Steam & Excursion > A Beautiful Day And Time To Add New Power For The Climb Ahead!

Colfax, California was where the Southern Pacific added new steam power to their trains headed eastbound for the climb over Donner Pass. Here we see the timeless ritual of new power being added near the SP Colfax station.

AC-10 #4208 and her 124,300#s of tractive Power will be a welcome addition to this freight on this fine spring day. The local SP agents have come out from the depot to enjoy the sunshine and probably a cigarette while #4208's hogger gets the big 4-8-8-2 into position.

This was a fine day to be in Colfax.


Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/17 04:00 by LoggerHogger.

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Another daily blast from the past from LoggerHogger! Martin, got an idea what year this might be? I see the tender has no lettering, common at the end times for the cab forwards. I don't have any automobiles in the photo to help date it! Also, do you know who the photographer was?

Yeah, that was the time to be a railfan! Thanks again!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Lee,

If I had the date or the photographer I would have included it. I assume it is post WWII.

Who knows if the tender is lettered. She is so dirty you can almost not make out the engine number on the cab sides. All those trips through the tunnels and snow sheds of Donner got these beasts dirty in a hurry.

Martin

A lot of railroads would at least wash off the engine number on the side of the cab so operators could tell which engine just ran through their town and properly "OS" them.

LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> Colfax, California was where the Southern Pacific
> added new steam power to their trains headed
> eastbound for the climb over Donner Pass. Here we
> see the timeless ritual of new power being added
> near the SP Colfax station.

The only power that was added at Colfax during this time period were Harriman Hog helpers (2-8-0) to assist trains from Colfax to Emigrant Gap, and they were almost always added on the point. The Colfax roundhouse closed for good in December 1949.

This is probably a local making a pick-up or set-out.

As for the date, certainly post-war, and maybe into the very late 40s, early 50s, as the cylinder covers are missing. This was a phenomenon most associated with the end of steam on the SP, as the shops couldn't be bothered with locomotives that had no future. What's puzzling is that the front face is not aluminum (1946 and on), but it may be due to the soot obscuring it.

Quote from Southern Pacific Painting and Lettering Guide published by the Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society.

Page 18: In the 1946 standards, SOUTHERN PACIFIC was to be omitted from sides of tenders of AC-6 to AC-12 Classes assigned to the Sacramento, Shasta, Portland and San Joaquin Divisions and on the F Class assigned to the Shasta Division. The common denominator here was tunnels, and lots of them, which tended to make it difficult to keep the large lettering clean.

Thank you, Martin
Any picture you have from Colfax, please post them.. As of last month The Colfax area is my new stomping grounds... Funny or ironic.. My lady and I were walking up the drive way with the realtor on a rainy April morning.. We could hear the trains in the distance echoing through the hill.. I knew the house would be mine...
Mike Jr

The special instructions section from the 1938 timetable that Tim recently shared with us stated that steam locomotives were required to cut off from their trains when taking on water at Colfax. The stand pipe was just out of sight of the photos.