Photos from the Vault: More on pier railroad and astronaut visits to SLO County
One of the joys of writing this column is when readers are able to contribute additional information.
The Photos From the Vault column is largely based on the files of local newspapers. We primarily reference The Tribune and the newspapers it has merged with. The history column reflects the nature of daily journalism, often a snapshot in time.
I try to bring a wider perspective when possible, but sometimes all the information isn’t inside the silo that I’m sifting through.
Two readers offered more context on the story about the rusty railroad wheels found in the ocean below Harford Pier.
President and curator of the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum, Brad LaRose, said that Harford Pier suffered two fires during its life as a railroad terminus.
One fire was in December 1887, in which 11 cars were lost.
Another blaze hit in December 1915 that destroyed some rolling stock as well.
When a rusting truck (axel and wheels) were recovered in 1990, it was put on display at the San Luis Lighthouse and later at the Avila Valley Railway Museum located at the former Miles Station, Ontario Road and San Luis Creek.
Now the location is a parking lot for the Bob Jones Trail.
Circa-1994-95 efforts came together to create the railroad museum in San Luis Obispo and the items fit the collection were relocated.
Unfortunately, the truck had rusted from the salt water immersion and a scrap company came for what was left of the flaking steel.
I apologize because I misplaced the second writer’s name, the comment may have been via one of our social media posts.
He said that the harbor at one time used discarded railroad wheels as mooring anchors for boats in Port San Luis.
On another subject, the risk with list stories is the error of omission and that happened with a recent list of NASA astronauts who have visited the county.
Liz Wineman emailed to say that another astronaut, Rhea Seddon, has also visited the county.
Dr. Seddon was one of the first six women accepted by NASA in Astronaut Group 8 and a surgeon.
She conducted medical research during her three space shuttle flights about nausea and dizziness that affect astronauts and also calcium bone loss that had also been observed.
She visited Cal Poly with Robert “Hoot” Gibson in April 1980. She also gave a keynote speech at a Cal Poly women’s conference in September 1986.
Gibson and Seddon married in 1981, the first couple that have each flown in space.
Why didn’t she get more attention?
I’m guessing there were a few factors in play.
She had to counter sexism throughout her career. Here is one example from her biography “Go for Orbit.”.
When she did her surgical internship in Memphis, women were not permitted in the surgery doctor’s lounge so she had to wait between cases on a folding chair in the nurse’s bathroom.
She overcame these and other obstacles, like space suits that were made too large for her.
Another reason for the lack of focus on her accomplishments is that much of our storytelling focus and mythology usually centers on the pilots and not the crew members.
Hollywood’s two most famous space operas are an example.
In Star Trek’s many iterations, the Captain almost always gets top billing. The doctor is often the comic relief.
From Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy to The Doctor (yes that’s his name) on Star Trek: Voyager, they are usually brought when the script needs a detour.
In Star Wars, Luke’s mechanical hand is adjusted by a speechless robot doctor, a few zaps and no lines of dialogue.
We just don’t have that much attention span for science, apparently.
And for some reason, the late Apollo flights and Space Shuttle flights did not capture the imagination with the same fervor that the race to the moon did.
But I will be sure to add Dr. Seddon to my list of now six astronauts who have taken part in public events in San Luis Obispo County.
Thanks to the readers of Photos From the Vault for the assistance in making this a more complete record.
