Nostalgia & History > A Question for the Knowledgable Left Coast People

Here is a picture given to me by a friend. Said friend purchased it from a seller on E-Bay.

I think it might be from the OSH calenmdar series judging from the background. If so, I would appreciate any info anyone might have about this photo.

Yardclerk

P.S. Are there any websites that have the OSH calendars available for viewing?

---

My SP loco assignment books show 1221 to be assigned to the Coast Division, at least from early 1950 through 1953. I would guess
then that this scene would be in San Jose.

Tom

That looks like an OSH Calendar painting. I'm guestimating about 7-9 years ago.As I think it was from one my Dad Gave me and he passed away 6 years ago.

1221 was the San Jose depot switcher, special paint and raised lettering. It is now on display in Deming, NM. The juxtoposition of OSH, a spur, and the Hotel De Anza (my employer while in HS)I think are strictly artistic license.

yardclerk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here is a picture given to me by a friend. Said
> friend purchased it from a seller on E-Bay.
>
> I think it might be from the OSH calenmdar series
> judging from the background. If so, I would
> appreciate any info anyone might have about this
> photo.
>
> Yardclerk
>
> P.S. Are there any websites that have the OSH
> calendars available for viewing?

yardclerk,

This was a fold-out to the Orchard Supply Hardware calendar from a couple of years ago. I believe the painting is by Larry Fisher. The scene is loosely based on the original OSH location in San Jose.

As for posting or sites with past OSH calendars, yes there is but can not remember the URL off the top of my head.

J.

J.Ferris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yardclerk Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Here is a picture given to me by a friend.
> Said
> > friend purchased it from a seller on E-Bay.
> >
> > I think it might be from the OSH calenmdar
> series
> > judging from the background. If so, I would
> > appreciate any info anyone might have about
> this
> > photo.

> > Yardclerk
> >
> > P.S. Are there any websites that have the OSH
> > calendars available for viewing?
>
> yardclerk,
>
> This was a fold-out to the Orchard Supply Hardware
> calendar from a couple of years ago. I believe the
> painting is by Larry Fisher. The scene is loosely
> based on the original OSH location in San Jose.
>
> As for posting or sites with past OSH calendars,
> yes there is but can not remember the URL off the
> top of my head.
>
> J.

It was painted as a special insert to the 2002 calendar by Larry Fisher. This is the original store on Basset and Vine in 1931 when OSH was founded. We just went to the OSH 75th celebration a couple of months ago. My husband recalls goint to this store with his father.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

tomk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "...This is the original store on Basset and
> Vine..."
>
> Does that painting depict the area around where
> the end of Milpitas line connects to the east leg
> of the San Jose wye, just east of where the old SP
> roundhouse use to be? If so, that space is now
> occupied by a freeway overpass (hwy 87). In 1931,
> SP's Cahill Street station and its associated
> downtown bypass would not have been built, yet,
> and this portion of the Milpitas line would have
> carried coast line traffic to the Market Street
> depot and down the 4th Street line until then. A
> little rail history of the area here -
> http://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/san_jose/san_pedro/stree
> t.html


This was a bit before my time but you seem to have it right.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

Wow! People on Trainorders come through again. thanks for all the info.

J Ferris, if you run across that URL for the calendars, appreciate it if you drop me a link.

Thanks again.

Yardclerk

Well if that is on Bassett St. then someone turned the hotel around:)

Both Nitehostler and n6nvr are correct. When I worked at San Jose in 1978 - 1981 for the SP I occasionally shopped at the OSH hardware store there. It was adjacent to the SP mainline and even had a siding next to the OSH store. But the days of any rail service were already over. Never saw a car spotted there. The huge store had long lost its quaint appearance shown in the painting.

They are not the same store---the store in the painting pre-dates the San Carlos St. store by decades. The main behind the San Carlos store was not even built until 1935 as part of the removal of the old mainline on 4th St.

OSH is now owned by the company that owns Sears. And are much closer to a "real" hardware store, but bigger than any of the home inprovement stores. They have a real nice selection of nuts. screws and bolts and other real hardware.

The siding is still behind the San Carlos store (inactive) and there is an old OSH boxcar sitting on it, or at least there was the last time I remembered to look, which I did not do this morning from #271.


Westbound Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Both Nitehostler and n6nvr are correct. When I
> worked at San Jose in 1978 - 1981 for the SP I
> occasionally shopped at the OSH hardware store
> there. It was adjacent to the SP mainline and even
> had a siding next to the OSH store. But the days
> of any rail service were already over. Never saw a
> car spotted there. The huge store had long lost
> its quaint appearance shown in the painting.

The boxcar is still there. It can be seen from Auzerais at the grade crossing of the Coast Line. Norm O.

At one time, Smith had his ex-SP Caboose parked on that same siding. Sometime around 1979 or so, he had that moved to his small ranch next to what was once a leg of the wye leading the the Mayfield Cutoff at Vasona Jct. He then had it converted to an office for his personal accountant to use. At the time, I was still doing inside delivery work and ended up having to deliver a 3 drawer lateral file (Harbor Universal) and get it inside the caboose. Had to boost it up onto the coupler and then slide it straight into the door. I still bear the scars---a hernia repair shortly after doing that.

A few years ago, the ranch property became condos and the caboose, I think ended, up over in Swanton.

drew1946 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> A few years ago, the ranch property became condos
> and the caboose, I think ended, up over in
> Swanton.


Yep, it's at Swanton and set up as a sorta museum with Al's stuff. Last time we saw Al was at the Swanton Ranch on a Cal Poly day when we were all riding the train---about a year before he died.
And speaking of the OSH calendar, at the 75th OSH anniversary celebration the people from Sears marketing were talking to Mike Kowtowski about possibly doing the calendar again. I told Mike that Al would climb out of his grave and kill him if that happened!!! :-) Mike did the OSH calendar for years as well as a lot of their advertising graphics etc. He was on the Campbell City council and voted to allow Home Express (this was before Home Depot arose) to build a giant store in the city. Even tho there was no OSH in Campbell at the time, Al considered this high treason to allow a competitor in the area and he banished Mike from the calendar and everything else. Al may have looked like a big teddy bear but in reality, he was a tough old bird!!
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

Carol,

As I recall, the council voted for the store but Mike abstained and Smith was incensed because he did not vote "no".

drew1946 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Carol,
>
> As I recall, the council voted for the store but
> Mike abstained and Smith was incensed because he
> did not vote "no".


Matter of fact, was Mike mayor of Campbell at that time?? If Ken Middlebrook is lurking around here, he knows for sure since he and Mike are good buddies.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

>
> Matter of fact, was Mike mayor of Campbell at that
> time?? If Ken Middlebrook is lurking around here,
> he knows for sure since he and Mike are good
> buddies.
> C.


Don't recall if Mike was actually the mayor during that particular vote. The title of "mayor" is rotated each year among the council members.

"the lurker"

n6nvr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OSH is now owned by the company that owns Sears.
> And are much closer to a "real" hardware store,
> but bigger than any of the home inprovement
> stores. They have a real nice selection of nuts.
> screws and bolts and other real hardware.

Started as a farmer cooperative to supply the buckets, ladders, and etc. which were used to harvest the orchards in the Valley of Hearts Delight, now Silly Valley of tiltups and empty office buildings where once the fruit blossoms bloomed. Very sad.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA