Nostalgia & History > Last Run Of The SOC

The short-lived Spirit Of California. A train before its time was the Spirit Of California.which ran between Sacramento and LA as an overnight train on the Coast Line. The train had a baggage car, two or three Amfleet coaches, an Amcafe car and one to two Heritage Fleet sleepers.

F40PH 283 headed the final eastbound (compass south) run of the "SOC Train" on a rainy September 24, 1983.night, seen here at San Jose. Bringing up the rear was sleeper 2996 "Pine Hill," a former ATSF sleeper. (© KPR Media Services, all rights reserved)

Third photo shows SP SW1500 2609 getting ready to wyw the consist in Sacramento on October 22, 1981.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/14 11:51 by CrudPunko.

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That was a great little train, rode it quite a few times. Always had a berth, grabbed a bite and bedded down. Be nice if something similar ran again.

A good buddy and I rode that train LA to Sacramento and back. I seem to recall it was to participate in the 1982 Railfair II event at CSRM.

Great ride.

px320 Wrote:
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> A good buddy and I rode that train LA to
> Sacramento and back. I seem to recall it was to
> participate in the 1982 Railfair II event at
> CSRM.
>
> Great ride.

It was a great little train - poor marketing doomed it however. I also rode it once to LA from San Jose with roomette space, then another time rode it between Oakland and Sac, taking Train 5 back to Oakland. I do believe that the San Jose - Sacramento portion of the route laid the groundwork for the Capitol Corridor service some 8 years later.

I used to take this train up to Sacramento many times on my days off

Here it is arriving in LA

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I was with Greyhound in those days. I drove SLO to SJ one night, but they didn't have a southbound for me- so that meant "riding the cushions" back to SLO. @#$% THAT! The timing was just right- I rode the MedFly home instead!
Only time I ever rode it

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> I was with Greyhound in those days. I drove SLO
> to SJ one night, but they didn't have a southbound
> for me- so that meant "riding the cushions" back
> to SLO. @#$% THAT! The timing was just right- I
> rode the MedFly home instead!
> Only time I ever rode it

Used to ride it from Oxnard to meet up with the boys of B.A.F.A.T.S for some Altamont fun

Did this train get a lot of ridership?
or was it around long enough to generate much?


I kinda wonder how this train would look today. If it was still in service.

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

We called it "The Med Fly". You would work it from SLO to LA. Then around midnight the next day, you would work back to SLO on pool freight.

Nudge

For those who are not from So Cal. Here's the reason for the train being called the "Medfly."

During his first term as Governor, Jerry Brown was enveloped by a Mediterranean Fruit Fly infestation in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties. Citrus was still being produced in those areas and the infestation threated a huge export business. The growers wanted to spray Malathion from the outset to stop it in its tracks, but the Gov. and Enviros wouldn't allow that. As the infestation spread and traps and bait didn't work to the extent needed the Spirit of California was launched into service. This was the behest of the Gov. and his Transportation Secretary, Adriana Gianturco.

The train was almost immediately christened as the "Medfly."

I should add that all of Southern California was subjected to extensive Malathion spraying by crop dusting helicopters. Spraying was done at night so the cool, moist air would allow the mist to settle on everything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/14 13:59 by px320.

px320 Wrote:
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> For those who are not from So Cal. Here's the
> reason for the train being called the "Medfly."
>
> During his first term as Governor, Jerry Brown was
> enveloped by a Mediterranean Fruit Fly infestation
> in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties.
> Citrus was still being produced in those areas and
> the infestation threated a huge export business.
> The growers wanted to spray Malathion from the
> outset to stop it in its tracks, but the Gov. and
> Enviros wouldn't allow that. As the infestation
> spread and traps and bait didn't work to the
> extent needed the Spirit of California was
> launched into service. This was the behest of the
> Gov. and his Transportation Secretary, Adriana
> Gianturco.
>
> The train was almost immediately christened as the
> "Medfly."
>
> I should add that all of Southern California was
> subjected to extensive Malathion spraying by crop
> dusting helicopters. Spraying was done at night so
> the cool, moist air would allow the mist to settle
> on everything.

The Southland wasn't the only area affected by the Medfly infestation. So was the Santa Clara Valley and we too were showered in malathion by roaming helicopters. It was a messy time for cars to be parked outside.

I rode the train only once and enjoyed the experience of having a traditional roomette. I think that was the only time I had a roomette, although I had a slumber coach room a couple of times.

As I recall, there was a contest to name the train prior to its being put into service.

Here's the Spirit on its first northbound trip on a rainy day at Oakland 16th St. Station on October 28, 1981. It was nice while it lasted!

RL Cabin

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Operating crews that handled the Amtrak Spirit of California, were employed by the host railroad Southern Pacific and were based out of Oakland, San Luis Obispo and LA and worked between these terminals as well as Oakland-Sacramento.

CrudPunko Wrote:
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> px320 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > For those who are not from So Cal. Here's the
> > reason for the train being called the "Medfly."
> >
> > During his first term as Governor, Jerry Brown
> was
> > enveloped by a Mediterranean Fruit Fly
> infestation
> > in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties.
> > Citrus was still being produced in those areas
> and
> > the infestation threated a huge export business.
>
> > The growers wanted to spray Malathion from the
> > outset to stop it in its tracks, but the Gov.
> and
> > Enviros wouldn't allow that. As the
> infestation
> > spread and traps and bait didn't work to the
> > extent needed the Spirit of California was
> > launched into service. This was the behest of
> the
> > Gov. and his Transportation Secretary, Adriana
> > Gianturco.
> >
> > The train was almost immediately christened as
> the
> > "Medfly."
> >
> > I should add that all of Southern California
> was
> > subjected to extensive Malathion spraying by
> crop
> > dusting helicopters. Spraying was done at night
> so
> > the cool, moist air would allow the mist to
> settle
> > on everything.
>
> The Southland wasn't the only area affected by the
> Medfly infestation. So was the Santa Clara Valley
> and we too were showered in malathion by roaming
> helicopters. It was a messy time for cars to be
> parked outside.

We had the Med fly and malathion in Fremont also. My kids lost a pet rabbit from the spraying.
My wife and I took a round trip on the SOS in 1982. Drove to San Jose boarded the train there. We had a roomette. Of all the trips we had made to social either on the Starlight or the San Joaquin we enjoyed this SOS the most.
WKB

Posted from Android

you and your wife shared one roomette? cozy !

The_Chief_Way Wrote:
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> you and your wife shared one roomette? cozy !

Very cozy! The traditional roomette did not have an upper berth the way the Superliner rooms have. I guess when you're young and in love ...

What was the distance btw Sac and LA and how long did the train take to make the trip?

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> What was the distance btw Sac and LA and how long
> did the train take to make the trip?


Off the top of my head I can't give you a distance. But the train got into San Jose (from Sac) around 8 or 9PM IIRC, and you got to LA between 8-9 AM. But I'm guessing based on memory of trips I took - I don't have a timetable from that era so I can't be specific. Sorry.

Distance: 552 miles/889 kilometers

#15
Depart Sacramento: 7:55 pm
Arrive Los Angeles: 9:00 am

#18
Depart Los Angeles: 8:25 pm
Arrive Sacramento: 9:30 am

Source: The Museum of Railway Timetables, October 25, 1981 System Timetable

http://www.timetables.org/