Nostalgia & History > Santa Fe in La Verne, CA - 1992

It's hard to believe it has been nearly 14 years since I took this photo on 10/16/92. It features Santa Fe's Pasadena local returning eastbound through La Verne, CA in the afternoon enroute to its base at Kaiser yard near San Bernardino, with GP30 2712 and a GP20 for power.

Luckily, most everything in this scene remains largely unchanged. Santa Fe blue GP's (with BNSF lettering) still power the same local between Kaiser and Irwindale on the former ATSF Pasadena Sub (previously LA 2nd District), and the University of La Verne (home of the Leopards) is still going strong. The big difference now is that the local no longer has to worry about ducking out of the way for fast Santa Fe through freights to LA, and nearly always has the line all to itself (via track warrant) west of Claremont.

Thanks for looking,

Rich

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So sad that all the sidings here are long gone. I still remember Alco's switching wharehouses in La Verne and talking to the agent at the station. Tom

I miss the old SP line that was just to the north of that one.Watching the old switchers rumble by on that old track was always something to see.

I grew up just a few blocks North of downtown Claremont, where those two lines ran through. Was always riding my bike down there to explore and photograph during the 1970's. Remember well those long and fast Santa Fe freights that would come through behind six-axle power, unlike now. The SP trains that came through were so far and few between that whenever I heard that "different" sounding horn from all the way at home on Tenth Street, I jumped on my bike and rode down there as fast as I could. If I was lucky, I'd see the tail end of an SW1500, two or three cars, and caboose roll through. Sometimes I would find it waiting for a green signal where they had to cross the Santa Fe line, just East of where Cambridge Ave. eventually came through.

Lots and lots of memories there... a great time in my life.

Mark

Thanks Rich. As always, your shots are appreciated.

I had the misfortune of being the wrong age at the wrong time. I am 33 today-Oct 10. (yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting is my favorite BTW).

I lived in San Dimas until 1988, when I moved to West Covina. When I lived in San Dimas, I was just a kid. I enjoyed watching the trains. But back then, it just never occured to me to want to document the line. You know how "youngin's" are: very short sighted.

Then, a few years later when the line was nearing the end (1992-1994), when I was grown up and did have the foresight (which I did for a few other things), had a car, and a job, I was at the end of my teenage years and entering my 20's. Believe me, there were many more pressing things on my mind at the time (Dalilah, Kendra, Michelle, rims, Kenwood Amps, etc to name a few) and trains were pretty much not even on my list.

Like they say....youth is wasted on the young.

That's why I'm trying so hard now to get whatever scraps I still can before it's totally too late.

One fond memory I have is right when Metrolink started running through La Verne (but I guess a few years later as service had extended to Claremont and the SF second district was still in operation). The Southwest Chief came into Pomona, I was at Claremont, hoped the next Metrolink, to LAX. We left Pomona at the exact moment when the SW left. We actually raced each other along Arrow highway for a few minutes. Oh not to have a camera with me! I remember the Amtrak Engineer (in the fireman's seat)(I think Amtrak runs two engineers through here, one in each seat, someone else can confirm or deny.), he started doing the old 'row your train faster with your arm out the window' to our engineer.

For others that don't know the area, we were on the south side of the street and the Amtrak train was to our right, on the north side of the street, both heading due west.

Obviously with our 3 cars and 'jack rabbit' F59PH, we out ran the 2 Genesis units and her consist.

Rich:

The great thing about your pictures is that they always inspire more "pictures." We see one of your shots and it evokes our memories from that time or place or equipment. Lots of us grew up or spent time in the areas you like to shoot, so we always get more than one picture in the deal.

As Bob Hope would says,
Thanks for the memories.