Hey, yeah, its me.
The biggest surprise so far has been that via TRAINS, I was contacted by a retired ex-ATSF Passenger Service Representative, that confirmed my suspicions about how my father was treated. ATSF did regularly comp regular freight customers and recorded their shippers names so that if they did travel by rail it was for free. They stamped the tickets and billed them to the freight division, also so that all the on-board crewmembers knew what was going on. What I remember was getting on the Super Chief on the way back and my fathers amazement that we had TWO adjacent double bedrooms, one just for me. He got a little nervous that he had to pay for it and was told it was already paid for.
That was kind of worth it for me, I was right, that is actually what happened.
He did correct me on the one photo location - it was Albuquerque and a correction will be printed.
My father's lumber company was Endeavor Lumber in Endeavor, PA, shipping out of West Hickory on PC (abandoned on Conrail formation) with the destination being Vance Lumber in City of Industry, CA. The plant is still there and it is rail served although it has gone through two ownership changes. I did find it.
I still wish I could find the waiter's name or the copy of the letter I wrote to Amtrak. The guy was amazing. I've also been told that these table stunts with the silverware and presentation were SOP for Super Chief wait staff to increase their tips 'in the day'. Well, it sure worked for me. I'm pretty sure I tipped like 100%!
