Railroaders' Nostalgia > SP Coast and Valley Trains (CA) - February 1982 (part 1

The United States was entering the worst recession since 1975 and it took more than a year before there was a substantial rebound in the economy. This recession (sometimes called the "Volcker recession") hit SP especially hard. The traffic levels on the Coast Line were OK during January and the early part of February, but by the time March rolled around system carloadings were really nosediving...


February 2 westbounds from Taylor Yard and LATC to Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo

8561 West (LABAT) crew on duty 12:45am, departed LATC for SLO 2:28am
Conductor Broda
Engineer M. Rolls
27 loads, 1 empty, 1898 tons, 2523 feet (probably has UPS loads for Oakland)

9359 West (LABRT) crew on duty 1:15am, departed LATC for Bakersfield 3:43am
Conductor Burdette
Engineer Hellickson
58 loads, 2 empties, 3697 tons, 4696 feet

8341 West (LABKY) crew on duty 10:30am, departed Taylor Yard for Bakersfield 11:43am
Conductor D. Rolls
Engineer Baker
28 loads, 22 empties, 4063 tons, 2945 tons

9252 West (AVBAT) crew on duty 5:00pm, departed Taylor Yard (crew change) for SLO at 7:02pm
Conductor Fagan
Engineer Eadus
71 loads, 1 empty, 5389 tons, 5708 feet

8746 West (LAWJY) crew on duty 8:35pm, departed Taylor Yard for SLO at 1:10am (2/3)
Conductor Wise
Engineer Zieg
12 loads, 31 empties, 2279 tons, 2575 feet (almost 5 hours on duty before the train departed)

7330 West (LABAT) crew on duty 11:45pm, departed LATC for SLO at 1:05am (2/3)
Conductor Kracht
Engineer Waage
41 loads, 1 empty, 3070 tons, 3877 feet


February 3 eastbounds from Bakersfield and SLO to Los Angeles

9216 East (01-OALAT-01) crew on duty SLO 2:30pm (2/2), arrived LATC 12:30am (2/3)
Conductor Kadlubowski
Engineer Manthie
30 loads, 17 empties, 2996 tons, 3052 feet

9115 East (GULAP) crew on duty SLO 8:30pm (2/2), arrived Taylor Yard 5:20am (2/3)
Conductor Hadley
Engineer Swain
46 loads, 8 empties, 4933 tons, 2929 feet

8503 East (BRLAT) crew on duty Bakersfield 1:40am, arrived LATC 10:25am
Conductor Burdette
Engineer Hellickson
59 loads, 4 empties, 5340 tons, 5600 feet

7331 East (01-OALAT-02) crew on duty SLO 10:15am, arrived LATC 9:00pm
Conductor McCallister
Engineer Bray
34 loads, 35 empties, 3975 tons, no footage listed

7201 East (BALAT) crew on duty SLO 12:15pm, arrived LATC 9:25pm
Conductor Broda
Engineer Custer
36 loads, 1 empty, 2680 tons, 3595 feet


February 5 wb's

8505 West (LABRT) crew on duty 1:15am, departed LATC for Bakersfield at 3:13am
Conductor Vaughan
Engineer Benson
70 loads, 1 empty, 4089 tons, 5361 feet

8746 West (WCRVY - reroute to the Saugus Line) crew on duty 2:30am, departed for Bakersfield 3:29am
Conductor Baca
Engineer Snaer
2 loads, 113 empties, 3967 tons, 6518 feet

8303 West (LABKY) crew on duty 10:00am, departed for Bakersfield 1:00pm
Conductor Morton
Road Engineer Thorndill, Helper engineer Brand
38 loads, 38 empties, 5912 tons, 4290 feet

7320 West (WCEUY - reroute to the Coast Line) crew on duty 6:00pm, departed for SLO 7:52pm
Conductor Arnson
Engineer Waage
0 loads, 118 empties, 4129 tons, 7118 feet

9226 West (AVBAT) crew on duty 7:30pm, departed for SLO 10:12pm
Conductor Williams
Engineer Togni
72 loads, 1 empty, 5578 tons, 6033 feet

9097 West (LAWJY) crew on duty 8:30pm, departed Taylor Yard for SLO at 1:51am (2/6)
Conductor Hagen
Engineer Nelson (#2)
26 loads, 66 empties, 4728 tons, 5140 feet (over 5 hours on duty prior before departure!)

