Nostalgia & History > Tracy, CA in the 50's

Old photos of the SP in Tracy, CA never fail to baffle me. There were so many SP structures (nearly all gone now), multiple water tanks at different places in town, lines coming in from all directions, road crossings that have changed, etc. that it's hard for me to get my bearings. I recently came across this aerial photo ca.1960 which helps a lot for the area around the station, though the water tanks were gone by the time it was taken:

http://www.tracyrail.org/pix/morris/index.shtml

I found these unlabeled views in the Western Railway Museum Archives which I'm pretty sure are Tracy, taken by an unknown photographer in the 50's. In the first one, I can see the Hotel Western in the background, which still exists at 6th and Central, so I think we're looking east at the C St. crossing with the passenger depot and main line over Altamont out of the view to the right, and the freight depot and the Mococo Line to Martinez on the left.

The second view also looks east showing the Sacramento Daylight with the passenger depot and yard tower to the left. The water tank in the distance is not the same one as in the first photo, right? Was this yard tower later moved east of Eleventh St., or was that an entirely new structure?

The third view shows the March 24, 1957 "Fresno Flyer" excursion taking water eastbound at what I believe is the same tank as in the second photo, with the yard tower and depot just visible between the tank's legs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 15:26 by Evan_Werkema.

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Great images of the Golden Age of Espee steam at Tracy. You made my day!

Evan, regarding photos 1 and 2, my eye gravitates to the side of the tank with the spout and the position of the wires. The spout and wires are on the same side in one photo and the opposite in the other. That would argue for the two being different tanks, no?

BobE, often wrong and always in doubt

I'm thinking #1 is over by the old town with the Hotel, where the rail welding plant had been. Headlight is facing Altamont Pass, or Byron.

#2 and #3 has the Tower which is/was on then other side of the old hiway. But the shadow says different times of the day. I'm thinking both have traveled from Lathrop wye.

I keep thinking of the engine house and the building that was the crew change in the 80's.

*did a little more research for an updated response below.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/14 11:04 by TCnR.

BobE Wrote:

> Evan, regarding photos 1 and 2, my eye gravitates
> to the side of the tank with the spout and the
> position of the wires. The spout and wires are on
> the same side in one photo and the opposite in the
> other. That would argue for the two being
> different tanks, no?

My guess that they were different tanks was based mostly on the stilts, and that C St. would be well behind the photographer in photo 2 (I'm assuming that is C St. under the locomotive in photo 1).

The tank in photos 2 and 3 (which I think are the same tank) had spouts on both sides, as seen in this photo of 4481 on the March 27, 1955 Daulton branch excursion stopped in the same spot as 4443. This is another color corrected Ektachrome from the Roy Proffer collection at WRM.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 16:46 by Evan_Werkema.

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TCnR Wrote:

> I'm thinking #1 is over by the old town with the
> Hotel, where the rail welding plant had been.

Which was where in terms of present-day streets?

> #2 and #3 has the Tower which is/was on then other
> side of the old hiway.

Which present day road is "the old hiway" you're refering to?

Looks like the pole line in the distance
in pic 1 is the one next to the tank
in pics 2 and 3.

The tower in the center of Morris's aerial
is the same as the tower in pic 2--
see the building north of the tower
in both pics, and the smaller building
east of that building?

Apparently the two spouts in pic 4 are for
trains on the Mococo and Niles lines.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 18:40 by timz.

In photo #1 (The Sacramento Daylight), the "Daylight" combine, S.P. 3176, is alive and well at Niles Canyon Railway. The "Wednesday Warriors" volunteers are doing a great job replacing the roof and generally fixing everything that needs to be fixed. Some details are visible at http://www.ncryfleet.org/NCRY_Coach_Yard/453_Combine.html

Like many pre-WW1 cars that went into excursion service by ~1960, this car has had the roof patched many times. The time had come to do the 100-year roof overhaul, stripping off all the old sheet metal etc, and reinforcing the structural roof members as needed. The new steel will be protected by modern material that looks authentic, but will give us decades of leak-free protection. (Better living through Chemistry!)

