Nostalgia & History > 3200 leads the "City of SF" near Pinole

The Westbound "City of San Francisco" winds along the shore of San Francisco Bay near Pinole. I took this sometime around 1967 as I got out of the service in May of that year.

Robert Morris Photography
http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/index1.html

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More like the fall of 1967 as PAs were still handling the train in the spring of 1967

SP 3200 is sporting a newer, larger plow than the one it was delivered with. Also running with engine numbers in the number boards.

Could be the last half of '67, absolutely. But it looks a little weathered for only a few months of service. And when were the plows swapped on the first few SDPs? Later deliveries came with the bigger plow, as I recall. But if so, where in the order of ten did the mod break, and when?

Oh, and nice pic, Bob!

~ BZ

Notch16 Wrote:
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> SP 3200 is sporting a newer, larger plow than the
> one it was delivered with. Also running with
> engine numbers in the number boards.
>
> Could be the last half of '67, absolutely. But it
> looks a little weathered for only a few months of
> service. And when were the plows swapped on the
> first few SDPs? Later deliveries came with the
> bigger plow, as I recall. But if so, where in the
> order of ten did the mod break, and when?
>
> Oh, and nice pic, Bob!
>
> ~ BZ

Bob, I personally think its Spring 1968 for the reason you stated

I notice Mr. Morris carefully said "around 1967" because he knows we circle like gnats.
:-)

I'm feelin' the '68 too...

BZ

The poles in the water appear to be communication lines, while the poles on the land side are for signals. I wonder why the Communication Department (possibly with Western Union) put the poles in water and not on land? Maintaining the line would require a boat (or one would assume). One advantage of poles in the water would be protection from brush fire, otherwise setting poles and pole replacement from wood rot would seem to be expensive.