Western Railroad Discussion > SP Tunnel Motors in their Glory Days

Here are some shots you might enjoy of SP's tunnel motors--originally called "T-2s"--when they were young and beautiful. When they first came out, they were so numerous in California that we got sick and tired of seeing them. But now these pix are quite a contrast to the way they looked after being "lobotmoized" following the failed SPSF merger.

First shot: SP T-2s and 45s at Roseville, 1973.

--Steve Schmollinger

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Sorry, here's the shot of T-2s and 45s at Roseville. First one is of SD40T-2 8300 at tunnel 2, Tehach, March 1975.

--Schmo

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Here's a pic of SP 8300 when she was fresh from the showroom floor. Woodford, August 1974.

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A 45T-2 and other EMDs as swing helper, Towle, Donner Pass, eastbound, July 1974.

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Still-new SD45T-2 9332 westbound at Prosser Creek along the Truckee River, east of Truckee, summer 1973.

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Brand-new 40T-2s at West Colton, summer 1974.

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T-2 9176 leading a westbound at Antelope, 1972.

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A lone T-2 on a westbound at the WP crossing (El Pinal) in Stockton, 1972.

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Snoots leading a BRLAT at Cable, August 1974.

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40T-2 8284 leading a Kaiser Steel train up the eastern slope of Beaumont Hill, October 1982.

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wonder if "steamjocky" and "sploopconductor" would agree that the head brakeman on that ore train is none other than
Toby Irving and that the engineer is Ty Gaul. I believe both are still working but close to retirement...

AM

Cotton Belt T-2 9298 leading a westbound under the eastbound main at Rocklin, summer 1973.

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SD45R, not long after her shopping at SP's Sacramento Locomotive Works, leads a pair of 45T-2s at American, Donner Pass, eastbound, December 1982.

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I apologize. The third loco in the previous shot is a 40T-2. Here are a couple of 40T-2s eastbound between Stockton and Lodi, May 1983.

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Allen: As I saw that shot, that was my first guess... Toby, then I saw your post, and that confermed it!! And for Gaul, I'll place my money on your guess also.

Take Care, Stay Safe, Have Fun!

Larry (They both should be "counting days" to the end of their sentence!)

Thanks for all those memories.......i think you have just convinced me to go out and buy a slide scanner so i can share with other members my memories of California railroading action from those pre merger years......i have several thousand kodachrome slides i will have to sift through and post the best ones here one day soon...

LesWhite Wrote:
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> Thanks for all those memories.......i think you
> have just convinced me to go out and buy a slide
> scanner so i can share with other members my
> memories of California railroading action from
> those pre merger years......i have several
> thousand kodachrome slides i will have to sift
> through and post the best ones here one day
> soon...

Les,

I'm sure all of us would love to see your pix from those years. You could also have a camera store scan them for you.

T-2 leading eastbound at Cable.

--Steve Schmollinger

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I dunno Steve. They still looked pretty good after being "lobotmoized" in this 1986 shot in West Texas at Eagle's Nest Canyon. IMHO I think they didn't really decline until the D&RGW merger a couple of years later. Or at least that's the way it felt here in Texas. -- Keith Thompson

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locotrol Wrote:
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> I dunno Steve. They still looked pretty good after
> being "lobotmoized" in this 1986 shot in West
> Texas at Eagle's Nest Canyon. IMHO I think they
> didn't really decline until the D&RGW merger a
> couple of years later. Or at least that's the way
> it felt here in Texas. -- Keith Thompson

Keith,

Great shot there at Eagle's Nest! And you're right, from this distance, they still look good. Real good.

Speaking of the Grande, here's one of their T-2s leading a westbound at Mack, June 1989.

--Steve

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What a great post!

As I'm sure you guys can tell from my handle, these have been my favorite locomotives ever since seeing one for the first time at Mojave as a young boy (I'm in the Espeeboy era if that is an accurate way to describe it!). I missed the "L" windows and most of the "full light package days" but a tunnelmotor will always be a tunnelmotor! These engines were the Cab Forwards of their day and I'm glad that at least one is being preserved in Sacramento, hopefully it will eventually go next to the Cab Forward.

It's also great to see these engines find lives on new railroads (some rebuilt-I know) like the DMIR, KCS, BLE, RailAmerica, and WE. Hey, Larry Parsons loved his DRGW T-2's so much he went out and bought some of them again!!!!

Keep the Espee alive!

SPTunnelmotor