during World War II with many of the through passenger trains running in more than one section, although too late in the day for photos. The military was waiting for me as soon as I got out of high school and I was inducted for a tour of duty with the Army Infantry in Europe, leaving the camera safely at home.
Returning home after the war, I enrolled in a two year design and drafting course at the local university before obtaining a Junior Draftsman job in Union Pacific's Engineering Department in August 1947 doing mapwork. Two years later in an effort to better understand mapwork, I accepted an opportunity to become part of a field survey party when a terminal and line change were being developed at Hinkle, Oregon. This was strictly outdoor work in all kinds of weather. By the spring of 1951, this job was well on its way to completion, so some of us were relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming to begin preliminary surveys for a third line over Sherman Hill. This was closer to home with an occasional opportunity to get into Omaha on a Saturday we still worked Saturdays then) and harass the Chief Draftsman for a job back in the office. I had not intended to stay in the field when I left, By the time snow got knee deep on Sherman Hill that fall, I had a drafting job in the General Signal Engineer's Omaha office. This eventually lead back to the Map Department where I could use my field experience to advantage.
I did have a camera with me in Oregon and Wyoming, but being unaware of other rail photographers in these areas, I was not too knowledgeable or diligent in using it. I was still more interested in model railroading and joined a local "HO" gauge club after returning to Omaha. As it became more apparent that the steam locomotive was rapidly disappearing, I became award of and joined the Camerail Club of Omaha where I was exposed to other railfans and some of the finer points of rail photography. My first pretty basic 35mm camera for color slides was purchased in 1953 with rather mixed results that improved as I acquired better cameras. I do feel fortunate that I was able to record the last gasp of steam operation on both color and black and white film in the 1950s as my model railroading interests became secondary. It is still a pleasure to be trackside with a camera to record the passing scene, both at a terminal or along the line. All this has led to an ongoing interest in railroad history as well.
As the years passed in Union Pacific's Engineering Department, I advanced from Map Draftsman to become the Clearance Engineer starting in August 1969 and for the next some seven years, dealing with oversize shipments. This was an interesting assignment and as might be expected with moving traffic, there were busy times and more relaxed times when you could update your charts and records. It was during one of these less busy periods that Hinkle, Oregon again appeared. My desk was in the same area as the Terminal Planning group when the first retarder yard at Hinkle was being planned. On one of his occasional visits to the planning group, John Kenefick, President of the railroad, suggested that a model of the proposed yard be constructed and sent to Hinkle to help instruct yard personnel. Mr. Kenefick got the appropriate, "Yes, sir," although there was not a model railroader in the group. After watching the planning group struggle with this for a couple of weeks and all hut give up, 1 offered to design it for them on an available time basis and the knowledge of the Chief Engineer. This was readily accepted and in due time the plans were completed for the operating "N" scale layout to be constructed in a stripped dining car for easy transportation and display. The benchwork was installed at the Omaha shops with everything else completed at Council Bluffs by a group of model railroaders hired for the job. The layout was a success in all respects and was later modified for use at the new North Platte, Nebraska retarder yard. It was eventually removed from the car and donated to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. I never saw the layout again once it left Council Bluffs for Hinkle (see photo on page 101 of UP Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, Volume 2).
Continuing in the Engineering Department, I accepted a position of Design Engineer, Trackwork and Standards, producing and revising track-work drawings under Chief Engineer Bob Brown, known for maintaining some of the best trackwork in the country. My railroad career ended as Manager of Roadway and Track Standards in November 1986 with almost 40 years of service. My wife Barb and I are now enjoying our retirement pursuing our interest at a more leisurely pace.
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