The first thing you'll notice is a new "Arkansas Railroad Museum" sign mounted near the roof over the door on the north end of the building. The sign features the CBRHS logo and proclaims the museum "Home of the 819."

As you get closer, you will notice that the exterior doors (both overhead and entrance) have been painted on the north and west sides of the museum, as well as the window frames. You'll also see the start of a landscaping project (featuring railroad ties, of course) between the building and parking areas. Also, additional cleaning has been done around the building to improve its appearance.

Once inside, you will immediately notice that a considerable amount of painting has been done. In addition to the window frames, the walls in the center display area and the museum depot now sport a distinctive two-tone green paint scheme. The displays on the paint and supply room walls have been improved and indirect lighting has been installed. Many new display cases have been acquired. The storage areas over the tool, paint and supply rooms have been surrounded by newly constructed privacy walls that offer a much neater appearance. Another storage area has been built in the northwest corner of the building, improving the view from the north entrance.

In addition to the painting and exterior enhancements, major lighting and heating improvements have been made. Lighting fixtures have been installed over the 336 and the northeast end of the building. All of the gas heaters in the museum have been vented outside. This project required running vent pipes either through the roof or the wall for each of the heaters. No small chore!

One thing you will surely notice is the semaphore that now stands proudly beside the museum depot. After creating a concrete base with mounting hardware, the semaphore was uprighted. The semaphore underscores the size of the museum building. Not only is the depot located INSIDE the museum building, the semaphore standing beside it is also INSIDE the museum building.

Food preparation and clean-up for membership meetings and other special events at the museum building will now be a little easier thanks to a new double kitchen sink complete with base and upper cabinets. This handsome addition to the museum building is located on the south end of the building.

State Senator Jay Bradford said he submitted a legislative proposal to Southern Pacific Railroad that he hopes will allow the Arkansas Railroad Museum's Engine 819 to hit the tracks again.

After making annual runs to the Tyler Rose Festival in Texas each October almost every year since 1988, the 819 steam locomotive was forced to cancel last year's trip because of an increase in the amount of insurance coverage required by Southern Pacific, which owns the tracks the train traveled on.

Bradford said Southern Pacific increased its insurance coverage from $10 million to $200 million.

Robert McClanahan, then president of the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society, which maintains and operates Engine 819 and the Arkansas Railroad Museum, said the all-volunteer group could not come up with the money to pay for the additional insurance coverage and therefore had to cancel the trip.

Bradford, who is founder and chief executive officer of First Arkansas Insurance, said he sent Southern Pacific's legal department a copy of legislation that would make the railroad liable only for accidents that exceed $10 million and are a result of a railroad problem and not the operation of the train.

For instance, Bradford said a railroad crossing light could fail to operate which might cause an accident. In such a case, he said the railroad, not the train, would be at fault because of malfunctioning railroad crossing equipment.

Under his present proposal, however, Bradford said the train's insurance would cover the first $10 million for any damages awarded in such a case, while the railroad would be responsible for anything above that.

Bradford said Southern Pacific officials had been cooperative on the matter and he was optimistic about this latest proposal. "I feel like the railroad will cooperate," he predicted.

An earlier bill submitted by Bradford would have prevented the railroad from being held liable for any damages. However, while that bill was in committee, he said trail lawyers pointed out that such an exemption would be giving away people's rights to collect for damages, even if the railroad were at fault.

"It's that third person we have to protect; that guy in the car," Bradford said.

Meanwhile, McClanahan said he hoped something could be worked out so the 819 could start running again.

McClanahan said when the train is running, donations and volunteerism at the Arkansas Railroad Museum are stronger than when the train is idle. "When we run trips, we get all kinds of help. Whenever we don't, we get maybe a handful of workers (to come to the museum to help)," he said.

Bradford and Steve Arrison, director of the Pine Bluff Convention and Visitors Bureau, said they wanted to see Engine 819 running again as well.

"It means a lot to tourism in our area," Bradford said, noting that the train not only brings visitors to Pine Bluff, but to Fordyce and other communities along the Tyler route as well.

