Nostalgia & History > December 1973 - SP in the snow!

Okay, where are we?

(More will follow, of course!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/14 21:13 by mcfflyer.

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Unlike some of the folks here on Trainorders who leave their "where is it" up for days and days (not that there's anything wrong with that!), I'm going to leave this up there about...ummm...15 minutes, and tell you that we are in Floriston, California, between Truckee and the California-Nevada state line, right off of Interstate 80 on the SP Overland Route. Almost surprising that there is a station sign still standing here in mid December 1973.

I was back staying with my parents in Sparks and decided to head west to catch some train action - and witness something that's been in limited supply as of late in the mountains: snow.

Photo 2 - No sooner that I arrived an eastbound showed up with T2 9216 on the point.

Photo 3 - I climbed up on the hillside to catch a westbound behind T2 9186. As I looked at the scan, I see that the following unit is SD45X 9502.

Photo 4 - The going away shot.

More to come!

Lee Hower - Sacramento



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/14 21:33 by mcfflyer.

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Continuing on ...

Photo 5 - This is what I was out there for, to catch the eastbound Amtrak San Francisco Zephyr.

Photo 6 - The going away shot passing the Floriston station sign.

More to come

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Well, if it was good one day, I wanted to go back. Must have been a couple of days later, and I drove west to Truckee to catch the SP FP7 6453, working at the point helper on the SFZ.

Photo 7 - Here is the 6453 in the falling snow in Truckee

Photo 8 - It's only a couple of days after the photo series above, but much of the snow has melted. We're back in Floriston.

Photo 9 - One of you Nevada guys will know where this is somewhere just west of Reno. Might be calm down here, but you can still see the storm clouds up on the hill.

I'm lovin' this new Canon flatbed slide scanner!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

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Nice photographs, Lee.
Thanks
Todd Montgomery
Springfield OR

Todd, it was right after I left the employ of your Friendly Milwaukie K-Mart, and before I started working for KTRT in Truckee!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/14 21:16 by mcfflyer.

Very nice, Lee. More!

Steve

mcfflyer Wrote:
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> Okay, where are we?
>
> (More will follow, of course!)

Read the Station Sign It reads "Floriston"

Glad to see the new scanner getting some good use...thank you for taking these photographs and then sharing them here.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Lee, thanks for sharing a fantastic series. Hard to pick a favorite, but from a more contemporary point of view, I really like the third and fourth shots. That going away shot of the T-motor,45x and 45 has some pretty nostalgic faces in tow.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Wonderful!

Cool pix (no pun intended, honest!)

JLY Wrote:
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> mcfflyer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Okay, where are we?
> >
> > (More will follow, of course!)
>
> Read the Station Sign It reads "Floriston"


Yup, clear as snow

Great photos from the all-too-brief E-unit era (June 1973 to June 1974) on Amtrak's "San Francisco Zephyr!" The GN "Big Sky Blue" coach was a rarity by December of 1973, but with the high ridership levels during that first energy crisis, most trains (SFZ included) were running with expanded consists and Amtrak was using every available car to handle the crowds. This was one of my favorite periods in the history of Amtrak's Overland Route service, and the SP shots are great as well. Floriston has long been my favorite part of Truckee Canyon between Truckee and Verdi. Thanks for sharing and this look back at a special time for both SP and Amtrak...

ShastaDaylight

When Atk took over, we still operated the trains for a few years. We had a lot of UP E units in the consists but never on the point. We never liked them because they would fail and you had to tow the dead weight behind you.

It was over a year or more before Atk finally came down with the paper work about the UP power on why it kept failing. On the SP, all the road power made automatic transition so we never gave it a thought. Well, with the UP stuff, you had to make the transitions yourself. (Hard to do with only power or dynamic as a choice.) The engine had to have an old EMD drum type controller, where you could move the select lever on the left side. It was a real pain in the ass, having to shut the throttle, move the lever and open it back up again, going thru the 4 positions. It played hell trying not to spill the cocktails or bruise the olives in the bar car.

If you didn't "Shift" the engine, it wouldn't load the right way and burn up some of the circuits.


Nudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/14 09:58 by spnudge.

Great stuff, that part of the route is pretty cool but we don't see much from there. When I was checking the area out the freeway noise is significant. Also challenging to find a clear parking spot.

spnudge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When Atk took over, we still operated the trains
> for a few years. We had a lot of UP F & E units in
> the consists but never on the point. We never
> liked them because they would fail and you had to
> tow the dead weight behind you.
>
> It was over a year or more before Atk finally came
> down with the paper work about the UP power on why
> it kept failing. On the SP, all the road power
> made automatic transition so we never gave it a
> thought. Well, with the UP stuff, you had to make
> the transitions yourself. (Hard to do with only
> power or dynamic as a choice.) The engine had to
> have an old EMD drum type controller, where you
> could move the select lever on the left side. It
> was a real pain in the ass, having to shut the
> throttle, move the lever and open it back up
> again, going thru the 4 positions. It played hell
> trying not to spill the cocktails or bruise the
> olives in the bar car.
>
> If you didn't "Shift" the engine, it wouldn't load
> the right way and burn up some of the circuits.
>
>
> Nudge


Only Es from UP, SP had the Fs. F on the point for snow removal. Anycase, your right, poor match up



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/14 12:11 by WAF.

Superb Series, thanks for sharing!