Nostalgia & History > Tehachapi Flood---9--1932

Information.....Woodford / Tehachapi Calif.......Sept 30 1932 Flooding

I and a friend are doing genealogy search . The friend had an engineer relative that drowned in the flood of 1932 in above area .

The newspaper article with pictures is not very clear. They are looking for better info and pictures with names...Maybe the S P Bulletin or S P Tech Society would have more info....any help will be appreciated....

Read following note about the relative



Don:

My great uncle's name was Alexander Hamilton Ross. His nickname was "Pinky". He drowned on 30 Sep 1932 at Woodford, Kern, California. He was the engineer of the SP freight train engine #5036. He had left the train and gone into the El Rita Store. By the time the flood hit Woodford, it was cresting at more than 30 feet. A dozen or so people, the store and engine #5036 were swept into the Tehachapi Creek.

I have copies of the Los Angeles papers that covered the story. What I would like is another source that may have covered the flood. Maybe there is a way to see the collections of photos that were taken. Those published in the news articles are poor quality.

Jannette---

Thank you all for help...

Don---Napa

John Signors book "Tehachapi" has good information with photographs of this event.

Isnt there a urban legend that that a brass bell from a steam locomotive, perhaps this #5036, that was lost in a flood. The locomotive was recovered but the bell was never recovered and is out there somewhere...??? Seems I've heard this story from somewhere...

Here are a few links, not sure if they will be helpful or not...

http://www3.gendisasters.com/california/13504/tehachapi-mountains-ca-cloudburst-flood-oct-1932

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11912

http://books.google.com/books?id=WdgNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=tehachapi+woodford+flood+1932&source=bl&ots=qVm3okIE_R&sig=JY2q_TyQpHrO028JltlhKQ6mfDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=afpVUfC6CeOYiQLw5IEQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=tehachapi%20woodford%20flood%201932&f=false

Jim Boynton's "Three Barrels of Steam" has good text and photos of the situation as it related to the SP and Santa Fe trains involved. Pinky is named in the text, as I recall.

John Ford

charles m steffes book ''life and times of a locomotive engineer'' may have more on this

he was a bakersfield based fireman engineer in this era

i have not seen this book for a few years i lost it ages ago!

Here is a link to a State of California Department of Public Works report on the Flood dating from 1933. It is in PDF format. Hoevwer, It cover only the first eleven pages.

of a http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&sqi=2&ved=0CFwQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarroll.dss.ucdavis.edu%2Frepository%2F1933%2520Wing%2C%2520Robert%2520L.%2520Report%2520on%2520Flood%2520of%2520Sep.%252030%25201932%2520on%2520Tehachapi%2520Creek.pdf%2Fat_download%2Ffile&ei=IflWUYPgC6KDiwL404DwBA&usg=AFQjCNGQLFv77xMZVrxUAqYF7_jv72M4bQ&sig2=DN_SpZ_R7SxvCAwFzTP97w&bvm=bv.44442042,d.cGE

The report, in book form can be found at the following libraries:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/report-on-flood-of-september-30-1932-on-tehachapi-creek-kern-county-california/oclc/13579837


Cheers,
Jack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/13 07:57 by africansteam.

Thank you all for the help on the 1932 flood.....We have access to the books. It will help on the research...

Don---Napa