Western Railroad Discussion > ATSF 5704 & SDNX 2105 (SoCal)

Many thanks to TO members who alerted me to this move:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,6014672
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,6016717
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,6018788

I met and recognized some TO members who contributed to above. For those who I didn't have a chance to chat with, hi, and thanks.

I happened to be in Oceanside for a public transit only vacation, but after I saw the first 2 links above, I made changes to my plans and rented a car instead. I'm always partially blind and deaf by not having a Smartphone. I was hoping to limit my foaming to riding trains, so I didn't bring my scanner, nor my digital maps (on my cheap Netbook PC).

I was really blind and deaf this time.

I have driven up and down I-215 enough times, and have visited the Orange Empire Museum (old name) many times, so I relied on experience and instinct to find locations to document the move. I ran into Bob (oyw) at one location - I did good, or did I get lucky?

The variety of equipment involved made me very happy. 

- At Perris, near the temporary connector.
- Coupled to a UP caboose from the SCRM.
- Video of the move on the Metrolink. 
 

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I also documented the SCRM (Southern California Railway Museum) part of the move. Lots of smiles from Southern Pacific's "involvement."

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While I've seen and ridden behind one of SP's Bicentennial Units (GP40P-2) as a kid, it's my first time seeing a Santa Fe unit in person.

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This is the end of my report.

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Exellent coverage!
Thank you!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

now, the dumb question, will they run?

Glad the 5704 ended up at Perris.   If you could find 10 or 15 TOFC cars, you could couple 5704 to their FP45 and recreate a Super C.

Somewhere I have a photo I took of one of those ATSF bicentennials on the point of an eastbound, coming around the curve into Summit, in Cajon Pass, on a cloudy day and with a thick carpet of snow on the ground.  Not a great photo, both for the poor lighting and for the camera -- a Kodak X-15 Instamatic. 
 

Thanks for changing your plans to provide this coverage and share it with us here on TO.   Nice to have this loooong chapter come to a close finally.   Congratulations to all involved who we have to thanks for getting these two units to the museum grounds.    They are great additions and they are in a great home.

Nicely done! Experience and instinct paid off well. And kudos to SCRM for all that they do.
GK

Right place at the right time, good stuff, Charles!

That WAS you at Harley Knox!  I looked at that shot while they were running the power around and thought the figure I saw waiting with the camcorder looked familiar.  I ultimately decided to go two exits further north to Cactus Ave. instead.  Hope you don't mind if I piggyback onto your thread:

1, 2) Climbing the grade through Box Springs.  In the going-away shot, you can see quite the throng waiting alongside Watkins Dr.  This was a well-attended move!

3) Passing the restored Perris depot.

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4) BNSF moved the units just past the new connector switch and cut away...

5) ...so SP 3100 and company could tie on and move the units down to the museum...

6) ...where SP S-4 1474 coupled onto the other end to spot the newcomers at the depot for a thorough looking-over.

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Coaster 2105 was surplussed under the California AQMD Carl Moyer program. That means that the prime Diesel engine and the HEP engine were permanently disabled by torching large holes in the engine blocks. Those engines are not allowed to be repaired or ever operated again. It is possible that the HEP engine could be replaced with a Tier 4 compliant engine for clean running but the cost would be very high. The main engine won't be replaced or repaired. So the locomotive could be used as a cab car and possibly also provide HEP to passenger consists.  Nothing is firm on any of this.

SF5704 was put into dead engine storage in Texas many years ago. Something was wrong that caused Santa Fe to stop using it. While it was being repainted in Kansas City three years ago,  SCRM sent a mechanic to inspect it. He found the oil had been drained from the crankcase, a main or rod bearing cap had been removed and reinstalled with only finger tight nuts. Obviously Santa Fe was looking for something. The maintenance records for the locomotive are long gone. So a very detailed inspection will be made on the Diesel engine to see if  any existing problems can be found. It was put in the dead line for a reason. We now need to find out why, if we can. So, it may be operable in the future but we won't now for many months yet. It could turn out to be minor issues or it could be catastrophic. Regardless, it will take a few years to repair all the damage caused by copper thieves assuming of course that the Diesel engine is believed to be functional for museum operations 

Really good stuff, thanks to all who spent their time on this chase.
Robert in Island City Oregon 

Charles, it was so good to run into you today, it's been a while. Quality work, your gut instinct has always been your sixth sense!

And Evan, what can I say about your drone abilities...truly magnificent! I see me standing on the hillside in your first pic. My shots there came out lousy, glad you did well.

Once again, great job both of you!

Bob

Great coverage, Charles and Evan.  Nice to see the units after delivery.  That turnout at Perris looks like more than just a temporary one.  I thought they were just going to bend the rails over to connect to the museum trackage and then put back, like with UP 4014 in Pomona in 2014.

Rich



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/25 22:01 by PasadenaSub.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Hope you don't mind if I piggyback onto
> your thread:

Thanks for the piggybacking. Great stuff! Your shots capture the key moments of the move, especially near the "temporary" switch.

I spotted you inside the museum, but couldn't find you later - I was busy snapping pictures after most of the crowd left. I did spot your drone during the SCRM interchange near downtown Perris.

oyw Wrote:
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> Charles, it was so good to run into you today,
> it's been a while. 

I guess the odds of us running into each other is higher for SCRM-related events. Great seeing you!

It’s been fun to watch the move from afar, thanks for the excellent coverage.

Posted from iPhone

I watched them go by from the C Mountain Trailhead next to the Mt. Vernon Ave grade crossing. Good view all the way around the curve and the 2.2% had the GP60M's working a bit.