Steam & Excursion > Certainly The Most Recognizable Face Of All Steam Locomotives!

Sure there were many steam locomotives that had unigue features and which many railfans could quickly spot as they came down the rails towards them and their cameras.  However, this was the one locomotive that anyone could never mistake for any other railroad other than the Southern Pacific.

The distinctive face of an SP Cab Forward was definately one of a kind.  No other locomotive had her features and no other railroad had such a distinctive engine on their roster.

There is no mistaking SP #4168 from any other piece of motive power as she runs through Emeryville, Califonia in 1956 with her solid block of reefer cars.  She has a face that no one could mistake for any other railroad.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/18 03:30 by LoggerHogger.

---

Thank you for all the great memories" . 

Wayne Crabb
San Gabriel, CA

Boarded-up Shellmound depot.

Wonder what's under the eastward signal?
The train-in-station indicator for Berkeley
was never down here, was it?

Don't suppose that's a wait signal under the
westward signal, so what is it?

UP - Big Boy

SP - Cab Forward?

Cab Forward, totally distinct and recognizable...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Can anyone get the signal number?  Then we can look up what it was in the SI's.

It looks like 78.

Western SI No. 6, September 25, 1955, under Rule 705, lists a Wait signal at 77, but nothing at 78.

Under Rule 105, it lists a Station Train Indicator for Berkeley (eastward trains), but does not specify the signal location. What's more, the Station Indicator is always suppose to illuminate either the word 'CLEAR' or 'STATION', depending on the condition. The indicator in this photo looks like a US&S HC-9, which in all likelihood means only one indication. Is the cab of the locomotive obscuring the other?

This is another E.K. Muller photo, his negative number 6597 taken in late September 1956.  I scanned that booklet of negatives before it disappeared from the Western Railway Museum Archives, and it appears Muller spent the afternoon at that spot (the 65th St. grade crossing in Emeryville, CA), recording three consecutive extra westbound freights pulled by AC-7's and 8's.  The previous photo in sequence, Muller negative 6596, is the first image attached below.  He was standing a bit further back and off to the side, capturing a corner of the steel plant that ended its days as Ryerson Steel before giving way to a new housing project in the early 2000's:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2313740,2313748#2313748

timz Wrote:

> Boarded-up Shellmound depot.

In 1956, "Shellmound" was the tower located railroad west of Powell St. where the remains of what had been the SP electric lines swung in beside the main line.  The station in the photos in this thread was well "east" (geographic north) of Powell St., and bore the name "Stock Yards" when it was in service.  The current control point called Shellmound is located near this spot, but it didn't come into being until the 1990's.

> Wonder what's under the eastward signal?
> The train-in-station indicator for Berkeley
> was never down here, was it?

Negative 6596 below shows there were a pair of HC-9 indicator heads below the eastbound searchlight - sure looks like a set of "TRAIN" and "CLEAR" indicators for Berkeley. 

spladiv Wrote:

> Can anyone get the signal number?  Then we can
> look up what it was in the SI's.

The second image below is a blowup of my scan of negative 6597.  The signal number is 78.  Stock Yards was milepost 8.

---

---

Evan's right about Stockyards, of course. One of the Matthews volumes has a pic.

In later years the train-in-station indicator was on the next signal bridge, near Channing. Wonder why it wasn't always there.

Nice to be able to see this up close in Sacramento.

Posted from Android

John Acosta
Palm Springs, CA