Arrison said they have included the 819 and the Arkansas Railroad Museum as one of the primary focal points for convention and visitor advertising about Pine Bluff. He said the museum and train rank among the top attractions for this area. (Britt Talent in the Pine Bluff Commercial, February 28, 1995)

When comedian Jimmy Durante mumbled something about "getting them red blood corpsuckles a moving," he was surely thinking about that first early morning wake-up cup of coffee. This comes to mind at 4:37 a.m. as I stare bleary-eyed into the last half of a cup of that dark but invigorating liquid. The first half cup seems to have one eye more or less awake. Here's hoping the bottom half can waken the other eye.

Only the Lord knows why an old codger who has been retired more than ten years after more than forty on the railroad has to arise around 4 a.m. daily. My wife says my biological clock - whatever that is - has been upset by working so many nights on third trick. She may be right.

As I thought on the wake-up effect coffee has for so many thousands (yea, Millions!) of us, I tried to remember: In all those years up and down the railroad, just where did I get that really worst cup of coffee?

Note that I don't mention where I found the best cup of coffee. A really fine cup of coffee is found so seldom that I can't even consider it. Anyone who has traveled at all knows what his chances are of just stopping willy-nilly at a roadside cafe or truck stop and getting a really good cup of coffee. His chances are somewhat the same as his winning the grand prize in the Reader's Digest Grand Prize Sweepstakes.

I don't want to say it was in Louisiana. If you worked on the Cotton Belt's Shreveport Branch you did of course get a taste of their Cajun coffee, or whatever they choose to call it. But as the coffee down there was so different I don't think I should even consider it in the worst cup category.

Frankly, I rather liked the stuff myself, though most of my fellow rails had a somewhat different attitude about it. Their comments for the most part were what one would call negative, to say the least.

Coming up the line a ways I can remember a little cafe at Stamps, run by a French lady who must have immigrated up from Louisiana. In her effort to get away from the Cajun coffee influence she had gone sharply in the other direction.

For instance, when one of the locals came in for a cup, he didn't just flop down on the stool and say "Give me a cup of coffee." No sir. I'd usually hear something like, "Cut me off a cup of that stuff," or "Just coil me a bit of that rope into a cup, please!"

And I can still remember this lady's comment when she dropped and broke one of the dishes. "Just like a bull in a china shop! What I don't break I sh.. on."

Now I was used to rough language from my fellow rails, but I can remember my mild shock at hearing this come from a lady. The ladies I had been around just didn't say things like that in public.

Going farther up the railroad there was Jonesboro, where a true railroad beanery was to be found in the Coffee Cup Cafe. Close to the tracks? If it had not been for the plate glass window a customer could have sat in a booth and thrown the switch leading to the Team and Lizzie tracks.

As this was a freight terminal with crews arriving and departing twenty-four hours per day, the Coffee Cup never closed its doors. As there were three shifts of the short-order cooks on duty the quality of the coffee might vary from shift to shift.

I recall once about 3 a.m. when I was more dead than alive, I thought I'd ask the train dispatcher if I could be out ten minutes for a cup. Not having the energy to even reach for the telephone headset, I just opened the telegraph key and pecked out, "DA JN STUD." Of course he knew that stud meant coffee, so he flicked back a couple dots in agreement.

Entering the Coffee Cup I saw that there were a half dozen of my fellow rails in there, along with three winos and four or five college boys. I could tell immediately which was which. And no, I'm not hinting that my fellow railroaders looked the dumbest.

I fell onto one of the bar stools and ordered me a cup of that stuff. Now the short-order cook that was on duty was one of the best I have ever seen. She could handle a dozen orders at one time without a mix up. She also knew what each customer owed when he started to leave. The college boys had a rough time making it out the front door without paying when she was on duty.

A rather portly young woman, she was. In fact many of the rails had dubbed her "Wide Load," but not where she could hear them.

I took a tentative sip of the coffee, made a face and commented to a fellow on the adjoining stool, "Man, this sure is lousy tasting coffee!"

