Pick-Up: Tales of the Texas Rangers (December 16, 1951)

“Pick-Up” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 16, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A man's body is found in a rocky ravine near Ralston, Texas, shot in the chest. Rangers Jason Pearson and Clay Morgan investigate and discover the victim is Carl Jessup, an oil field worker who disappeared after being paid his wages two nights earlier. The Rangers must determine whether Jessup fell from a passing freight train or was deliberately pushed to his death.

Stone Canyon and Ralston, Texas; oil fields and railroad tracks in a rural area near a ravine

Characters: Ranger Jason Pearson, Ranger Clay Morgan, Julio Ramirez, Hamlin, Carl Jessup, Whitey, Joe

Listen for: The Rangers piece together clues from a laundry mark and oil stains on the body to identify the victim and track his connection to the oil boom town of Ralston.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.