The Testimony of J.C. White ...Patrolman

[Richard Smith]

The only thing interesting to me here is that the Secret Service had not stopped all rail traffic going over that bridge during the time of the motorcade.

A different time.  They also let the President ride in an open car on a preannounced route.  Live and learn. 

[Charles Collins]

The map insets show a dashed-line (representing the train) crossing southward over the bridge. The "first shot" I set at about Z160.

The middle inset (Altgens 07) was taken about two seconds before the Weigman film capture below.



The hypothetical train southbound progression would be about 30 feet further south in Wiegman than in Altgens 07. So such a train would not appear in Wiegman. The Paschall and Daniel films (below) are a bit late and not far enough south.



The film by Malcolm Couch began about 25 seconds after the head shot (or about 33 seconds after my ca.Z160 "first shot" on the top graphic). The clip showing the policeman with gun drawn and the south area of the bridge is some time later.

In this scenario, the freight might have not been between Officer White and the limousine by Z313, but the noise from it would largely be present, mixing in with and obscuring the last shot. Daniels heard three shots and Mel McIntire heard none.

One item that I noticed in the Paschall film is what appears to be D.V. Harkness on his three wheeler heading west just like he testified that he did. It’s somewhat surprising to me that he apparently did this so quickly. If I am interpreting the image correctly, the Queen Mary is just then approaching the shadow of the triple overpass. That couldn’t be but seconds after the last shot. We can see Harkness in the Hughes film walking in the direction of where the limousine would be close to the time of the first shot. That’s pretty impressive reaction time (under 22 seconds if I correctly interpreted the Bell frame that Jerry included the timing for) for a middle aged officer…

[Jerry Freeman]

Your "proof" is the McIntire photo, taken long after a train might have been between White and DP.

The photo shows the railroad cars that Mr Collins observed in the lead photo...you know this.
Face it. Freight trains moved very slowly on those particular tracks...esp a 'big long' one described by White.

Officer White might have been thinking about where he stopped running to when he realized something was wrong.

Where does it say that in his testimony...that  he "was running'...& 'realized something was wrong'?

A different time.  They also let the President ride in an open car on a preannounced route.  Live and learn. 

A bit late there for JFKPOTUS huh? ...to 'live and learn'.
Where anywhere did any Secret Service people ever admit that they failed in their duties that day? 

[Charles Collins]

The photo shows the railroad cars that Mr Collins observed in the lead photo...you know this.
Face it. Freight trains moved very slowly on those particular tracks...esp a 'big long' one described by White. Where does it say that in his testimony...that  he "was running'...& 'realized something was wrong'?
A bit late there for JFKPOTUS huh? ...to 'live and learn'.
Where anywhere did any Secret Service people ever admit that they failed in their duties that day?

Jerry based his graphic on a southbound train moving about 10-mph. That’s pretty slow for a train on a through track.

[Jerry Freeman]

Speculation aside...I have searched for other spectators, police, railroad workers ..around those tracks that would corroborate the passing of the freight train and location of White----such information is apparently non-existent.
The movement of a train overhead right at the time of the shots shoulda coulda woulda have grabbed someone else's memory.

Of course, the freight I placed on the map is hypothetical. 

Then why do it?

[Richard Smith]

A bit late there for JFKPOTUS huh? ...to 'live and learn'.
Where anywhere did any Secret Service people ever admit that they failed in their duties that day?

Maybe read some of Clint Hill's interviews and books.  Nevertheless, the president no longer rides in an open car on a preannounced route.  They learned many lessons that day.  The security flaws were obvious and exploited by Oswald.  It was a disaster waiting to happen and miraculous that it didn't happen before 11.22.63. 

[Charles Collins]

Speculation aside...I have searched for other spectators, police, railroad workers ..around those tracks that would corroborate the passing of the freight train and location of White----such information is apparently non-existent.
The movement of a train overhead right at the time of the shots shoulda coulda woulda have grabbed someone else's memory.Then why do it?

Bowers appears to confirm that White was there:



Mr. BALL. Did you see anyone standing on the triple underpass?
Mr. BOWERS. On the triple underpass, there were two policemen. One facing each direction, both east and west. There was one railroad employee, a signal man there with the Union Terminal Co., and two welders that worked for the Fort Worth Welding firm, and there was also a laborer’s assistant furnished by the railroad to these welders.
Mr. BALL. You saw those before the President came by, you saw those people? Mr. BOWERS. Yes; they were there before and after.
Mr. BALL. And were they standing on the triple underpass?
Mr. BOWERS. Yes; they were standing on top of it facing towards Houston
Street, all except, of course, the one policeman on the west side.

[Jerry Freeman]

Bowers appears to confirm that White was there:
Mr. BALL. Did you see anyone standing on the triple underpass?
Mr. BOWERS. On the triple underpass, there were two policemen.

And how many trains? OK White was on the far west side of the tracks where there was actually no reason to really stand lookout anyway.
Someone would need a 30 ft ladder to breach the tracks from the west.
The train ...does Bowers confirm the train? And he was in the control tower and should have known this huh?