Nostalgia & History > More info on SP's first use of SDP45s in Commute service

All,

A few days back (5/12/16) Photobob posted a nifty shot of one of SP's SDP45s in Commute service ( SP 3205). There was discussion as to when the SDPs first showed up in Commute service. Back in those days I had a house in Millbrae, CA,  where I could occasionally snoop the afternoon "parade" when I got home from work. Here's some data from Millbrae you might find interesting:

2/21/73:   Eb train #122: SP 4004, 4008 (those ALCO RS32s were very, very rarely used in passenger service; must have been nothing else available.), Wb #149: SP 3010, Eb #124: SP 3007, 3000, #126: SP 3032 (FM Trainmaster), #128: SP 3020 (Trainmaster), #130: SP 3023 (Trainmaster), #132: SP 3029 (Trainmaster), #134: SP 3028 (Trainmaster), #136: SP 3022 (Trainmaster), #138: SP 3035 (Trainmaster), #140: SP 3025 (Trainmaster), westbound Millbrae local freight w/ SP 4003 (ALCO RS32) at 18:08. Then it was dinner time.

Next, things on the motive power scene were changing. Here's data from a little more than a month later:

3/5/73: Eb #122: SP 3010 & 3005, Wb #149: SP 3000, Eb #124: SP 3003 & 3009, #126: SP 3006 & 3001, #128: SP 3021 (Trainmaster), #130: SP 3033 (Trainmaster), #132: SP 3031 (Trainmaster), #134 (missed it), #136: SP 3023 (Trainmaster), #138 & #140 (missed them both),  #142: SP 3205 (SPD45), Wb Millbrae local freight w/ SP 4001 (ALCO RS32), Eb #144: SP 3035 (Trainmaster), Wb #151: SP 3009, and Eb #146: SP 3025 (Trainmaster). I had been taking data on most week days; this was the first afternoon that I had recorded an SP SDP45 assigned to Commute service.

The last data I have is from 3/23/73, at about the time that I moved away from Millbrae. The full afternoon's parade still had a few Trainmasters, but SP 3205 remained assigned to prime-time Commute service all during the week. By the time I came back for a later family get-together, the Trainmasters were gone, replaced by the GP9Ps and SDP45s.

Hope you find the data interesting!

Rich Farewell
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/16 19:42 by rcfarewell.

For an SF guy like me, this is great stuff.  I missed the RS32s unfortunately, but did see a couple Trainmaster when there were only 3 left, and saw a lot of the H12-44s (got tapes of 'em too).  Thanks for this fascinating post.
- Eric Blasko

Here's a photo from Sept. 1967, when the TMs ruled the Commute route.  This set is in the yard south of what was then the 3rd & Townsend terminal, waiting for rush hour.
 

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In 1973, SP was looking for something that could pull the commutes and make ther schedule. They tried GP35s on some trains, but nothing. I suspect that pair of RS32 were another test. Finally the SDP45s worked. They later used freight units again in 1979, but for another purpose. SP needed all its SDP45s for freight service and the AMtrak P30s took over between July 1978 and April, 1979, but still needed power, so a few GP9 and SD9s in freight service were used on the some of the off hour commutes

First that I've heard of RS-32's being used in pairs on the Commutes, and in February, yet. At the time, train 122 typically consisted of two Geeps and six Subs. Since the RS-32's didn't have steam generators, the cars must have been "pre-heated" in SF and the steam bottled. Unless it was a particularly warm day, #122's cars must have been a little chilly when it arrived in San Jose, since the heat would have long been gone, as well as the body heat from the majority of the passengers who got off by mid-Peninsula. Or, maybe Galleries were used that day, but this would have greatly annoyed passengers on some later train who were subjected to the replaced subs - passengers could get crabby about the out-of-the-ordinary. Butch Nesbit, the San Jose night depot goat engineer who figured out which cars would go on which trains in the morning - probably was peeved as well, since the cars would have been stored "out of order" as they came in, necessitating extra switching to line things up properly for the morning. I'd guess that the train indeed have galleries, because by necessity this is the type of equipment that the RS-32's would have been assigned to. OR, perhaps, as you suggest Rich, the ALCo's were a last minute substitution. Ailing power on the first of the afternoon "Fleet Trains" was not a good thing. At any rate, the engineer must have had an easier time keeping the train on schedule, courtesy of the '32's quick acceleration. He may have even enjoyed running something out of the ordinary. Maybe #124 never saw "color" from #122 down near San Jose, for once.

It's kind of fun speculating about these things - for me and perhaps a few ex-Peninsula guys, anyhow. Sorry to make you fans' eyes glaze over.

EO


 

The RS 32's were gutsy performers. There were ocassions when the FM's failed mid-route. The 4000's (single unit) were called in emergency
to help the train in. The RS 32's could and did maintain the running time between stations. This of course included the extra weight of the FM.
 

I was firing the commutes for much of 1973 and I have to admit, I have no recollection of RS-32s or GP35s being used in commute service, except as rescue engines if there was a breakdown.  When the SDP45s showed up, they were like Cadillacs with their six axle trucks.  They were also heavier than the TMs and Geeps, so initially there were a lot of stations overrun, including by yours truly.  

All,

Besides living in Millbrae and grabbing the first-listed data, in 1970 thru part of 1973 I rode the Commutes from the Millbrae station down to Menlo Park in the morning, from where I was able to walk to work at the USGS on Middlefield Rd. There was once instance during that time when, while waiting at Millbrae for my eastbound, the fleet of morning rush westbounds into SF was interrupted for a while. The reason was one of the fleet's power had died enroute. After about what seemed like forever, and just before my train arrived, here came an RS32 with the errant passenger train, seemingly running "flat-out" but making perhaps 30 MPH at best.

It was quite a sight!

Rich Farewell