Nostalgia & History > SP F7 - Back on the rails again

With her mouth wide open (nose door is still there, just opened inwardly) this SP F7 has just been re-railed on the passing siding by the Link Belt crane. I was driving by on parallel Hwy. 99 near Livingston, CA in 1968 when I came upon this scene. Failed to record the locomotive number but at least I had my crummy box camera to record the event. The crane operators could not tell me why the engine had derailed but there was little damage to track and none visible to the locomotive.

---

Icicle breakers, goes honk, hummmmmmm. 6190?

Maybe this is what ended 6190. Kind of late for them to repair it.

Regards, Jim Evans

Could be. We were at Glendale one evening when it came down on a freight heading to scrap, and it looked pretty sad.

Where's the pilot? It must have hit something pretty hard.

SP6190 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Icicle breakers, goes honk, hummmmmmm. 6190?

Gotta be.

FiveChime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Maybe this is what ended 6190. Kind of late for
> them to repair it.

Strapac lists its retirement date as 2/26/70 and its sold date as 3/23/70.

danf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Where's the pilot? It must have hit something
> pretty hard.

Common practice was to torch it off, then weld a couple of brackets on for the cut lever and brake pipe, after an altercation such as a grade crossing collision or a derailment.

Don't try duplicating it with one of the NCRY units.

Well am I ever embarrassed. I looked at the original print again, this time in direct sunlight and under a magnifying glass. The pilot is missing! Guess she hit something pretty hard.