Wide Load's hearing was as good as her counter-hopping abilities, so she heard my comment. She immediately let me know in no uncertain terms that by the blankety-blank if I didn't like the coffee I didn't have to drink it. Moreover, they could get along just fine without my business and I could just crawl back to the telegraph office and listen to those dots and dashes until I went the rest of the way nuts. She may have even commented on my ancestry.

But I saw the light. With tucked tail I slinked back to the telegraph office, chastened and much wiser.

The next freight terminal with its all-night beaneries was at Illmo. Here, across the street from the rip track, was Lohssee's Saloon. In spite of Rule G in the railroad's Code of Operating Rules which prohibited the use of intoxicants or frequenting places where they were sold, I had the solid idea that some of the rip track laborers, when repairing cars, would slip across the street for an eye-opener at Lohssee's.

Some half mile farther up the track and across the street from the roundhouse was the usual railroad beanery. Now I sampled the coffee at this beanery several times and I was made to wonder: Just which could be worse on the employee's physical condition, the eye-opener from Lohssee's or a cup of the stuff from the beanery which they sold as coffee?

It made me think that perhaps the railroad should incorporate a new rule into their book of rules. Perhaps call the new rule Rule BC, for Bad Coffee. And make it an offense to drink it.

Then there was The Corner Cafe in Paragould. As its name implies it was located on a corner, the corner just back of the telegraph office and passenger station.

My first sample of this brew from The Corner Cafe came one night in '49. Once again, in trying to stay awake, I asked out for a cup. The looks and smell of the stuff made me a little dubious, so I sipped a couple spoonfuls for a test. That was enough. I beat it back to the telegraph office and for the rest of the night I had the strangest and most unexplainable feeling you can imagine. If I had known about heart attacks at the time I believe I would have called the doctor.

But I acted brave and didn't give up. A week or so later I tried it again. After all, it must have been a fluke. No restaurant could consistently put out coffee that was that bad. But I was wrong. Bad wrong. The same thing happened again, and after only a couple spoonfuls. The rest of the night was a real misery.

Some of the Missouri Pacific railroaders roomed over The Corner Cafe and it was surely good news to them when later in the same year, 1949, the Daughetee twins, Bessie and Dessie, purchased the cafe. After some hard work cleaning the place up, it blossomed into a real nice eatery. I know, for I tried it several times over the next ten years that the Daughetee ladies ran the place. A clean place to eat with highly improved coffee.

Now I know this won't rival the Oscars at the Academy Awards Ceremony. A few old rails and myself are probably the only ones who ever gave it a second thought. But for my money, The Cracked Cup Award for The Worst Cup of Coffee on the Cotton Belt Railroad would go to The Corner Cafe in Paragould, Arkansas.

Do I hear a great cheer going up, or do I just imagine it? (Editor's Note: CBRHS member L. T. "Hoot" Gipson lives in Jonesboro, AR)

Southern Pacific Rail Corporation has named Jerry R. Davis as president, chief executive officer and a director of the company, and chairman and CEO of the rail operating subsidiaries.. Davis has been executive vice president and chief operating officer of CSX Transportation Company and previously was with Union Pacific.

"Jerry Davis has been a major contributor at both the CSX and UP and we are delighted to have someone of his extensive experience and track record joining Southern Pacific," said SPRC Chairman Phil Anschutz.

"I committed to stay until we found an able successor," said outgoing CEO Edward L. Moyers, "and I am delighted to hand over the reins to Mr. Davis now, and do what my doctor has requested. Jerry is an obvious choice for SP at this time and I forecast a good future for the company under his guidance."

Moyers came to SP in July, 1993, after having retired as chairman of Illinois Central, with the intention of remaining for three years. He recently advised the company that, on doctor's orders, he had to curtail his activities.

Davis, 56, started his railroad career in 1957 as a student telegrapher at the Union Pacific. He advanced through a variety of jobs, including trainmaster and general superintendent, and was named executive vice president of operations in 1986. Davis joined CSX in 1989.

