Nostalgia & History > The Way it Wasn

This is the way it was in 1955. Southern Pacific GS-4 4449 waits short of the bumper post at Los Angeles Union Station, while on an adjacent track the observation lounge Yerba Buena brings up the rear of a train about to depart.

Well, not quite. The sharp eyed observer will note the bronze plaque below the builders plate on the 4449, designating the locomotive’s ownership by the City of Portland and students of SP passenger stock may recognize the Yerba Buena as the former Imperial Drive, built in 1942 for Chicago and North Western/Union Pacific/Southern Pacific Overland Route service. She ended her days in revenue passenger service under C&NW ownership and was rebuilt into a business car before being acquired in 1981 by Rail Ventures, Incorporated.

In reality, this is the way it was in 1984 when the World’s Fair Daylight paused at LAUPT and rolled to a stop across from another time machine. However, if we can set aside our knowledge of reality for a moment, we can once again walk the station platform at Los Angeles in 1955. And how many of us ever thought we would have the chance to do that?

Africansteam

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Well said Africansteam!

Who envisioned a chance to photograph #99 departing LAUPT and #52 arriving at LAUPT in 1984?

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HUSKERHERB Wrote:
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> Well said Africansteam!
>
> Who envisioned a chance to photograph #99
> departing LAUPT and #52 arriving at LAUPT in 1984?


Beautiful, Herb!

Cheers,
Africansteam

africansteam Wrote:

> This is the way it was in 1955...Well, not quite.
> The sharp eyed observer will note
> the bronze plaque below the builders plate on the
> 4449, designating the locomotive?s ownership by
> the City of Portland

...weren't 4449 skirts and Daylight colors gone by 1955, too?

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> ...weren't 4449 skirts and Daylight colors gone by
> 1955, too?

I'm not sure, but that is quite possible.

Africansteam

Thanks very much Africansteam. Thanks for starting the thread. Hopefully more will join in!

I believe #4449 held onto her skirts until steam was withdrawn from the coastline in January '55. #'s 4448-4459 were operated intact on the coastline until the end.

africansteam Wrote:
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> Evan_Werkema Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ...weren't 4449 skirts and Daylight colors gone
> by
> > 1955, too?
>
> I'm not sure, but that is quite possible.
>
> Africansteam
Skirts gone and she was black, but still nice thoughts and photos guys.
Dave

Dave, may I inquire about your reference material on the 4449 in black in the mid '50s?

Actually, steam wasn't "withdrawn from the coastline in January '55, just steam on the Coast Daylight.

The Daylight-painted GSs were then transferred to the San Joaquin Valley where they served in all-black paint and without skirts.

According to Bob Church's "Southern Pacific Daylight Locomotives" (the 2004 edition), page 394, "it appears the last GS engines with skirts all lost them in January and early February 1955....except for 4453 and 4455....", but no definitive dates are available for 4449 among others.

For students of industrial archaeology, I think the buildings in the right background of photo #1 are part of the Maier Brewery, home of Brew 102, and now a long gone part of LA history. Brew 102 was not the highest example of the brewer's art.

DNRY122 Wrote:
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> For students of industrial archaeology, I think
> the buildings in the right background of photo #1
> are part of the Maier Brewery, home of Brew 102,
> and now a long gone part of LA history. Brew 102
> was not the highest example of the brewer's art.


Right on both counts!

Cheers,
Africansteam

How long did they last on the Overnights?

Book= Daylight Reflections Page 43
4449 leaving Berkley with the San Joaquin Daylight September 1956
Photo by Bob Slocum

HUSKERHERB
I think your right, she may have kept skirts on until she was pulled from 98/99

More info on GS paint & Deskirting:
http://www.urbaneagle.com/sp/GSpaint.html

Have a photo, thanks to Tom Dill, that I used in my 4449 program taken in the San Joaqin valley painted black and the skirts had been removed. Believe the photo was taken in 1956. It has train number 52 (eastbound San Joaquin Daylight) in the numberboards. Smokebox front and pilot painted silver or aluminum....................... C.C.Chas.

But if they rejected the first 101 brews, it must have been... slightly good?

scottp Wrote:
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> But if they rejected the first 101 brews, it must
> have been... slightly good?


Weasel Water!

Africansteam

Hey African, the only way we can say it's 1955 on that shot you took is the conditon of the platform umbrella, then LAUPT was a place not too many people wanted to visit because of the shape it was in then.

scottp Wrote:
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> But if they rejected the first 101 brews, it must
> have been... slightly good?


When I worked in a liquor in 1968, it sold for $0.99 for a 6 pack of 12 oz cans. That ought to tell you how good of a beer it wasn't.

JDE