Western Railroad Discussion > Sunday's Action On The Northen Transcon--A Bit Of Traction

It was a mild partly cloudy day in Ritzville, WA on the BNSF Lakeside Sub. The high-low was 69-40. Possible drips and wind tomorrow. Traffic is at 17 trains since midnight with more on the way/ Here are some trains from Sunday and one from Monday and a bit of Traction.

5/15/2022

1. WB 302pm grain train with the BNSF 5154-4226 on the point with DPU.
2. WB 314pm oil train with the BNSF 7373-7279 on the pull with DPU's.
3. DPU's BNSF 4145-H1 1029 on same train.

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4. EB 440pm intermodal train with the BNSF 8492-4454 and Grinstein 9783 on the point with no DPU.
5. EB 455pm manifest train with the BNSF 6560-4422 and NS 4178 on the pull with no DPU in the rain.
6. The End of same train in the rain.

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7. EB 545pm oil train with the CN 2944-2878 on the point with DPU.
8. DPU CN 8006 on same train.
9. WB 601pm grain train with the BNSF 8077-5474 and Warbonnet 748 on the pull with no DPU.

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10. Another shot of Warbonnet 748 on same train.
11. WB 642pm grain train with the BNSF 6478-4122 on the point with DPU.
12. WB 652pm manifest train with the BNSF 4104-8146 on the pull with no DPU and a friendly toot-toot from the hogger.

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13. WB 716pm grain train with the BNSF 6334-7676 on the point with DPU's.
14. DPU's BNSF 8801-7339 in the blur. I liked the old MAC too bad it's blurred.

5/16/2022

15. WB 1114am "Z" train with the BNSF 7215-7942 and NS 1011 on the pull with no DPU.

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16. Another shot of NS 1011 on same train.
17. Stacks on the roll on same "Z".
18. TOFC on the roll on same train.

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19. More TOFC rolling in same "Z".

Now for a bit of Traction from the Andy Goddard collection, Jerry Squire photos.

20. Los Angeles Transit PCC in Georgia Yard? in the 1950's. Need exact location help Charlie.
21. Snother shot of Pacific Electric MTA blimp 1543 at 6th St. Viaduct. Need confirmation Charlie.

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22. Key System A train 172 bound for San Francisco in Oakland, CA in the early 1950's.
23. OT--Pacific Electric bus 2606 iin the 1950's. Not sure of exact location. Sorry about the condition of picture, but better than no picture.

That's it for today. Hope everyone has a great evening and tomorrow. Thank you so much for taking a look!

Larry
Ritzville, WA

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Intersting traffic through Ritzville.  BNSF #9783, CN #8006, and NS #1011 were very nice catches.

MTA #1543 scene appears to be a railfan outing judging by the people in the photo.

PE #2606 scene is really a slice of mid 1950's urban America.

Thanks for the super photo posting.

ALLEN
 

Glad to see you're still getting around!

Photo 20: Yes, this is looking at LARy's Division 4 carbarn on Georgia St. It remained in service 'til the last day, March 31, 1963.

No 21 shows LAMTA's 1543, the only former PE car repainted into the two-toned green. Here we see it on a post-1958 charter,
posed at the lower end of the viaduct, just before entering San Pedro St. This location was one of the busiest rail traffic points on
the entire PE. Prior to the abandonment of passenger rail service on PE's Northern District in 1951, there were switches leading
to the right from the viaduct as well as tracks which allowed for through north-south movement on San Pedro St, which was the only
connection within the Los Angeles Terminal district between the Northern and Southern districts.
An article in the April 1920 issue of The Pacific Electric Magazine, the in-house company magazine, described how the
Terminal Tower Interlocking operator controlled the switches here on San Pedro St, working with a flagman, located in a shanty along
that long building at the far left. The flagman, upon the arrival of a train would determine which line the train was coming from and push
a button in his shanty which told the Interlocking Operator, in the PE Building, (seen in the near distance), which track to line the train into
at the top of the viaduct. In 1920 there were 1,083 scheduled trains every 24 hours requiring the positioning of 8 levers per train for a
total of 8,664 lever changes. Lucky for the operator, the plant was an "Electric Pneumatic" made by Union Switch & Signal.

No 23 is on Hollywood Blvd. Amazingly, most of what we see in this photo is still in place at the corner of Hudson Ave.
See: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1016471,-118.3321396,3a,83.6y,44.86h,87.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smITmmfZnSlRnjOuychupig!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
About the bus I can only add that it shows to be a 1947 GM TD-4507 with seating for 45 and it went to MCL in the 1953 sale of PE passenger
service. I can't make out the destination sign.

Take care of the back!

Charlie


 

Thanks Allen and Charlie for your comments. Thanks for all your interesting info Charlie. Amazing most of the old buildings are still there on Hollywood Blvd.

Larry

Count me in thanking the others as well.Bill Webb