Watching the Trains Go By: A Narrative of a Santa Fe Railway Man

On January 4th, 1937, Harry J. Briscoe stepped off the Santa Fe train from Amarillo, onto the soil of Slaton, Texas, a division headquarters point in the southern Panhandle, to begin his first year of service in what was to become a 45 year career with the Santa Fe Railway.

Beginning work as stenographer then on to a transportation clerk, Briscoe worked a number of positions, from Assistant Train Master to Superintendent, before finishing his career at Topeka, Kansas, in 1982 as General Manager of the Eastern Lines.

During his career, he served the Santa Fe at such outposts as: Oklahoma City; Chicago; Amarillo, Texas; Waynoka, Oklahoma; La Junta, Colorado; Wellington, Kansas; Emporia, Kansas; and San Bernardino, California.

Along the way he encountered many interesting characters - from the track walkers on districts under his supervision, to legendary Santa Fe presidents like Fred Gurley and John Reed, movie stars like Errol Flynn, mid-western politicians and small-town newspapermen who went on to be national legends in themselves.

Briscoe relates stories about them all. Watching the Trains Go By is, then, an insiders look at the people, life and times of a great transportation system in an era when Ship and Travel by Rail meant Santa Fe All the Way.

Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, soft bound, 160 pages, 11 x 8.5 in., 196 illustrations, index. Publisher: Santa Fe Railway H&MS