Nostalgia & History > I remember Glendale, CA

Today I heard a song on Deep Tracks (xm Radio) called Glendale Train by New Riders of the Purple Sage and made me think the times I watched trains at Glendale, California

First was a trip to San Jose on the Coast Starlight with my future ex wife in February of 1974

Second is the Coast Starlight in 1977, That young man with the red pants is my son at 3 years old. Today my son is an active railfan living and working in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Now almost 40 years old)

Third is the ill fated Oxnard commuter in March of 1983 with GP-9 # 3834.

I have a couple more

Thanks for looking.....see you down the tracks


Jay

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More of Glendale

Fourth is another Oxnard Commuter in March of 1983

Fifth is the Metrolink era in 1998

And Sixth is a shot by Joe Schmitz of Huntington Park. Joe gave this to me many years ago as a 8x10
but never dated it. I think #90 was the Coast Mail ?

Thanks again for looking


Jay

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Thanks for posting your images. With even "consumer" programs like Adobe PhotoShop Elements, enhancing faded images is pretty easy. See attached a quickly fixed version of one of your images. All I did was perform, "Auto Color Correction." Nothing more.

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Jay, thanks for sharing your Glendale memories. Mine go back to the early 50’s when my maternal grandmother would arrive and depart on the “Coast Daylight” whenever visiting from her home in Santa Barbara; we even have a few old 8mm home movie shots of those steam-powered Daylights.

Glendale was also the station of choice when traveling north to the farm in Montana or Seattle with my other grandparents, departing on the “San Joaquin Daylight” and returning on the “Owl” or the “West Coast”.

In the final years prior to Amtrak, I made a several round trips to San Francisco on my own, going up on one Daylight, staying overnight, and returning on the other Daylight.

I also did a bit of train watching in Glendale over the years; now I’m inspired to try and locate the mediocre slide I shot of that mail train in the early 60’s.

Can somebody fill me in on the history of the "Oxnard Commuter"? Never heard of that operation.

I spent many mornings and evenings at Glendale. There was a particular baggage man named Norman Gearhart who was very patient with us kids hanging around the depot. I also spent many days riding with my grandfather conductor on #90 returning from San Luis Obispo after going up on #75 The Lark. Back in those days Amtrak was not even thought of. It didn't exist.

march_hare Wrote:
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> Can somebody fill me in on the history of the
> "Oxnard Commuter"? Never heard of that operation.




I was one of the engineers on the ill fated Oxnard Commute train.. Actually operated the last train from Oxnard.. 1983 was a year of record rainfall. I was headed eastbound and stopped for a red signal at the east end of Moorpark.. flagged the signal went over the bridge near the eastend .. it was just about daylight and my conductor told me on the radio that the water that was cascading down the river was eating away at the soil around the piers of the the bridge. After passing the bridge gave way.. the Coast was then closed for several days until the proper repairs were made. For more information click on link below...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalTrain



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/14 09:55 by SanJoaquinEngr.

lamta_jay Wrote:
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> Third is the ill fated Oxnard commuter in March of
> 1983 with GP-9 # 3834.
>
> Jay

Ill-fated, maybe, but I could also make the argument that this short-lived service, as well as the Baxter Ward train, were the pre-cursers to today's extensive network of Amtrak and Metrolink operations on these lines.

Topfuel Wrote:
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> lamta_jay Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Third is the ill fated Oxnard commuter in March
> of
> > 1983 with GP-9 # 3834.
> >
> > Jay
>
> Ill-fated, maybe, but I could also make the
> argument that this short-lived service, as well as
> the Baxter Ward train, were the pre-cursers to
> today's extensive network of Amtrak and Metrolink
> operations on these lines.

I agree especially on the railroad you never want to give up work ! I would see the same people everyday that rode the train. On Fridays someone would bring a blender and the passengers made margaritas on the train ! BYOBOF !

march_hare Wrote:
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> Can somebody fill me in on the history of the
> "Oxnard Commuter"? Never heard of that operation.

The Oxnard Commuters was the operation of two weekday trains in each direction between Oxnard and Los Angeles, Calif. The California Dept. of Transportation during Jerry Brown's first tour as governor forced the trains on to the SP which fought the operation of the train and even suspended service in a dispute over payment of operating fees for a few days. The service started in October 1982 and ended in March 1983.

Cliff