A letter to the editor in
               The Sunday Oklahoman for September 14, 1997
  
  TO THE EDITOR:
  
          The statement concerning the railroad to Sapulpa--"if it
  were fixed up you could probably run 40 mph only because of all the
  curves"--is a laugh to this old railroader.  I traveled a quarter of
  a million miles on that track from 1946 to 1952 after being
  discharged from the Army.
  
          I was a railroad mail clerk on that Frisco line from Monett,
  Mo., to Oklahoma City.  Our average speed as 42 mph, including
  stops.  Our running speed was from 60 to 90 mph.
  
          On one occasion, the wheel flanges on the mail car rode the
  top of the rails for a distance on a marked 60 mph curve; we were
  doing 90 mph.
  
          I would be first in line for a ticket to ride an express at
  twice the speed referenced (40 mph).  Perhaps the spirit of
  nostalgia still carries a wandering echo of that lonesome whistle at
  a midnight moon and Porter Jack, the conductor, waving his lantern
  at the engineer and calling out "Board!"
  
                                          William G. Murphy, Bethany
  
            -----------[END LETTER TO THE EDITOR]-----------
  
  
Wes Leatherock                                                   
wes.leatherock@sandbox.telepath.com 
                                                       
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]
--- FLAME v1.1
---------------