"Southern Pacific has a tremendous franchise," said Davis, who will have offices at the San Francisco corporate headquarters and in Denver. "I have admired the progress and improvements of this railroad over the past five years and am pleased to join the management group and to have the opportunity to add my efforts and my experience to the skills of this team." (Southern Pacific Update)

Just because the 819 didn't make a trip during the past year doesn't mean that the 4-8-4 can skip the annual FRA inspections. On January 7 volunteers prepared the locomotive for the annual boiler inspection by the FRA. Wash out plugs were removed and the steam dome cover lifted. Since the engine had not been anywhere since the last inspection, the boiler wash and smokebox cleaning chores were a breeze for a change, although removal of the "belly plugs" still took some effort.

Following a successful FRA inspection and flue extension, the hydro test was conducted with no problems detected. Its back together again. Hopefully for some running.

On Saturday, March 11, 1995, twenty-four members and their guests of the Tyler Tap Chapter made a trip to Pine Bluff for the quarterly membership meeting of the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society.

The group got an early start, leaving Tyler at 7 a.m. We stopped in Malvern for lunch, then proceeded on to Pine Bluff arriving at 1 p.m. Our first stop was the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Historical Museum located in the old Union Station Depot. Our thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Lynn Gaines for the tour. Three trains came by during our tour, and we could hear the whistle of 819 down the track. We left the depot about 2 p.m. for the Arkansas Railroad Museum.

Engine 819 was steamed up and greeted us when we arrived at the railroad museum. Everyone got to blow the whistle and had their picture taken while sitting in the engineer's seat. The group also toured the passenger cars and looked at various museum displays. Then, it was time for some serious eating.

We really enjoyed the chili supper and all the sweets, and the fellowship of everyone. Thanks to Jack Stone and his crew for steaming up the engine. It was great! Also thanks to all the ladies for the supper. It was a great evening. We left Pine Bluff at 7 p.m. for the return trip home arriving in Tyler at midnight. (Gerald Cooper, President, CBRHS Tyler Tap Chapter)

Today local railroad stations are ancient history. I closed one of the last branch line agencies at DeWitt, Arkansas back in 1973.

One of the most impossible jobs on any railroad was that of being a "Big Agent." You had to satisfy the public, the management and the choking over-regulation of the Interstate Commerce Commission. When, acting as an agent, you remit hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to the railroad treasurer at Tyler, Texas you realize that it wasn't the railroad that was actually paying your salary, but your clientele. It didn't take me long to realize that, and thenceforth I always favored my clients.

As an agent, among many other responsibilities, you handled mail, baggage and express. Among the express shipments would be coon dogs. There were lots of coon hunters in the area surrounding Stuttgart, Arkansas. The agent would mail a postal notice to the consignee somewhere out in the boondocks, and wait patiently for him to show up. Meantime the poor dog had to be fed and watered in his cage. On one occasion the wait was protracted and the sympathetic agent took the coon dog out for some exercise. The dog broke loose, outdistancing the frantic agent, and disappeared. The dilemma was solved when the agent caught the first stray dog to pass, and installed him in the cage. The agent never heard further, but he often wondered how good a coon dog that stray turned out to be.

I was once the Big Agent at Caruthersville, Missouri, at the time a depressed area where welfare was the biggest industry. I handled three trailerloads of less-than-carload merchandise daily. One trailerload arrived from Memphis at 5 a.m. each morning, and the other two trailerloads were outbound from Chris-Craft Corporation each day, boats and boat kits moving all over the world.

One of my clients was a blind man with a large family. He'd receive mop materials from Memphis, which would always be COD amounting to $35. Jimmy never had $35, but I'd have the drayman deliver his shipment nevertheless. As he explained, he would never have $35 until he made his mops and sold them.

I had bid in Caruthersville when the previous agent had checked short and been terminated. To avoid that I always kept a $20 bill in the back of my station record, as one never knew when the railroad auditor would walk in. He showed up unexpected one day and I had to pay Jimmy's $35, which, of course, I collected after Jimmy sold his mops.

ICC Regulations required the agent to collect freight charges within 24 hours, unless a special release extended the time to 48 hours credit. At Caruthersville we were competing with the Frisco Railroad, which had arrived there much earlier. I had one client who once a month received a carload of western pine lumber and the freight charges were $1,000. He always arranged to get the lumber to Caruthersville just after the first of the month. I'd trace him for payment, and finally succeed just before the END of the month, and even then he'd request that I be sure to mail the check to Tyler, Texas which would give him additional time.

