Western Railroad Discussion > today's UP Torrance Local

Looking like the old WP operation through Modesto's Ninth Street, the westbound Local fights traffic in downtown Gardena, CA.
JB

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Having made it through the traffic jam, the Local turns right off Vermont Ave with an unusual 3 units, all full of graffetti, of course!
JB

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Today's local went all the way to the end of the line in downtown Torrance. Looking down the old lead to the PE shops, which, obviously hasn't been used in awhile, the local was shoving two cars and pulling two cars for the last remaining customers here.
JB

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Before heading back to the rest of the train, left along Normandie Ave, the local, now lite, stopped at the neighborhood market, Bennys, for a sandwich and coke. This little market has been here for at least FIFTY years.
JB

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With sandwiches in hand, the local proceeded down Border Ave in downtown Torrance, and headed back to the train and more work. Hard to imagine this trackage used to be under wire. This view is looking north west toward the old large PE shopt comples which was were the white building is way off in the distance.
JB

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Headed back through picturesque old Torrance, along Torrance Blvd. This trackage use to proceed right down the middle of the street and was moved over to the side of the road in the seventies. The white building just to the left of the locos is the exPE depot that is now a fine upscale resturaunt.
JB

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Nice shots, thanks for sharing 3rdswitch

real nice, I've tried to get out to chase this thing down to Torrance and back but never seem to get the schedule or timing down right. I see that the 4th street yard L.A. River taggers have gotten to that UP573 already. As of last weekend during my L.A. visit, it was free of any tag marks but of course what taggwer can resist the temptation of a shiny and fairly new yellow repainted ex-SP GP38-2? The little punks...

I lived in the South Bay in the 50's and was an indefatigable bicycle rider and took my Brownie box and the later Hawkeye all over the place. (All the pics and negs goen in one of my stepfather's cleaning sprees while I was in the Army) I can't even locate myself in those photos and haven't been able to the few times I've been there. Just too much change that I missed. Thanks for these photos. I'd really be interested in a shot taken the other direction on the PE shop lead.

The pictures are great. I like the incongruity of a rail line with huge diesels in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The Santa Fe in Pasadena used to look like that, with streamliners going through the middle of an upscale neighborhood.

Great Pics. Thanks for the commentary along with them. Makes me want to chase it. And I will.

It is just too weird to see a train in the middle of the road with cars around it.
Whenever I visit my 93 grandmother in Torrance and hear the train blow its whistle, it is hard not to leave and go railfanning! :)
Audra

Joe great pic's.
I was driving down to Carson today and found two bulk heads flat cars loaded with new ties, just south of Farmer bro's. Were these on this train coming into Torrance?
Also on the same team track were two tank cars which did not look like the standard Clorine cars. I also wondered whay they did not pull the empty flat befor thay spoted the two loads.

Regards
Tony

There has been one bulkhead flat of ties there for weeks now. They have been working their way toward LA doing the crossings. There is a crossing right at Farmer Bros that has not been done, this "could" be what they are for. After the job left downtown Torrance, I went home, so I do not know what they did when they returned to switch Jones Chemical. The tanks "could" have been for the place at the end of the spur that crossed Normandie. They also had four center beam flat car loads of lumber for the outfit in Gardena at the end of the other spur that still has a couple of wig wags.
Joe

Joe the crossing going to Torrance in front of farmer Bro's has been changed out. But the stub track which is holding the flats, that crossing has not been changed. The two flat have some were around 1000 ties or more. The flat car which has been there for weeks, now is unloaded.

%#$%&#, JB, You get all the luck! I've been trying to get a train down the median of Sartori for a couple of years now. My hat is off to you, Senior!

Keep up the good work.

- Kit

Welcome back Kit! Tony, I saw them unloading the two [new] flats, you mentioned, on Monday. A close look at the southern most empty flat looked like the north wheels were derailed? I'll have to take a closer look. I think the old crossing to the chemical plant that used to be next to Jones [of course I can't remember the name!] are also going to be replaced.
JB