Nostalgia & History > Bakersfield ATSF Roundhouse

Here's a couple I shot in the late 'Sixties...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/13 15:51 by MojaveBill.

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Great shots! Thanks for sharing.

These were probably taken in 1973 or 74, after all the PAs had been either sold or scrapped.

1) Lineup outside the Bakersfield Roundhouse.

2) Grade crossing in the yard. Note the flagman. This was often a job assignment for someone who had been injured on the job, and could no longer perform his previous duties.

3) "Garden tracks" with turntable in the background. I recall hearing stories about the Alco switchers being "banished" from the Los Angeles area, possibly on order of the Smog Police. A "triple play" for Switcher Saturday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/13 00:26 by DNRY122.

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More Bakersfield bits:

1) Locomotive load test unit made from "F" unit dynamic brake assembly (or so I was told)

2) Some things HAVE improved in the last 40 years! This is the first version of an Amtrak station for Bakersfield. The present building is at least an order of magnitude better than this rudimentary facility.

3) But the locomotives for the first San Joaquin trains did have better aesthetic appeal, with what my wife calls "Proper Noses" for passenger service.

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I am not sure what year I shot those, could have been '70s. I was in and out of Bakersfield a lot those days hauling prisoners from the Mojave Jail to the Bfl jail!
From my earliest days I always loved going over the Oak Street Overpass "to see the trains!"
My maternal grandfather retired as Bfl. RIP track foreman in 1941, had a lot of stories - and counseled me several times to "never work for the railroad!"

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

I would guess that the earlier photos were taken in the late 1960s--I saw the last Alco PA on Santa Fe property scrapped in May 1970 (give or take a month), and am reasonably sure the others were gone by then.