H. F. Becker, Treasurer at Tyler, called me long distance and threatened to pull me out of service. I told him that ANY business was better than NO business, and that rules and regulations were no substitute for REVENUE, and ended the conversation by slamming the receiver down.

I could write a book as thick as a Sears Catalogue covering my 25 years as a "Big Agent." At the same time I'd say that anybody who would choose to be a Railroad Agent back then would have to be crazy!

Down by the newly revitalized riverfront area in downtown Nashville, Tennessee is the Broadway Dinner Train. The train is located at the Riverfront Depot at First and Broadway in Riverfront Park. The depot is adjacent to the river dock where river taxis provide transportation to and from Opryland. Within walking distance you'll find the Ryman Auditorium (Carnegie Hall of the South), the old Union Station (now a first-rate hotel with the deteriorating train shed still attached), the Tennessee State Capitol, and other downtown attractions such as Printer's Alley and the Wildhorse Saloon.

The dinner train departs the Riverfront Depot at 7 p.m. each Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The 35 mile rail journey lasts two hours and thirty minutes and includes a four-course dinner, musical entertainment and dancing in the lounge cars. Tickets are priced at $42.95 per person. Reservations are required.

In addition to the beautifully restored E-Unit at the head end, the consist includes the following passenger equipment:

Car 504 This car was built by Pullman Standard in 1950 for the Santa Fe Railroad. Numbered 504, and one of six sister cars, it served on the Super Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles until 1971, when it was purchased by Amtrak. Renumbered 9354, it was used on all the East-West trains out of Chicago. It was retired in 1977 and sold to a private owner. The Broadway acquired the car in March, 1987, and after 18 months of refurbishing, it was placed in service on December 2, 1988.

Car 245 This car was built by Pullman Standard in 1946 for the Seaboard Railroad as a 54 seat chair car, number 245. It served on the East coast trains such as The Silver Meteor between New York and Miami. It was purchased by Amtrak in 1971, assigned the number 5467. It was used mostly East of the Mississippi River on several trains, in particular, the Floridian that ran through Nashville. It was retired in 1975 and sold to a private owner. The Broadway acquired the car in May, 1987, and brought it to Nashville from Bellevue, Ohio. After 18 months of refurbishing, it was given the original number, 245, and put in service December 2, 1988.

Car 1493 This car was built by the Budd Company in 1942 for the Santa Fe Railroad as a 36 seat diner car. Numbered 1493, it was assigned to the Super Chief and El Capitan, trains that ran between Chicago and Los Angeles. It was purchased by Amtrak in 1971, converted to a 48 seat car, renumbered 8038 and used system wide. It was retired in 1978 and sold to a private owner. The Broadway bought the car in March 1987 and brought it to Nashville from Chicago. After 18 months of refurbishing, it was placed in service December 2, 1988.

Car 1494 This car was built by the Budd Company in 1942 for the Santa Fe Railroad as a 36 seat diner numbered 1494. It was assigned to the Super Chief and El Capitan, trains that ran between Chicago and Los Angeles. It was purchased by Amtrak in 1971, converted to a 48 seat car, renumbered 8039, and used system wide. It was retired in 1976 and sold to a private owner. The Broadway bought the car in May, 1987 and brought it to Nashville from Los Angeles.

Even if you are unable to ride the Broadway Dinner Train you should visit the souvenir shop located in the Depot. You'll even find past issues of Trains magazine and other railfan delights. For reservations and departure times, call 1-800-274-8010 or write to: The Broadway Dinner Train, 108 First Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37201. (Editor's Note: Passenger car history courtesy of Barbara Hutton of the Broadway Dinner Train)

Collisions at grade crossings on SP's 15,000 mile system increased last year, as did resulting deaths and injuries. Safety department statistics show 399 collisions during 1994, with 49 deaths and 173 injuries. In 1993, there were 346 collisions, 145 injuries and 48 deaths.

The figures point up the importance of SP's current campaign, in cooperation with federal and state authorities, to close unneeded crossings, noted Jim Johnson, Operation Lifesaver Coordinator. "That campaign succeeded in closing almost 100 crossings last year and the goal for this year is another 100," he said.

