#pa-1

I figured that now is the best time to get into doing Santa Fe drawings. On top of that, this is also my first attempt at a drawing of one of my favorite diesels, the ALCO PA.

Reference Image: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ef5133fe97a1d249ac3fe6b/1593539889738-XTPKNHN9PN6KF7JAKZTL/ALCO_PA_59L_in_Service_May_15_1966_San_Diego_CROP.jpg

Preparations for Apollo Pad Abort Test 1 (PA-1), using Apollo Boilerplate (BP-06) spacecraft, and launch escape system on adapter ring in firing position at Apollo-Little Joe II launch area, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

Date: October-November 1963

"Apollo Boilerplate no. 6, destined for Pad Abort Test no. 1 (PA-1), quietly & unassumingly - albeit with a police escort - passing through the main gate of White Sands Missile Range."

Date: July 1963

NASA ID: S63-3047, S63-3035, S63-3034, S63-3091, link

The Apollo Boilerplate (BP-06) being prepared for Pad Abort Test 1 (PA-1) at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico. This was the first abort test of the Apollo spacecraft, launched on November 7, 1963.

“A test version of the Apollo moon capsule will be fired 5,000 feet into the air Thursday at the White Sands (New Mexico) missile range. The escape tower rockets will lift the capsule from the pad. After reaching the desired altitude, three parachutes will return the capsule to earth.

NASA Photo via AP Wirephoto”

Note: the clam-shell structure next to the vehicle to shelter it against the elements.

Date: 1963

Posted on Flickr by Mike Acs.

"An artist's rendering of a pad abort test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Quoting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): 'This Project Apollo Pad Abort test sequence shows the vehicle from launch escape motor ignition jettison motor ignition and launch escape tower release drogue parachute deployment main parachutes in reefed condition and main chutes fully inflated. The purpose of the Apollo Mission Pad Abort #1 is to determine the stability and operational characteristics of the Apollo escape configuration during a pad abort. This is the first phase of testing of hardware to land U.S. astronauts on the Moon.'"

Date: November 5, 1963

"Abo Canyon Odyssey"

ATSF ALCO PAs No. 63, 51, 59, and 64 lead train No. 1, the Westbound San Francisco Chief, through the scenic Abo Canyon. Prior to Amtrak's formation, the train made its last run on April 30th 1971 and Abo Canyon hasn't seen any passenger train since then.