Nostalgia & History > A Western Pacific Spring Break 1971!

I was pretty clueless in college.  I never had any concept of what college kids did during spring break, but in 1971, I don't know if kids were already going to Mexico or Florida as they do now.  No, for me meant going back home to see my folks for a week.  Which was fine, as I did graduate in four years! 

During my visit home in Redding, California, my hometown railfan friend, Carter Cram, wanted to do a road trip to one of his favorite places (as well as mine!) the Feather River Canyon.  So come along, as I ride along with Carter as we make the 190 mile drive to Portola! 

All photos are shown in chronological order and are all of the photos I took that glorious day, Saturday, March 20, 1971!

Photo 1 - We've already driven about 95 miles, and we're at the California 70 overpass over James siding on the WP.  And this eastbound freight painted in the classic silver and orange.  Consist is GP35s, 3009 and 3010 followed by GP40s 3516, and seven month old 3521, one of the first 10 GP40s that introduced the dark green and orange paint scheme to the WP.

Photo 2 - Not messing around, next stop for photos was in Portola, and here we see class engine, GP35, 3001

Photo 3 - Okay, now we're talking!  This is a set of power!  12,000 horsepower broken up into 1,500 units behind 3 F7As, 1 FP7, 3 F7Bs, and a GP7.  Sitting behind the Portola engine house.  And soon to leave . . .

Lee Hower - Sacramento

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/17 12:03 by mcfflyer.

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Photo 4 - Stepping to the other side, a perfectly lit orange WP F7A, 922-A.

Photo 5 - Oh!  What's this?  It's a FP7, now numbered 916-D, the former California Zephyr power 804-D.  At this point in time, the CZ had been gone a year.

Photo 6 - Whenever I was in Portola in those days, there were two units you could expect to find there,  SW9 606, and Reno Local power GP7 707.  Plow equipped in the winter!

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/17 12:03 by mcfflyer.

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Photo 7 - I'll bet the paint was still tacky on this one!  Brand new Santa Fe box car 522369.

Photo 8 - Hey!  That long string of Fs - with the GP7 - have pulled out onto the main in front of the station!  Something is happening!

Photo 9 - Carter and I walked down to the overpass into old downtown Portola to get this down-on shot of GP35 3007, switching.  Oooh.  Look at that M5!

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/17 12:04 by mcfflyer.

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Photo 10 - We chased this eight unit consist down to Keddie, and I shot movies with my dad's old 16mm camera, so I have no photos en route.  Once the train got to Keddie, the lead ABBA of Fs were cut off and set out there in front of the station on the engine storage tracks.  Looking at the other end of the consist, we see F7A 918-D in proper silver and orange.

Photos 11 and 12 - Now led by FP7 916-D, the train heads up the High Line towards Crescent Mills, Greenville, Westwood and Bieber.

Hope you enjoyed going back into time with me.  Good gosh, I was 19 back then.  Where did the time go?

Lee Hower - Sacramento!

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/17 12:04 by mcfflyer.

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WOW!  WOW! Outstanding.

Amazing shots.  Thank you for posting!

The WP convention is coming up in Reno in May.  If you have more WP shots from your travels, I invite you to share them at the convention if you would like.

Z

Outstanding bunch and great scans.
JB

Great stuff!! Thanks for sharing.

sphauler

What a trip! Thanks for posting these.
Bob

Some real classics in this bunch. Thanks for sharing! 

Excellent shots!!!

It's funny, I've never noticed the lights between the numberboard on the GP-35s had an unusual placement (sideways!).

Beautiful!! So much better than the green that came so shortly after.

Lee, probably the best WP series I've seen period!  Hard to pick a favorite in this group.  I have great memories of camping in the FRC back in the 70's, so I'm somewhat partial of the Canyon.  Thanks so much for sharing these gems.

Kent in Carmel Valley

rrpreservation Wrote:
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> Excellent shots!!!
>
> It's funny, I've never noticed the lights between
> the numberboard on the GP-35s had an unusual
> placement (sideways!).

Yeah, those cover plates for the old bulb lights were really interesting and usually set horizontal, although some were done vertically.

The 707 still has one of here large bulb lights today, although with the sealed beam cover piece.  The WPRM has remains of some other bulb light housings and we are building SolidWorks models of the housings to allow them to be replicated by a metal shop, including all the aiming mechanism for the large bulb.  A few of the GPs like 707 and 2001 are slated to get large bulbs again.

Z

mcfflyer Wrote:
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> Hope you enjoyed going back into time with me. 
> Good gosh, I was 19 back then.  Where did the
> time go?
>
> Lee Hower - Sacramento!
>


Great Shots !!!!!!

I too was 19 years old in 1971 - boy are we old ?

1971 - that was just a few years ago.

Thanks for sharing !!!

BTW - spent the day with Mitch

Nomosantafe
Portland, Oregon
"Pacific Wonderland"

outstanding images! 
-djs 

Great stuff Lee!
 

All wonderful pictures.  Your spring break time was well spend.  So nice you photographed and preserved these WP images.

​918 resides today on the Niles Canyon Railway and does operate.

Gerry

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Thanks for the kind words, everyone.  I just stumbled upon those slides while going through my files, and was taken by the great, bright weather and that everything was all pretty much still orange, black and silver, the WP that I want to remember.  I have posted other trips up into the Feather River Canyon, but need to scan them once again, this time using my new Canon scanner, as my old one just wasn't very sharp.  But give me about a year.  After I retire in November, I'll have more time to fool around with my old slides!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Or you can drive this one yourself at the Feather River Railroad Museum!

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> > Hope you enjoyed going back into time with me. 
> > Good gosh, I was 19 back then.  Where did the time go?
> >
> > Lee Hower - Sacramento!
>
>
> Great Shots !!!!!!
> I too was 19 years old in 1971 - boy are we old ?
> 1971 - that was just a few years ago.
> Thanks for sharing !!!
>
> Nomosantafe

1971 wasn't really that long ago, I'm certain!
I was 19 as well, watching the BN try to pick a consistent green and watching the Milwaukee electrics, which we knew would last forever.
steeplecab