Steam & Excursion > The Holiday Did Not Turn Out Well For This Particular Steam Crew!

The 4th of July has long been a day that many look forward to a holiday set aside for relaxation and time away from the demands of work.  The Independence day of 1928 was anything but that for the crew of Southern Pacific's ill-fated crew on SP #4355 as we see here.

Everything was going well for SP #4355 and her crew until they suddenly derailed while running through the SP Bayshore yards that morning leaving the big 4-8-2 in the sad condition that we see here.  Fortunately for us, Ralph Demoro was on hand that day, along with many other San Franciscans to record the clean-up.  Unlike the others, who were just there to observe, Ralph brought his camera and recorded this fine view of the goings on.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/19 05:47 by LoggerHogger.

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Any word on how the engine crew fared ??
Doug

Are you sure about the loco number, and the year of the wreck...?
Were any 4-8-2 loco numbered in the the 4400s?

Wes

My father was a machinist at Bayshore, and wrote a story about this wreck. The then - new 4355 was running the Daylight to LA when she hit a train of apricots pulling too slowly out of Bayshore yard. The engineer was scalded and died. From then on the 4355 was known to Bayshore machinists as the “hoodoo” engine, because of this and several other derailments thru the years.

Walter

http://www.wx4.org/sp_employees/pages/people/boland/stories/4355saga.html

Posted from iPhone

Walter,

Thanks so much for adding so much more to the story of this crash.  Here we can see them reloading the appricots from the wreck site.

I have attached a pair of photos of #4355 shot by Guy L. Dunscomb on August 2, 1953 in Sacramento, California.  As we can see, even though #4355 may have been deemed a "Hoo Doo" engine by the SP crews, they still had to go out with her when they were assigned to run her.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/19 06:24 by LoggerHogger.

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The wreck train certainly deserved a few more photos!

I'm a bit puzzles by this shot. Ralph took this shot from "the hill" at the east end of Bayshore, and the 4355 must have been pulling into the yard.  If it was pulling the Daylight to Los Angeles then it’s on the wrong side of the yard and facing wrong. The mainline would be out of sight on the right. I doubt this is the west end of Bayshore, otherwise the first two tracks closest to the camera would be the mainline, plus Ralph would have to get on the roof of a house across the street to make this shot. Any thoughts? – Tony J.
 

Tony
If you read dad’s story, the wreck happened right out of tunnel 4. The locomotive derailed and slid quite a ways before coming to rest on her side. Those are the mains, the goat being on the westbound.

She hit a stock car full of apricots in a freight crossing over the main headed into SF. That’s why the eastbound signal was moved from out of the tunnel, into the tunnel a ways, where I’m told the now-unused signal still is to this day, no doubt not used since Bayshore’s demise.

Dad said the 4355 was the first large locomotive in Bayshore’s backshop.

Walter

Posted from iPhone



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/19 09:21 by drumwrencher.

Thank you Martin. My pleasure. I’m glad to see more pics of this wreck. I found one from ground level, but never posted it due to not knowing who’se photo it is.

Dad started in September 1928, and the 4355 was still in the backshop at that time.

E0 Gibson has another set of photos on WX4 showing the 4355 taking a dive into the West Oakland turntable pit. She was all dolled up to pilot the 1st 49er from Oakland pier. A 2400 was put in her place.

Walter
EDIT  I should have re-read my father's story before posting this - it was the 4315, not the 4355 that wound up in the West Oakland pit.  
Apologies.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/19 10:43 by drumwrencher.

So what happends to the crown sheet in these rollover accidents?  I would think a portion of the crown sheet is now not covered with water, and yet even if the fire went out right away, the crown sheet would still be subject to failure but that doesn't ever seem to be the case.  Any insights?

Topfuel Wrote:
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> So what happends to the crown sheet in these
> rollover accidents?  I would think a portion of
> the crown sheet is now not covered with water, and
> yet even if the fire went out right away, the
> crown sheet would still be subject to failure but
> that doesn't ever seem to be the case.  Any
> insights?

1) Since the oil fire goes out, there isn't much danger of the crown sheet melting, since the very high heat is gone.

2) In the case of SP steam locomotives, it is possible that one or more of the "drop plugs" may open, i.e. the special solder melts and the plug drops out.

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Topfuel Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So what happends to the crown sheet in these
> > rollover accidents?  I would think a portion
> of
> > the crown sheet is now not covered with water,
> and
> > yet even if the fire went out right away, the
> > crown sheet would still be subject to failure
> but
> > that doesn't ever seem to be the case.  Any
> > insights?
>
> 1) Since the oil fire goes out, there isn't much
> danger of the crown sheet melting, since the very
> high heat is gone.
>
> 2) In the case of SP steam locomotives, it is
> possible that one or more of the "drop plugs" may
> open, i.e. the special solder melts and the plug
> drops out.

I was going to ask the same question - thank you for the info..

B

That MOW car behind the over turned locomotive looks as if it dated back to Central Pacific.

JB - Omaha

Thank you Walter. My skull is a bit dense somethimes. 

Tony

wcamp1472 Wrote:
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> Are you sure about the loco number, and the year
> of the wreck...?
> Were any 4-8-2 loco numbered in the the 4400s?
>
> Wes
  
Wes, all the SP 4-8-2s were numbered in the 4300 series.......all the 4-8-4s (we're talking SP, not SSW or T&NO, which had their own numbering arrangements) were n umbered in the 4400 series.

Based on recall, I think all the 4300s were Mountains, and all the 4400s were Northerns.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

What is interesting is also the SP Common-Standard (Harriman) baggage car sitting on the ground. Given it's age at the time, it's certaintly not some type of yard office or MOW car.

ATSF3751 Wrote:
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> What is interesting is also the SP Common-Standard
> (Harriman) baggage car sitting on the ground.
> Given it's age at the time, it's certaintly not
> some type of yard office or MOW car.
The baggage may have been part of the wreck and placed there by the hook to be rerailed later, get the main open first. Likley the goat is tied to the wrecker.