Robert P. Hinze presentation on Death Valley Scotty
Created Date
September 15th, 1959
Description
Contains the audio recording of a presentation by Robert P. Hinze, the last surviving member of Santa Fe train crews who handled the "Death Valley Scotty" Special on July 1905. Hinze begins by telling the well-known story of Scotty walking into the Santa Fe office in Los Angeles and offering to pay for a special fast train run to Chicago. He gives some background about Scotty, including how he ended up in Death Valley and how he hatched the plan for the train in a Harvey House in Bakersfield. Hinze then tells the story of the Coyote Special's journey from Los Angeles to Chicago, interspersed with jokes and interesting anecdotes.
Hinze did not start out as a crew member from Los Angeles, but arrived later in the run and worked the infamous steep and crooked segment over Raton Pass in New Mexico. He was chosen to be the fireman by the engineer that Santa Fe management assigned to the segment. Hinze explains the crews were not chosen because they were “daredevils”, but rather because they worked reliably and safely. Hinze tells how the train was run, including details about how and why engines were changed, how the train was kept on time, how an Interstate Commerce rule was broken, and details about his experience in his locomotive.
Item or Container Annotations
Written on tape case: Talk given before So. Calif. Chapter of Railway & Locomotive Historical Society at Los Angeles on September 15, 1959 by Robert P. Hinze, last surviving member of Santa Fe train crews who handled "Death Valley Scotty" Special in July 1905. Recorded by Stan Kistler and donated to California State Railroad Museum on Nov. 5, 1979.
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