Nationally, the Federal Railroad Administration reported an increase in the number of collisions and injuries for the first nine months of 1994, the latest data available, but a decline in deaths. The figures for that period, versus the same period in 1993, were: collisions, 3,699 and 3,544; injuries, 1,471 and 1,292; deaths, 437 and 448. (Southern Pacific Update)

The nation's freight car fleet increased last year for the first time in 14 years, the Association of American Railroads reported. Railroads placed almost 49,000 new cars in service during 1994. After subtracting for retirement of old and obsolete cars, the fleet grew by almost 20,000 to more than 1,192,000, the first increase since 1980. (Southern Pacific Update)

Again this year, the Delta Queen steamboat will journey up the Arkansas River. The historic paddlewheeler is scheduled to stop in Pine Bluff on May 18, May 25, July 12, July 22, October 29 and November 6.

Delta Queen passengers will tour the Arkansas Railroad Museum as part of the scheduled activities while in Pine Bluff. All CBRHS members in the area are urged to come out and help greet the Delta Queen passengers and show them around the museum. Mark your calendar now and plan to join in the festivities as the Delta Queen returns to Pine Bluff this year.

A locomotive left idling for long periods contributes nothing to productivity, wastes fuel and sends unnecessary emissions into the atmosphere. In an attempt to assure the shutdown of units, when appropriate, SP is testing a device that shuts off the engine automatically.

The device, dubbed "Smart Start," is a microprocessor that's being tested on two locomotives in Los Angeles, an area highly sensitive to environmental matters, said Karl Schaeffer, Assistant General Manger - Transportation.

"The microprocessor monitors outside temperature and air pressure and other engine functions, and if the locomotive is not moved forward or backward within a certain period of time, the device shuts off the engine," Schaeffer said. If the temperature falls, "Smart Start" will restart the unit. Temperature is an important consideration because locomotives are harder to start in cold weather. (Southern Pacific Update)

Our first railroads were blessed with problems. Canal and river and stagecoach interests, together with attendant taverns and innkeepers and businessmen strongly opposed the coming of the early railroads and their competition. Attempts to charter new railroads failed, and laws were passed to prevent the entry of steam-driven vehicles into the community. Circulars and newspaper ads proclaimed "the dreadful casualties and outrage" a railroad would bring, urging mothers to "look out for your children."

On June 17, 1831, on the South Carolina Canal and Rail-Road Company, the fireman on the engine, the Best Friend of Charleston, tired of hearing the hiss from escaping steam, tied down the safety valve, and the engine boiler exploded. The fireman was killed, and on the next engine the safety valve was placed where only the engineer could reach it. Immediately behind the engine was a "buffer car" loaded with bales of cotton, to catch flying sparks from the engine.

On August 9, 1831, the first passenger train ran on the Mohawk and Hudson. The engine, named the Dewitt Clinton, weighing 3½ tons, pulled 5 or 6 coaches, which resembled stagecoaches mounted on flanged wheels. The coaches were loosely chained together, and starts and stops would unseat the passengers, even though fence posts were used between the cars to lessen impact.

Some of the earlier railroads used "snakehead rails," consisting of wooden planks, covered with strips of iron. On occasion these iron strips would curl, and protrude through the floor of the coach. The even earlier railroads used horse power, and experimentation was done using large wind sails as motive power. The human mind will try anything!

Before the acceptance of standard gauge, 4' 8½", early railroad gauges included various gauges, 2', 3', 4' 9", 4' 10", and the Erie Railroad was 6' gauge. Compromise cars which had extra wide wheel treads were interchanged between lines which had gauges between 4' 8½" and 4' 10", which resulted in some very serious wrecks.

On one memorable day the Texas and St. Louis Railway converted from 3' gauge to 4' 8½" gauge, October 18, 1886, 419 miles, extending from Bird's Point, Missouri to Texarkana, Arkansas. It was all done in 24 hours!

