Steam & Excursion > Back In These Days, This Railroad Crew Did Not See Many Railfans!

The Southern Pacific's Keeler Branch was certainly off the beaten path for an all steam powered railroad in the early days of railfanning.  While the line became more visited in the mid to late 1950's, the earlier motive power of the line was mostly gone by that time.

Here we see an early view of SP #15 in service on the Keeler Branch.  The stare given the photographer by the fireman seems to indicate this crew was not very accustomed to having their pictures taken while they were at work.

Given the fact that #15 was vacated off the SP roster on January 1, 1934, this dates this photo to before that date.  In the early 1930's seeing a railfan on the Keeler Branch must have been as rare as seeing an aging 1889-built Baldwin narrow gauge 4-6-0 still operating.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/20 04:14 by LoggerHogger.

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Magnificent Find!

Now guess the spot, almost looks like Dolonite,

Out 

If it didn't see many fans how come there are so many pix of it?
They used to ship the locos thru Mojave on flatcars to Taylor Yard for service.
An engine on a truck was displayed at the dedication of a plaque at the Loop years ago.
Also, some great books full of pix written about it.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Owyneo??? (sp?)

MojaveBill wrote:

> They used to ship the locos thru Mojave on flatcars to Taylor Yard for service.

There appears to be no documentation supporting such a thesis.

Various references indicate the narow-gauge engines were shipped to Bakersfield for shopping. For example, the Aug. 25, 1956 Bakersfield Californian newspaper had a photo of #9 on a flatcar at Bakersfield for its annual inspection and overhaul.

> An engine on a truck was displayed at the dedication of a plaque at the Loop years ago.

Most likely, the engine was on a flatcar, not a truck (MojaveBill wrote 11 months ago in the steam board thread "Some Steam Locomotives Had To Be Shipped Before They Were Shopped!" that the narrow-gauge engine at the plaque dedication was on a flatcar)

Posted from iPhone



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/20 13:49 by johnsweetser.

johnsweetser Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MojaveBill wrote:
>
> > They used to ship the locos thru Mojave on
> flatcars to Taylor Yard for service.
>
> There appears to be no documentation supporting
> such a thesis.
>
> Various references indicate the narow-gauge
> engines were shipped to Bakersfield for shopping.
> For example, the Aug. 25, 1956 Bakersfield
> Californian newspaper had a photo of #9 on a
> flatcar at Bakersfield for its annual inspection
> and overhaul.
>
> > An engine on a truck was displayed at the
> dedication of a plaque at the Loop years ago.
>
> Most likely, the engine was on a flatcar, not a
> truck (MojaveBill wrote 11 months ago in the steam
> board thread "Some Steam Locomotives Had To Be
> Shipped Before They Were Shopped!" that the
> narrow-gauge engine at the plaque dedication was
> on a flatcar)
>
> Posted from iPhone

When restored SP #18 visited Laws on that magical weekend a couple years ago, there was ample evidence on the engine that craftsmen from Bakersfield and Sparks kept her going years ago. Didn't see any marks that would indicate Taylor Yard got their hands on that engine.

 

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Taylor didn't have locomotive backshops did they? I thought the backshops where they did rebuilds and such was at the Los Angeles General Shops.

This scenario reminds me of an interesting photo I have seen taken in the 1950s at Decatur, Illinois in the Wabash main shop with diesels and a turn-of the century 2-6-0 steam loco, sharing the bays. This loco would have run on the weight restricted Keokuk Branch after other steam on the Wabash had been retired. Eventually, the Wabash relented and leased some PRR GE 44 tonners for the branch.  And later, a deal was made with the Burlngton to share trackage and detour around the weight restricted bridge.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/20 12:50 by wabash2800.