If you would like to help with $$ or volunteer time, NCRy would like to talk to you!

- Doug Debs

Photo #2 doesn't look like the Sacramento Daylight to me. It looks more like train #55 or #56. These trains just had a rider coach between SF and LA. Also the Sac Daylight didn't go through Tracy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 18:11 by nedzarp.

Train in pic 2 is on the Niles side,
where 55-56 wouldn't be.

True, 53-54 didn't go thru Tracy--
54 went to Tracy and parked there
until time to return as 53.

Signor's map (page 132-33) agrees with
the pics: two 65000-gal tanks, one
a bit east of C St and one in the crotch
of the Niles-Mococo junction.

When were those classic SP yard towers built? I assume they were all built across the system at about the same time. Are any left in operation?

Believe there's still one in the middle of Fresno.

Milwaukee Wrote:
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> When were those classic SP yard towers built? I
> assume they were all built across the system at
> about the same time. Are any left in operation?

West Oakland and Fresno still have their ex-SP yard towers in use today by the UP. Don't know when they were built.,

So I pulled out Signor's Western Division book and didn't see the new yard in the 1925 map. Found the SP Trainline Spring 1977 and found the new yard was built around 1962.

The map in the book is pretty tight, the Trainline map has a slightly different coverage with a second larger perspective showing old hiway 50. The Trainline map makes it clear that photos 1, 2 and 3 were taken around the Station near the C Street road crossing.

I didn't know that was where the old station had been located. The tower in the photos is said to have been built around 1952, the new tower and offices closer to the hiway 50 overpass were apparently around 1962. I had not seen the tower in the early yard area, an aerial photo in the magazine shows the early tower to be directly across from the station, perpendicular to the roof line but not square to the Altamont tracks.

*The location of the old tower shown in #2 and #4 makes them on the Altamont Line.

Just figured out that the area shown in the book and magazine is about where the rail plant had been, fairly far from the new enginehouse and the East Valley wye. Interesting little research project.

*The TracyRails webpage is not totally accurate, I never heard the story of PhotoBob flying over the Yard taking photos in 1960. A number of the Station photos would be in the 'collection of PhotoBob'. Signor's book and the David J Welsh Trainline article mention the documentation of the buildings just prior to demolition. A similar aerial photo is in the Trainline article with a Southern Pacific Lines credit.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 22:48 by TCnR.

Great looking photos, sure brings back memories!

Larry

nedzarp Wrote:

> Photo #2 doesn't look like the Sacramento Daylight
> to me. It looks more like train #55 or #56. These
> trains just had a rider coach between SF and LA.
> Also the Sac Daylight didn't go through Tracy.

Here are the pertinent pages from the Western Division ETT 262 (October 30, 1955). Sure looks like the Sacramento Daylight served Tracy.

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This should show where two of the water tanks were located. The foundations to both still exist... you can see them in this recent aerial photo. I am guessing the tank with the 2 spouts would be the one to the right.

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danf Wrote:
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> This should show where two of the water tanks were
> located. The foundations to both still exist...
> you can see them in this recent aerial photo. I am
> guessing the tank with the 2 spouts would be the
> one to the right.


Very cool, I see the Brentwood line has a new curve in it, which happens to make the real estate look a little more sellable.

Doesn't look like a Oil Train friendly kinda curve though.

If you are referring to the curve at the bottom of the photo, that is actually the beginning of an industrial spur that runs to the south. The Brentwood line would be to the left (not included in photo).

TCnR Wrote:
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> Very cool, I see the Brentwood line has a new
> curve in it, which happens to make the real estate
> look a little more sellable.

Yuh know, you almost feel like saying "what the heck are you guys talking about, that's not Tracy".
Even fifteen years ago it looked almost nothing like the pictures and you'd really have to look to
place anything in the pictures. Amazing how much it changed in a short period of time. Closing
Altamont didn't help or did the Brentwood line.