9323 West (LABRF) crew on duty 11:45pm, departed LATC for Bakersfield at 1:25am (2/6)
Conductor DuPree
Engineer Downs
40 loads, 1 empty, 2472 tons, 3631 feet


February 10 wb's

9349 West (LABRF - rerouted to the Coast Line) crew on duty 12:15am, departed LATC for SLO at 2:05am
Conductor Fagan
Engineer Waage
53 loads, 1 empty, 3079 tons, 4102 feet

7352 West (AVBAT) crew on duty 4:15pm, departed Taylor Yard (crew change) for SLO at 8:53pm
Conductor Franklin
Engineer Moore
30 loads, 1 empty, 2242 tons, 2164 feet

8990 West (LAWJY) crew on duty 8:30pm, departed Taylor Yard for SLO at 3:33am(!!)
Conductor Broda
Engineer Senior
34 loads, 36 empties, 3444 tons, 3289 feet

8314 West (LABAT) crew on duty 11:45pm, departed LATC for SLO at 1:05am (2/11)
Conductor D. Nagle
Engineer Keyser
18 loads, 1 empty, 1268 tons, 1710 feet


February 11 wb's

9164 West (LABRF) crew on duty 12:15am, departed LATC for Bakersfield at 1:56am
Conductor Blakeman
Engineer Hellickson
41 loads, 1 empty, 2355 tons, 2833 feet

NO trains called between 12:15am and 10:30pm per the train register!

8506 West (AVBAT) crew on duty 10:30pm, departed Taylor Yard (crew change) for SLO at 12:14am (2/12)
Conductor Kadlubowski
Engineer McCarthy
70 loads, 1 empty, 5355 tons, 6437 feet

8303 West (LABAT) crew on duty 11:45pm, departed LATC for SLO at 1:36am (2/12)
Conductor Williams
Engineer M. Rolls
28 loads, 1 empty, 2138 tons, 2801 feet

8830 West (LAWJY) crew on duty 11:45pm, departed Taylor Yard for SLO at 4:15am (2/12)
Conductor Nowell
Engineer Ware
14 loads, 71 empties, 3766 tons, 5199 feet


February 14 eb's from SLO to Los Angeles

8509 East (OALAT) crew on duty 6:45pm (2/13), arrived LATC 4:05am
Conductor Kadlubowski
Engineer Rosa
50 loads, 35 empties, 5187 tons, 5973 feet

9130 East (GULAP) crew on duty 8:30pm (2/13), arrived Taylor Yard 4:55am
Conductor Compton
Engineer Kies ("keez")
26 loads, 19 empties, 3130 tons, 2714 feet

9161 East (OALAK) crew on duty 7:30am, arrived Taylor Yard 7:05pm
Conductor Tangen
Engineer McCarthy
61 loads, 16 empties, 4704 tons, no footage listed


Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/14 11:18 by bradleymckay.

WCEUY5 arrived OAK 1000p on the 6th. Different lead unit

AVBAT3 arrived OAK 120a on the 7th. Departed behind the WCEUY

Those large LAWJYs were Oakland and Oregon traffic. At WJ, they would switch out the short traffic and run a WJRVY off of the connection. The WJRVY would usually terminate OAK and any RV and OR traffic was forwarded on th OARVV or OAEUY

Probably the most seniors guys were working on the road freights

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WCEUY5 arrived OAK 1000p on the 6th. Different
> lead unit
>
> AVBAT3 arrived OAK 120a on the 7th. Departed
> behind the WCEUY
>
> Those large LAWJYs were Oakland and Oregon
> traffic. At WJ, they would switch out the short
> traffic and run a WJRVY off of the connection. The
> WJRVY would usually terminate OAK and any RV and
> OR traffic was forwarded on th OARVV or OAEUY
>
> Probably the most seniors guys were working on the
> road freights



Most everyone on the list was high seniority ! everyone on the above list is dead or retired..

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:

> Most everyone on the list was high seniority !
> everyone on the above list is dead or retired..

Mike Rolls and Randy Zieg weren't high "seny" were they Jim? I thought those guys were low on the SJD roster.


Allen

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
>
> > Most everyone on the list was high seniority !
> > everyone on the above list is dead or retired..
>
> Mike Rolls and Randy Zieg weren't high "seny" were
> they Jim? I thought those guys were low on the
> SJD roster.
>
>
> Allen

Mike had a ton of seniority .. His Dad and his two brothers worked on the RR... Dean quit the RR and became a LACounty Fireman.. Denny retired ten years ago .. Zieg was on the extra board followed me by 25 numbers on the roster,

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bradleymckay Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> >
> > > Most everyone on the list was high seniority !
>
> > > everyone on the above list is dead or
> retired..
> >
> > Mike Rolls and Randy Zieg weren't high "seny"
> were
> > they Jim? I thought those guys were low on the
> > SJD roster.
> >
> >
> > Allen
>
> Mike had a ton of seniority .. His Dad and his
> two brothers worked on the RR... Dean quit the
> RR and became a LACounty Fireman.. Denny retired
> ten years ago .. Zieg was on the extra board
> followed me by 25 numbers on the roster,
During my career on the SP I worked with both Mike and Denny Rolls...both great guys to work for.
In the Lucius Beebe book "The Central Pacific & The Southern Pacific Railroads", there is an iconic photograph on page 273 taken by Richard Steinheimer, of an engine crew standing by their locomotive at Saugus, waiting to help a train off the Santa Paula Branch. As a point of interest, Jimmy Rolls, Mike and Denny's dad is the fireman in the polka-dot Kromer Cap standing beside engineer, Jerry Weece...

