Railroaders' Nostalgia > 2003 UP Xmas party @ Newhall Yard, SJ - Who R They?

Attached are 11 photos that I took ( with a .6 megapixel camera) at the UP employees 2003 Christmas party at San Jose's Newhall Yard office. UP employees, ex-SP and Caltrain employees attended. I believe that this was the last one before the office and yard were ripped out.

This is where I hired out as an SP switchman. I had not seen many of the people in the photos for 25 years, made worse by my normal faulty ability to recall names.

Help.


Any identification assistance that you can give would be wonderful. Who is no longer with us? I intend to eventually place the photos on the Dome.


Regards,
E.O. Gibson
Wx4.org - The Dome O' Foam


1) _______ standing in front of the Brokaw Road Spy Cam (my name for it)
2) Engineer Jim Barry, SP/Caltrain, left; Conductor ______, SP/Caltrain; two u/k
3) Front: (left) Engineer E.O. Gibson, SP/Caltrain; Conductor Jan Freitas, Caltrain (D.L.'s sister-in-law); Back: (left) SP Conductor/Switchman J.J. Murphy; Conductor D.L. Brown, SP/Caltrain



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/15 07:19 by hogheaded.

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4) Engineer Al Garza, SP (&UP?)
5) Foreground, Engineer J.R. "Bubba" Atchison, SP/Caltrain; hidden, Engineer Jim Barry; others u/k
6) Foreground woman, Terry _____, SP clerk-operator/Caltrain dispatcher - used to include flowers with TO's at Gilroy); Conductor D.L Brown (checked shirt); D.L.'s son, Engineer Ron Brown, Caltrain, facing at far right; all others u/k, although that may be the late SP/Caltrain Engineer Charlie Bowden under the safety sign



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/14 04:39 by hogheaded.

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7) All u/k, except foreground man in blue coat may be Engineer/Dispatcher Jon DeLacy, Caltrain
8) All u/k except guy with red baseball hat may be Engineer Jim Smith, Caltrain
9) Nace Miles, UP (ex WP?) conductor, tending BBQ; Don Brown again (safety vest); others unknown



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/14 16:17 by hogheaded.

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10) Foreground: Engineer Ron Brown, Caltrain; Caltrain Superintendent Charlie Miller, ex Penn Central; Peggy Fischer, SP/Caltrain; two background individuals u/k
11) The one and only Conductor Willie Witzel, SP/UP!

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Photo #3: standing in the blue shirt with the glasses is J. J. Murphy, retired SP/Amtrak trainman/conductor (and SP switchman).

EtoinShrdlu Wrote:
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> Photo #3: standing in the blue shirt with the
> glasses is J. J. Murphy, retired SP/Amtrak
> trainman/conductor (and SP switchman).

JJ? That's JJ? I can (barely) remember when we were both thin.

I shall adjust the notation accordingly.

Thanks,
E.O.

Yep. We knew him as "Murph", and he can do a great imitation of NAJ (the Homestead Yardmaster). I've been pondering it for a while, and the guy on the L in pic #1 (wearing the green baseball cap) bears a strong resemblance to Honest Jack.

EtoinShrdlu Wrote:
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> Yep. We knew him as "Murph", and he can do a great
> imitation of NAJ (the Homestead Yardmaster). I've
> been pondering it for a while, and the guy on the
> L in pic #1 (wearing the green baseball cap) bears
> a strong resemblance to Honest Jack.

Well, now I'm confused. There was another "Murph" running around, but I thought that he quit to become a failed building contractor. It's like where I live: there are six Jim's on the same street. I'm not confused about "Honest Jack" - I don't know him.

-E.O.

The lady in photo six name is Terry don't remember her last name she later became a dispatcher for a while.

crossbucks Wrote:
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> The lady in photo six name is Terry don't remember
> her last name she later became a dispatcher for a
> while.

Thanks! She indeed was a Caltrain dispatcher for awhile.

-E.O.

>There was another "Murph" running around, but I thought that he quit to become a failed building contractor.

I guess it's one of the curses of having the surname Murphy, there are a lot of "Murphs" around. Many of us in the E Bay called JJ "Murph", although his brother was a yardmaster (also had JJ as initials). No one thought very much of JT, the clerk/agent from SPBI (and later ATK- Davis), while he was an Ass. Trainmaster on the SP in Oakland.

>I'm not confused about "Honest Jack" - I don't know him.

Got his handle by being a teller of tall tales.

In photo 9, that is Nace Miles tending to the barbeque with the apron.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/14 07:56 by ble692.

The same Nace Miles III of WP South Sacramento fame in the late '70s?

ble692 Wrote:
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> In photo 9, that is Nace Miles tending to the
> barbeque with the apron.


Got it! Thanks!

-E.O.

Last_WP_Disp Wrote:
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> The same Nace Miles III of WP South Sacramento
> fame in the late '70s?

That's him. He retired within the last couple of years.

I believe Nace is working at the Napa Wine train these days.


Jeff

Posted from Android

Hi Ed. I thought that was Frank Vargas in #4. Looks like him to me. I don't remember an Al Garza. #10 at the table looks like Ron Brown, Charlie Miller (of course) and his constant companion Peggy Fisher.

Found some more pics of Newhall Yard office,posted 6/28/2006 under "Western Railroads" Title "Newhall Yard Empties Out"...And Thanks for your pics too!!..Just one of those things I was Obsessed with, trying to remember where in San Jose (Early 2000's) We would fill our weed-spray trucks with water,and work on them. (Had to be on RR Property!)While treating UP tracks and xings/properties in the bay area...There is NO HINT on Google maps anymore due to progress..All I remember (forgot street/yard name),was getting off the freeway to the end off-ramp,and then crossing an impossibly busy street and driving to the dead end/tracks/yard office!..I'm pretty sure this was the place!..If you go to "street view" on Google at the yard end of Newhall, The fire hydrant is still there with a strange little round cement thing next to it,and that damn old silver post office box!,I Do Remember that BBQ w/Brake wheel!!..Plus it looks like they "Dead Ended" Newhall at Coleman to save a few Lives!!..Again thanks for helping me pinpoint the Old Yard Office, Now I can Get back my Job-Hunt again!!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

TheG-Man Wrote:
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> Hi Ed. I thought that was Frank Vargas in #4.
> Looks like him to me. I don't remember an Al
> Garza. #10 at the table looks like Ron Brown,
> Charlie Miller (of course) and his constant
> companion Peggy Fisher.


Yeah, FRANK Garza. Gad, I remember spending a week with him on the daylight "Chinatown" job at 8th & Taylor. Ron, Charlie and Peggy previously noted above pic #9.

E.O.