Back in March of last year I wrote a letter that was well received about how pleased I was to see #819 coming to Fordyce. Then on a railroad calendar, I saw a superb picture of her crossing the Saline River on an excursion with the caption to the effect that "This fine engine on one of its' infrequent runs..."

According to an article in the Vancouver, BC newspaper of January 6, 1995 entitled "All Aboard for an Extraordinary Train Ride," NRHS buffs in Canada have restored #3716 and she will roll across the Cascades and Rockies with a first-class passenger train. She also is starring in Kris Kristofferson's and Mickey Rooney's film up there, He Ain't Heavy. The treasurer wrote that the only reason that they could make this run was that the insurance was included in the contract price with BC Rail. They are excited, since steam fans will be coming as far as from England!

My question. Assuming that "safety," per se, is not a question with #819, that there are willing volunteers to maintain her and to run her on the excursions, that funding for fuel and water and incidentals is available, one would assume (from 2,000 miles away) that either Southern Pacific has opted "not to mess with #819" or that liability costs are crushing. Let's just assume it's "liability" and drop it at that.

I would wonder if some legal friend of CBRHS could do some "creative" work to have SP include #819 on their group insurance? Even if it meant pulling an SP VIP car or such? Failing that, we might think about another course of action. There is a difference between a symptom and a problem. While one might think about having the cities visited by #819 and her entourage pick up part of the costs (as do airshows for visiting planes), that really would not be a solution in that sense of the word if "liability" is the PROBLEM.

Let me propose a "solution." Recently, Senators Bob Dole and Nancy Kassebaum found that frivolous lawsuits had almost killed our small-plane industry. I was told that they got a bill through Congress that capped the liability on Cessna and Piper to a very reasonable sum, unless negligence - beyond a reasonable doubt - could be proved on the manufacturer. You soon will see the difference in their production schedules. Thus, I would recommend that someone on behalf of the NRHS go to our junior senator from Camden, David Pryor, a friend of the society and a man raised on the Cotton Belt. Ask him to seek relief for excursion trips for the entire society by placing a reasonable cap on liability. Rest assured that "tort reform" will be an issue in this new Congress.

Let me tell you why I feel so strongly about this. If we don't aggressively attempt to solve this problem, we are doing our friends and fans along the Blue Streak line a disservice, and especially those fine people who put #819 back in business. Last year, I watched three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses return to Boeing Field in Seattle, in perfect formation, and saw veterans of the Eighth Air Force stand in awe as those old bombers returned home. They eagerly pointed out their positions to their grandkids and wives. Some stood off to the side, just looking at the Fortresses, apparently thinking about those terrible days in 1943 and 1944. The Confederate Air Force and sister organizations have continued to operate those bombers successfully, and solved their liability problems. The NRHS needs to do the same, and quickly.

I wonder if #819 and the rolling stock are destined to sit in the museum and gather dust because of misguided liability questions? Would that not cause those fine people who supported this restoration to lose interest if #819 doesn't run? If I could return to Pine Bluff some day if the creeks don't rise and my ship comes in, I don't want to spend an afternoon brassoing a bell on a locomotive that no longer runs. Before I'd sit still for that, I would seriously suggest that the whole kit-and-kaboodle be transferred to a line that might appreciate a first-class restored "Northern." It is obvious what such a course would do to the museum, to Pine Bluff, and especially those hard-working people I someday hope to meet. That is not a viable solution; there has to be a better way.

It is obvious, in closing, that this old Fordyce boy views #819 as a national treasure. Ralph Stevens and P. B. Wooldridge would share my sentiments. She oughta be treated as such.

TYLER TAP CHAPTER VISITS PINE BLUFF - Members of the CBRHS Tyler Tap Chapter take time for this photo by 819 on Saturday, March 11. Front row (L to R): Winston Green, Mr. Locke, Ralph Potter, Harrold Little, Judy Cooper, Chris Martinez, Cindy Locke, Bud McKinney, Mary Jones, Ida Lowe, Bobbie Cooper, Pete Martinez. Back Row (L to R): Glen Williams, Bob Meyer, Roy Cooper, Joe Locke, Mary McKinney, Charles Neyman, Earl Jones, Gerald Cooper. Story on Page 5.