Western Railroad Discussion > UP CA Coast Line Question

I was driving south on US 101 this afternoon and when I passed Camp Roberts, I noticed a couple of stacks of what appeared to be new railroad ties inside the compound. My question to the experts is this, Is there any current railroad activity on this base and what would that activity entail? Blasting by on the freeway, it didn't look like anything going on, but the new ties had me wondering. For those unfamiliar with the area, Camp Roberts is just north of San Miguel CA.

Mark

They ship and receive tracked vehicles by rail. The maintenance shops are at East Garrison.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/14 21:31 by PHall.

Are they still Bradley vehicles or something else? I watched Bradley field maneuvers at Roberts in the 80's.

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Camp Roberts slowed down with rail cars in the late 60s. Most of the cars they received were spotted over at East Garrison. Most of the time the east peddler would drop them in but a west peddler would pick up the mtys. If they really had to have the mty picked up, we would shove it over to No. 2 siding at McKay and kick it down to the east end, pick it up with the engine and go to SLO.

The last time I was in Camp Roberts was in 1969. We had a car to pick up way back by the balloon track. It was shortly after that when the SP took out the switch from No. 2 siding at McKay. It sat that way for years. Out of the blue one day I got a phone call asking me if I wanted the crossing device from Camp Roberts. It was a 1926 Griswold that had the stop sign that turned when activated along with a bell, flashing lights and spot lights on the signs. It turned out that a Cal-Trans employee had been arrested for stealing stuff and found with his booty, were 2 Griswold Xing signals. The SP was contacted and they didn't want anything to do with them because those signals had 10 V DC and 110 V AC in the same controller box, plus no parts.

I was given one, and I donated it and the wig-wag from Biddle Ranch Road in SLO, to the Southern Oregon Live Steamers at the Railroad Park in Medford, OR. Those Griswolds guarded Highway 101 when it was just a 2 lane road, no under or over passes. I remember them in the 50s when driving down to Goleta with my mother.


Nudge


Nudge

My Dad was stationed at Camp Roberts in 1941, met my Mom at a USO dance in Ventura on a weekend pass or I wouldn't be here!

mapboy

Thanks for the replies and stories. This is what makes TO the best. Mark