On Sept. 21, 2000, the locomotive now resting behind the Santa Fe Depot, was moved by a housemoving company from a location near Gober Party House.

DAVID STONE | June 7, 2022

A crowd of onlookers stood in silence — wide eyed and mouths open. After all, it’s not every day you see a 200-ton locomotive roll down Avenue H.

On a route usually travelled by cars and trucks, Engine No. 5423 slowly made its way on Sept. 21, 2000, from a location by Gober Party House just off the intersection of South 31st and Avenue H, to its new home behind the Santa Fe Depot.

A truck and crew from A & D Housemoving in Georgetown, accompanied by a fleet of Temple police cars and city service trucks, hauled the train. City workers lifted streetlights and power lines out of the way so the enormous locomotive could pass through signalized intersections.

The engine faced backward as it made its way through town.

“What they did was, they uncoupled the tender from the locomotive and jacked them up, then they put rubber-wheeled trucks under them and pulled it,” said Craig Ordner, railroad expert for the Springer Archives Collection and Temple Railroad & Heritage Museum.

In addition to the locomotive, the tender, three cabooses, a boxcar and a sleeper car also were moved to the Santa Fe Depot.

The locomotive was moved off the truck and placed on a section of track, and other cars were lined up behind to create a full train.

A & D Housemoving charged the city $39,570 to move the trains.

Thirsty Third Thursday starts in July…officially

DAVID STONE | June 7, 2022

Get ready for Thirsty Third Thursday, a new monthly Downtown pub crawl that will begin July 21.

“The crawl will have a different theme and starting point every month,” said Samantha Shepherd, events coordinator for Corky’s and Tour Temple, and one of the pub crawl organizers. “We might extend the First Friday themes for Thirsty Third Thursday.”

“The first month, it will start at Corky’s,” she said. “We are still putting it together, but we think it's going to be well received.”

Prior to the crawl, participants will purchase drink tickets to each bar on that month’s crawl, and the tickets will include a specific time slot. That way, not everyone is trying to order drinks at the same bar at the same time.

“This way, everything is paid in advance,” Shepherd said. “You just go and have fun.”

Any restaurant, bar or night spot that would like to be part of Thirsty Third Thursday can contact Shepherd at Samantha@tourtemple.com.

“We’re looking for a new way to get people Downtown on a regular basis,” she said. “We have First Friday and monthly markets, but this gives us something on the third Thursday of each month.”

Free polysomnography tech training

Our Town Temple | June 7

Registration is now open for a free Polysomnography Technician course beginning June 20.

Temple College received a Texas Upskilling and Reskilling Grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The grant will enable Temple College to offer full scholarships to 30 students seeking Polysomnography Technician training.

The class will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through Aug. 17 in the Nursing Education Center on the Temple College campus.

Polysomnography technicians, also known as sleep technologists, perform overnight sleep assessments used to diagnose various sleep disorders.

This course will give students the knowledge and skills needed to become a sleep technologist. Topics covered include anatomy and physiology, sleep disorders, sleep medicine and polysomnographic technology.

Upon successful completion, graduates will be eligible for the Certified Polysomnographic Technician Certification Exam offered through the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists.

There is no charge for this course, but seats are limited. Anyone interested in attending should visit Temple College’s Polysomnography Technician website to begin the application process.

For more information, contact Nelva Rodriguez at 254-298-8625 or bce@templejc.edu.

Record prices causing gas pains

DAVID STONE | June 7, 2022

For the fifth consecutive day, Temple woke up to an all-time high for gas prices.

This morning the average price in Temple for a gallon of regular-grade unleaded fuel was $4.55. That’s nearly 3 cents more than yesterday and 35 cents more than last Tuesday morning. One year ago today the cost was $2.65.

Diesel didn’t set a new record but it remains above the $5 mark at $5.09. Today’s price of medium-grade unleaded is $4.85 and premium is $5.10.

Statewide, the average cost for regular unleaded also set a new high. Today’s $4.61 is 4 cents higher than yesterday and about 37 cents higher than a week ago. The average price of diesel today in Texas is $5.16.

The national average price for regular unleaded is $4.92.

According to Andrew Gross of AAA Texas, the cost of a barrel of oil is nearing $120, nearly double from last August, as increased oil demand outpaces the tight global supply.

Meanwhile, domestic gasoline demand rose last week in the wake of a robust Memorial Day weekend of travel. As a result, the national average for a gallon of gas surged 31 cents in one week.

“People are still fueling up, despite these high prices,” Gross said. “At some point, drivers may change their daily driving habits or lifestyle due to these high prices, but we are not there yet.” 

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today’s best bets

• Tipsey Tuesday at Corky’s. Guy’s night. 1/2 off Corky’s Cocktails.

• Lonesome Dove: The Photo Exhibit runs through June 25. The exhibit is a collection of black-and-white framed photos captured by the late Bill Wittliff, renowned photographer, writer, and co-executive producer of the popular Western mini-series.

• Clay with Marilyn at the Cultural Activities Center. Go to cacarts.org to sign up for her series of classes.

• Trivia Night at J. Kowboy Wine Bar.

• Tuesday Night Trivia Game at Scores Pizza in Belton at 7 p.m..  Lady Kay hosts a rousing and surprisingly competitive game.  

• Tai Chi at Sammons Community Center. 3 p.m. This ancient Chinese exercise and martial art promote vitality, balance, strength, and longevity. Using special breathing techniques and slow, precise physical movements, Tai Chi can help curtail arthritis, respiratory disease, and high blood pressure. Regular practice of this “Moving Meditation” also provides health benefits of stress reduction, mental alertness, and increased energy. This on-going course is adaptable for all levels of mobility. Led by Christopher Dow, who has practiced this and related Chi Kung exercise forms for 42 years. For more information, call 254.298.5403.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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On this day in 1979, Asa Earl Carter, part Indian, segregationist, politician, speechwriter, and novelist, died as a result of a fistfight in Abilene. Carter was born in Anniston, Alabama, in 1925. By the late 1950s he was in Birmingham, Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for the American States Rights Association and was a leader of the Alabama Council movement. Later he founded the North Alabama White Citizens Council. He was one of two writers said to be responsible for the words "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" uttered by Governor George Wallace. After an unsuccessful run against Wallace in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1970, Carter gave up politics and left Alabama. He adopted the pseudonym Bedford Forrest Carter and settled in Sweetwater, Texas, where he used the resources of the City-County Library to work on his first novel, Gone to Texas (1973). The highly successful film version starring Clint Eastwood is entitled The Outlaw Josey Wales(1976). Carter wrote three other books, including the purported autobiography The Education of Little Tree (1976), before his untimely death.