Western Railroad Discussion > Coal to Creal? Where BLITZ Local Got it's Name?

Good afternoon,

So, anyone know what symbols bring coal to Creal or Mojave for Creal?  Any info on the coal operation would be great, please.

Also, the LOP51 is known as the Blitz Local, anyone know where that came from?

Thank you,

6088

I'd like to hear the real reason, I asked a conductor once and his reply was, "Have you seen us returning to Mojave?"

Out

Per "erielackawanna"'s "L.A. Local" e-book, LOP51 Blitz Local is the one that works at Creal.  It works Mon-Wed-Fri, so I suppose on other days a different local could work Creal.  No idea of the origin of Blitz Local name.

mapboy

Blitz has always been the local that serviced Lancaster and Palmdale and works South, runs North
at track speed hence the conductor's comment made sense, can't be that simple!

Out

Where does the coal orignate?

Mike Root
Madras, OR

I do not know where it originates, could be Skyline, but I guess they get 1-2 trains per month.  

The "Blitz" local and its name has been in existence since the mid 60s and is indeed associated with the "speed" by which it did its work eastbound (old SP direction) and westbound between Mojave and Palmdale...

shortlineboss Wrote:
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> Where does the coal orignate?

The carboniferous period... ;-)

As callum_out indicated, the Blitz local out of Mojave originally served industries in Lancaster and Palmdale and points in between.

In the 1960s, the local that serviced the cement plant at Monolith (long called the KI local, based on the telegraph call letters of K and I for
Tehachapi) also serviced the cement plant at Creal.

According to my uncle, who was a switchman in the Mojave yard, the Blitz name was meant as a joke due to the leisurely pace of the local work on the Mojave-Palmdale segment but I don't really know how true his explanation was.

 

Thank you all for the info and stories, still hoping to find info on the coal, and is it really coal or maybe coke?  

Thank you,

6088

It's coal.

Here is a thread with a story about delivering coal cars to Creal:   https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2240276,2240276

Thread with photos of loaded coal cars going to Creal (second and third photos): https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1436280,1436516



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/19 13:40 by johnsweetser.