Nostalgia & History > Oil cans at Mormon rocks

Taken back in September 1994 a much missed Southern Pacific oil can train heads down Cajon Pass at Mormon Rocks. I'd love to see one of these trains again.
Andy

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You and me both . . . which proves once again that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" . . . . nice shot.

I used to watch the oil cans go through Tehachapi. You could hear the engines rumbling when the train was miles away.
I loved the sound of those diesels!

I thought I might have been on that train in your first photo but my timebook for September of 1994, which only goes from Sept 1 to Sept 18, shows me on that train on the 2nd, the 9th, and the 12th. I also patched the oil train at Slover on the 10th.

On the 12th we had 78 loads with 10,220 tons with 5 units. We had the 8035, 7807, 7865, 7784, UP9270, and the SP9703. The 7807 and the 7865 were dead-in-consist and the 7784 did not have working dynamics. We must have taken our helper all the way to Mojave as we were over tonnage for the amount of axles of dynamic we had. (The maximum is/was 400 tons per axle.) It was that or set retainers and the dispatchers don't like us to do that because it's so time consuming. We only made it as far as Phelan siding where we tied the train down.

JDE

Great shot! When did the cans switch from Soledad Canyon to Cajon and back to Soledad Canyon? I recall watching the cans regularly slide down Soledad in 1991 and 1992. Then again in the mid-90's when the AC's were new.

Unusual to catch a GP 60 on the cans, normally the domain of 6 axle power !

John

There was a period in the early 90's when SP was so power short they were throwing anything on any train. The cans was seen using B-boats and leased ex-Conrail GP38's. I am sure the crews were not appreciating that. <g>

This was a fun train to watch descending the Cajon pass. Grimy, dirty, dynamic brakes howling and flanges squealing all the way down the mountain. Really miss it.

Fizzboy7 Wrote:
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> Great shot! When did the cans switch from
> Soledad Canyon to Cajon and back to Soledad
> Canyon? I recall watching the cans regularly
> slide down Soledad in 1991 and 1992. Then again
> in the mid-90's when the AC's were new.


I know for sure in 1997 when the SP Loopie Conductor and I worked the Mojave Turn with the cans and true the AC's were new......