spengr80 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > bradleymckay Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> > >
> > > > Most everyone on the list was high seniority
> !
> >
> > > > everyone on the above list is dead or
> > retired..
> > >
> > > Mike Rolls and Randy Zieg weren't high "seny"
> > were
> > > they Jim? I thought those guys were low on
> the
> > > SJD roster.
> > >
> > >
> > > Allen
> >
> > Mike had a ton of seniority .. His Dad and his
> > two brothers worked on the RR... Dean quit
> the
> > RR and became a LACounty Fireman.. Denny
> retired
> > ten years ago .. Zieg was on the extra board
> > followed me by 25 numbers on the roster,
> During my career on the SP I worked with both Mike
> and Denny Rolls...both great guys to work for.
> In the Lucius Beebe book "The Central Pacific &
> The Southern Pacific Railroads", there is an
> iconic photograph on page 273 taken by Richard
> Steinheimer, of an engine crew standing by their
> locomotive at Saugus, waiting to help a train off
> the Santa Paula Branch. As a point of interest,
> Jimmy Rolls, Mike and Denny's dad is the fireman
> in the polka-dot Kromer Cap standing beside
> engineer, Jerry Weece...


Jerry Weece... that sure is a name out of the distant past. I worked a lot with him over the years and always thought highly of him.


V

SLOCONDR

spengr80 Wrote:
-------------------
> In the Lucius Beebe book "The Central Pacific &
> The Southern Pacific Railroads", there is an
> iconic photograph on page 273 taken by Richard
> Steinheimer, of an engine crew standing by their
> locomotive at Saugus, waiting to help a train off
> the Santa Paula Branch. As a point of interest,
> Jimmy Rolls, Mike and Denny's dad is the fireman
> in the polka-dot Kromer Cap standing beside
> engineer, Jerry Weece...

Interesting piece of information, Jeff. Thank you!


Allen

SLOCONDR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> spengr80 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > bradleymckay Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Most everyone on the list was high
> seniority
> > !
> > >
> > > > > everyone on the above list is dead or
> > > retired..
> > > >
> > > > Mike Rolls and Randy Zieg weren't high
> "seny"
> > > were
> > > > they Jim? I thought those guys were low on
> > the
> > > > SJD roster.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Allen
> > >
> > > Mike had a ton of seniority .. His Dad and
> his
> > > two brothers worked on the RR... Dean quit
> > the
> > > RR and became a LACounty Fireman.. Denny
> > retired
> > > ten years ago .. Zieg was on the extra board
>
> > > followed me by 25 numbers on the roster,
> > During my career on the SP I worked with both
> Mike
> > and Denny Rolls...both great guys to work for.
> > In the Lucius Beebe book "The Central Pacific &
> > The Southern Pacific Railroads", there is an
> > iconic photograph on page 273 taken by Richard
> > Steinheimer, of an engine crew standing by
> their
> > locomotive at Saugus, waiting to help a train
> off
> > the Santa Paula Branch. As a point of interest,
> > Jimmy Rolls, Mike and Denny's dad is the
> fireman
> > in the polka-dot Kromer Cap standing beside
> > engineer, Jerry Weece...
>
>
> Jerry Weece... that sure is a name out of the
> distant past. I worked a lot with him over the
> years and always thought highly of him.
>
>
> V
>
> SLOCONDR


Jerry is still alive.. his nickname was the arrogant Texan

Wow, how often did they detour an LABRF up the Coast? Any idea why on this occasion?

TIA,

Rob L.

rob_l Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, how often did they detour an LABRF up the
> Coast? Any idea why on this occasion?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rob L.


Rob, started the previous summer, end of the Th-Sat common days, stopped going via the Coast by November, 81 and resumed again in Feb. Continued to April and as Allen mentioned, the bottom fell out of the traffic and it went back to the Valley

rob_l Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, how often did they detour an LABRF up the
> Coast? Any idea why on this occasion?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rob L.

Rob, the Saugus Line was shut down while SP was rebuilding Tunnel 25 (located between Sylmar and Saugus).

I was reminded that SP also had a major system tie gang working on the Coast between Gemco and Oxnard at the same time as the work on Tunnel 25.


Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/14 13:41 by bradleymckay.

If the LABRF detoured via the Coast because of T25, why didn't the LABRT? Did it go via Cajon during this closure? Or was there just enough traffic for one pig train?

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the LABRF detoured via the Coast because of
> T25, why didn't the LABRT? Did it go via Cajon
> during this closure? Or was there just enough
> traffic for one pig train?


I worked the work train that worked in tunnel 25... what a production ! the LABRT went via West Colton and up the Ho Chi Min Trail (The cutoff)

Mechanical issues with cars, bad orders to get thrown out

rantoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why would the crew be called but the train not
> leave for many hours later...was there a common
> cause?


power issues.. not ready or defects... derailments.. waiting for Amtrak to go by.. congestion.... the list goes on !

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rantoul Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why would the crew be called but the train not
> > leave for many hours later...was there a common
> > cause?
>
>
> power issues.. not ready or defects...
> derailments.. waiting for Amtrak to go by..
> congestion.... the list goes on !

The list is longer than the delay time, lol