Western Railroad Discussion > SJV at Buttonwillow, CA

Last August I was driving up the I-5 to visit my family in the Bay Area.  The I-5 croses over the San Juaquin Valley RR Buttonwillow branch at the CA-58 exit (cheapest gas bewteen LA and SF).   I'd never seen a train there before but this time it was stopped on the west side of the highway.  As I pulled up, the crew was running back from the Sinclair Gas Station with eats.  Wasting no time, they headed for home with their 18 cars.  

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Nice catch!
Go

Ive seen them there several times. 2 GP-38's is nice,

They usually make it up as far as the tomato planr just west of I-5, and turn there.  Womder if they ever make it to the team track in old downtown Buttonwillow anymore.  Its a little town that time forgot.

Nice catch!
Your description about the crew grabbing some eats reminded me of the crews in Twin Falls, Idaho, early 1990's, grabbing some quick burgers and shakes at the "Shake Out" just a 1/2 minute walk from the east end of the yard, after the outbound train was all put together and ready to head out of town!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/24 20:31 by RailRat.

I high railed those tracks only one time back about 2002 or so in a weed shooter pickup truck.
It was a real rock n roller ride I'll never forget!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Track and roadbed has been fixed up considerably since then

SP put in some trackwork when the Bowerbank ran, used to be a decent sized train. As to Buttonwillow, heard  a number
of about 10 cars per year in recent years so that would be a really rare move. 

Out 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 13:35 by callum_out.

Very nice, I remember always watching for SP trains along that track as a kid when we got off I-5 to head west to Bakersfield to visit my grandparents.  Nice to see there are still trains there, you showed up at the perfect time for your video.

Nathan

I saw a tank car on spot at Buttonwillow back in early March.  There wasn't anything there when I came through a couple of weeks ago, but plenty of boxcars at Bowerbank. 

That's impressively clean for SJVR power!

The item about the crew stopping for "beans" at the service station took me back to the 1960s, when I'd go to the Fedco store in East Pasadena to buy film or leave it for processing.  If it was late enough in the evening, I'd find the Santa Fe 2nd District Local in the hole at Chapman to clear the eastbound Super Chief.  The crew would take advantage of the break to get dinner at the Bob's Big Boy on the south side of Colorado Blvd./Route 66.  They'd bring back a carryout for the man who was left minding the train.

DNRY122 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The item about the crew stopping for "beans" at
> the service station took me back to the 1960s,
> when I'd go to the Fedco store in East Pasadena to
> buy film or leave it for processing.  If it was
> late enough in the evening, I'd find the Santa Fe
> 2nd District Local in the hole at Chapman to clear
> the eastbound Super Chief.  The crew would take
> advantage of the break to get dinner at the Bob's
> Big Boy on the south side of Colorado Blvd./Route
> 66.  They'd bring back a carryout for the man who
> was left minding the train.

CP JACK-IN-THE-BOX was well known on the UP LA Sub in City of Industry.