Steam & Excursion > If You Like Modern Design And Bright Colors, This Was Your Train!

The Santa Fe's first attempt at streamlining a passenger train was the Valley Flyer that was put into service on June 11, 1939 between Bakersfield, California and Oakland.  The Valley Flyer was steam powered as we see here to supplement the diesel powered Golden Gate train that also ran between those two points.

Consisting of 6 air-conditioned cars, including one combination baggage-club car, one refreshments car, 3 coaches and a diner, the Valley Flyer left Bakersfield at 6:30am each day and arrived in Oakland at 12:35pm.  The bright red, yellow and silver painted train could be seen for miles as is skirted along in the Central Valley of California.

The Valley Flyler must have been quite a sight to see back in the day!

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/19 04:28 by LoggerHogger.

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I wonder of "old-timers" back then complained about the gaudy colors the way some folks did about Amtrak's purple and orange decor of the early 70s?

John.

(For the record, I was young in the 70s and liked Amtrak's new bright colors.)

I doubt anyone complained, the entire train was matched. Not the hodge-podge we often see today.

That is a pretty slick consist.  Especially with that 4-6-2.
Where in tarnation (haven't heard that word since "Looney Tunes") is "Herpoco"?  I am a native Californian, but that is a new one to me.  Can't recall even seeing it on employee timetables.

hotrail Wrote:
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> Where in tarnation (haven't heard that word since
> "Looney Tunes") is "Herpoco"?  I am a native
> Californian, but that is a new one to me.  Can't
> recall even seeing it on employee timetables.

Herpoco was an unincorporated community in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad 5 miles east of Point Pinole in Pinole, at an elevation of 56 feet. The place was started and named by railroad officials for the Hercules Powder Company.


Martin
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/19 06:45 by LoggerHogger.

LoggerHogger Wrote:

> The Santa Fe's first attempt at streamlining a
> passenger train was the Valley Flyer

It's hard to really carve out a proper "first" for the Valley Flyer without a lot of qualifications.  Santa Fe already had a number of diesel-powered, stainless steel, streamlined passenger trains in service by 1939, starting with the diesel-powered, lightweight version of the Super Chief inaugurated in mid-1937.  The railroad's first and only fully streamlined steam locomotive, 4-6-4 #3460, was built in late 1937 and delivered to the railroad in mid-January 1938:

https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/307977/page/1

The diesel-powered, streamlined Golden Gates started running between Oakland and Bakersfield, CA with a bus connection to Los Angeles in June of 1938:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_(train)

The Valley Flyer came along a year later as a temporary augmentation of the Golden Gate service for the duration of the Golden Gate International Exposition.  It consisted of gussied-up 25-year-old 4-6-2's pulling 1920's-era heavyweight passenger cars.  The 4-6-2's, number 1369 and 1376, were "semi-streamlined" with a trim piece along the walkways, but otherwise, the makeover was just a flashy paint scheme - the cars didn't have any extra streamlining features added.  I guess you could say the Valley Flyer was Santa Fe's first and only attempt at semi-streamlining existing locomotives, and the elderly Pacifics did look snazzy in their new garb.

For those not familiar with Herpoco, the train in the photo is westbound just east of Pinole, CA, just about to enter the deep cut seen in the photo in this old thread that bypassed Tunnel 4 a few months before the Valley Flyer started running:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4613770

The photographer would have been standing right about where this modern streetview shot was taken, on the south side of the cut before the Hercules Ave. overpass was built:

https://goo.gl/maps/DGN32gLoCsgPCRQV8

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Santa Fe's first attempt at streamlining a
> passenger train was the Valley Flyer that was put
> into service on June 11, 1939 between Bakersfield,
> California and Oakland.  The Valley Flyer was
> steam powered as we see here to supplement the
> diesel powered Golden Gate train that also ran
> between those two points.

