Nostalgia & History > Second District Stuff, Amtrak Style.

#1 #3 with the 509 leading at Pasadena on Christmas day 1974.

#2 #3 again in July 1976 with the 224 leading.

#3 #3 again at Broadway in October 1975.

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#4 During the longest days of the year in June, it was possible to shoot #4 at Pasadena with a bit of light still in the sky. Here is #4 in June of 1974 with the 522 on the point.

#5 Again it is #3, this time in April 1976 with the 503 doing the honors.

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#6-7 And finally number 4 again with the 292 leading in February 1981.

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Great stuff, John!

I wish I could have gotten over to the Pasadena station in the late 70's. I was only about 20 miles away, but being under 15 I couldn't drive. I did see #3 pass my junior high school many a morning from '77-'80.

Thanks much for sharing,

Rich

Really nice stuff... In the mid 1980s I had stopped taking train pictures - but I had a friend who lived in Pasadena. I remember going up there from my dorm at USC and pacing the #4 along the way. Kept saying to myself I would come back with a camera one day... never did.

Much too cool. July of '76 eh? My 12 yr old self very well may have been on that train.

Nice shots. The photo of F40PH 224 leading in July 1976 is interesting in that units 220-229 - then brand new - were assigned to the San Diegans along with new Amfleet coaches. However, they were maintained by the ATSF at Barstow (as were SDP40Fs), so shuttled back and forth on trains 3/4. Because they lacked steam generators and lines they would almost always lead.

Dave

Great images John! All Southwest Limited.

I started shooting #3/#4 in 1983 through Pasadena when they were still the SWL and then too when they became the Southwest Chief in 1986.

Here's #3 at Pasadena in 1991 the same morning the #3751 rolled through on its way to LAUPT for the beginning of the California Limited excursion.

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Nice shots there guys, makes me wish I did had the chance to head down there myself (And in high school I never ever got my drivers licence!)

PasadenaSub Wrote:
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> Great stuff, John!
>
> I wish I could have gotten over to the Pasadena
> station in the late 70's. I was only about 20
> miles away, but being under 15 I couldn't drive.
> I did see #3 pass my junior high school many a
> morning from '77-'80.
>
> Thanks much for sharing,
>
> Rich


Would that be Goddard in Glendora??

Definitely some neat pictures there. As I've bemoaned many times, I wish I had the foresight to better appreciate the line and document it when it was alive. But back when I lived in San Dimas a few blocks from the tracks in '84-'88, I was just a preteen-teen. So while I would frequently get to see the trains either by walking or riding a bike to the tracks, my maturity and forward thinking skills simply weren't developed yet. But I do remember sometimes waiting for the 6:30 westbound Amtrak. And back then, the EB Southwest Chief (as I now know it to have been called) usually flew through SD around 9PM. Often times on Friday and Saturday nights (no school nights), myself and occasionally a buddy would go down and catch it. Usually at Monte Vista. At the time, the switch stands (itself just recently removed) had the block signals. I learned early on that 'on' meant no trains and 'off' meant one was either soon coming or had just passed. We would get real excited when it went dark. A few minutes later we would hear the distant horns at Lone Hill and Gladstone. Then looking to the west, the [then] Levitz building would begin to glow. And then around the corner it came. We were real excited to see that thing fly through. If I were to guess, those trains were probably doing a good 50-60 mph. Hard to believe that looking at the tracks now. On more than one occasion, we would take ballast rocks and line them up on the rail closest to us in sequence for about 30-40 feet. Because it was night, it was a trip to watch (and hear) that Amtrak crushing them in quick succession in a shower of orange sparks.

Yes, I know it was a stupid, foolish, and possibly dangerous thing to do. But what can I say? We were 12-13 years old and didn't know any better. After all, what match can a four ounce piece of rock be against a hundred ton train moving at 50 miles an hour?

