i was wondering if any of you know anything about the rail yards on Galveston Island Texas. the main thing i wanted to know was how they turned passenger trains on the island, or did they just move the power to the rear end of the train like on the Texas Limited they ran a few years back. i am in the process of planning a model railroad of the area and i hoped some of you real railroaders might be able to help me.
Alex-I may be able to help. My grandfather (Ralph Huddleston) was a clerk in the ATSF depot on the island. He would frequently take me to watch the “chief” (probably the “Chico”) come in. I believe I was around 10 (1965) when we finally took a ride on it to Temple, Tx. What I remember were A-B-B-A’s or similar with a run-around for the loco’s somewhat removed from the depot. That is, the train would have to back out a short distance to perform the run-around. FYI-MR magazine had an advertizement for yard blueprint archives. Some issue after 1997. Also, I seem to remember Galveston having a turntable in the steam era.