Well, the Valley Flyer was can only be labeled as an "also ran"...with a steam loco and silver painted heavyweight cars. Nothing streamlined about this train exept for a few metal panels adorning the locomotive. One can only wonder what Santa Fe wanted to accomplish when they set that rather homely train loose in California. Sorry to you Valley Flyer fans, but this train begs the question...."what were they thinking"?
In reality, The Super Chief began service with streamlined cars and E1 locomotives on May 18, 1937. Quiet a sight and a lavish train by anyones standards. That was the first Santa Fe streamliner. 
>
> Consisting of 6 air-conditioned cars, including
> one combination baggage-club car, one refreshments
> car, 3 coaches and a diner, the Valley Flyer left
> Bakersfield at 6:30am each day and arrived in
> Oakland at 12:35pm.  The bright red, yellow and
> silver painted train could be seen for miles as is
> skirted along in the Central Valley of
> California.
>
> The Valley Flyler must have been quite a sight to
> see back in the day!
>
> Martin

I was told a long time ago that that combo is now part of the Capistrano, Calif dining complex.
Someone please check it out.

wattslocal Wrote:

> I was told a long time ago that that combo is now
> part of the Capistrano, Calif dining complex.
> Someone please check it out.

The first car behind the locomotive in the photo is Lounge/Buffet/Library car 1302.  It was converted into flatcar 221 in 1962 to carry mail containers in passenger trains.  It was sold in February 1971.

ATSF3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Well, the Valley Flyer was can only be labeled as
> an "also ran"...with a steam loco and silver
> painted heavyweight cars. Nothing streamlined
> about this train exept for a few metal panels
> adorning the locomotive. One can only wonder what
> Santa Fe wanted to accomplish when they set that
> rather homely train loose in California. Sorry to
> you Valley Flyer fans, but this train begs the
> question...."what were they thinking"?
> In reality, The Super Chief began service with
> streamlined cars and E1 locomotives on May 18,
> 1937. Quiet a sight and a lavish train by anyones
> standards. That was the first Santa Fe
> streamliner. 
> >
> > Martin

I agree with ATSF3751.  There were a number of nicely designed modern steam locomotives in attractive color schemes - Milwaukee Road's 4-4-2 for the Hiawatha, New York Central's 4-6-4s for the Twentieth Century Limited, Southern Pacific's GS4s for the Coast Daylight, Canadian National U4a/U4b Northerns come to mind.  Not so much the Valley Flyer.  Heck, even New York, Ontario & Western's 4-8-2, #405, "stream-styled" for the Mountaineer Limited was a more aesthetically successful creation.

It was a "economy" streamline job done for a train that would only run for two years.
No need to spend a lot of money on it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/19 22:36 by PHall.

There are a couple of color scenes of this train in operation in the video "Glory Machines Volume 1".

JH
www.herronrail.com

Would love to see it in color.

nedzarp Wrote:

> Would love to see it in color.

https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20190206/23/pinecone8712/15/c1/j/o0480038814351751785.jpg?caw=800
http://www.trainman.net/valley_flyer_history.html

The fifth photo down in the second link provided by Evan can also be found on pg. 116 of  "Santa Fe 1940-1971 In Color, Volume 3: Albuquerque-Los Angeles."

The caption in the book stated the photo was taken in June of 1940 at Bakersfield.  I suspect it is actually a colorized black and white photo.  Assuming the date is correct, one would never find green native grass (as seen in the background) in June in Bakersfield. 

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/19 13:35 by johnsweetser.

johnsweetser Wrote:

> The caption in the book stated the photo was taken
> in June of 1940 at Bakersfield.  I suspect it is
> actually a colorized black and white photo. 
> Assuming the date is correct, one would never find
> green native grass (as seen in the background) in
> June in Bakersfield. 

"Assuming the date is correct" is quite an assumption.  I'd guess the likelihood of a Morning Sun book containing a caption error is a lot higher than that of a Morning Sun book containing a high-quality colorization of a black and white photo...