But then again, one time I did get busted by a Santa Fe worker. Not sure who he was. But I was hanging out at Monte Vista waiting for a westbound Amtrak (I still remember it at the time as being a 3pm westbound) and got a stern lecture about the dangers of hanging out at the tracks. While I was being interrogated, the train flew by. He asked for my name, address, etc. (back then us kids had a lot more trust and respect for authority than the kids today have) and sure enough, a few days later, in the mail came a letter-complete with Santa Fe letterhead detailing to my mother about me getting cited for trespassing. I ended up grounded for a week. Of course that didn't stop me. I visited the tracks regularly right up until I moved away in summer of '88. Only by then, I learned to be vigilant for white pickup trucks trolling down the right of way. And when I saw one, to quickly scram.

Another time (again we are looking back at another era. Can you imagine the lawsuits that would be filed if someone were to do this today), I noticed a couple of engines tied down and stopped at the mainline just west of Cataract. So I approached the train and the engineer (or whoever) greeted me, answered all of my stupid and giddy questions and even took me up into the cab and let me pull the horn lever a couple of times. He even gave me a bottle of water from their ice chest. After awhile, he kicked me off and they took off. Remember, I was only about 12 or 13 at the time. But this was in the mid/late 80's. I guess it was a simpler time, or else I was just lucky (perhaps owing to a bit of naive innocence), or both.

Those were the days.

Carl Sandburg Jr. High, actually. I lived a lot closer to Goddard, but had to go to Sandburg due to the local school zoning at the time. I'd usually only see Amtrak #3 when it was running a bit late as I arrived school on my bike around 8:15am. I recall being fascinated by the transition baggage ahead of the ex-El Capitan cars. I think once or twice I even saw 2 of these cars on the same train.

Rich


Railrev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> > I did see #3 pass my junior high school many a
> > morning from '77-'80.
> >
> > Thanks much for sharing,
> >
> > Rich
>
>
> Would that be Goddard in Glendora??

PasadenaSub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Carl Sandburg Jr. High, actually. I lived a lot
> closer to Goddard, but had to go to Sandburg due
> to the local school zoning at the time. I'd
> usually only see Amtrak #3 when it was running a
> bit late as I arrived school on my bike around
> 8:15am. I recall being fascinated by the
> transition baggage ahead of the ex-El Capitan
> cars. I think once or twice I even saw 2 of these
> cars on the same train.
>
> Rich
>
> Oops. Meant Sandburg. My kids went there, but my grandson goes to Goddard. Just a senior moment.
> Railrev Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > > I did see #3 pass my junior high school many
> a
> > > morning from '77-'80.
> > >
> > > Thanks much for sharing,
> > >
> > > Rich
> >
> >
> > Would that be Goddard in Glendora??

My grandfather lived on Comstock and whenever I heard a train whistling for Lone Hill Ave I would run to the corner of Loraine and Comstock to watch everything pass. the last time I saw Amtrak (#4) in Glendora was in 1991 on the curve at MP 112.6 between Alosta Ave (Rte 66)(MP 112.5) and Signal 1122 (MP 112.9)


Railrev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PasadenaSub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Carl Sandburg Jr. High, actually. I lived a
> lot
> > closer to Goddard, but had to go to Sandburg
> due
> > to the local school zoning at the time. I'd
> > usually only see Amtrak #3 when it was running
> a
> > bit late as I arrived school on my bike around
> > 8:15am. I recall being fascinated by the
> > transition baggage ahead of the ex-El Capitan
> > cars. I think once or twice I even saw 2 of
> these
> > cars on the same train.
> >
> > Rich
> >
> > Oops. Meant Sandburg. My kids went there, but
> my grandson goes to Goddard. Just a senior
> moment.
> > Railrev Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > > I did see #3 pass my junior high school
> many
> > a
> > > > morning from '77-'80.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks much for sharing,
> > > >
> > > > Rich
> > >
> > >
> > > Would that be Goddard in Glendora??