Nostalgia & History > One day in Barstow in 1968

This ought to get your interest up...

More will be coming...

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Kissin cousins.

Jim

What structure were they inside of?

WHOA!!! The crews in those respective cabs were so far apart they to communicate by telegraph...

;^)

Lee:

By chance is that when we went to Barstow and saw the deadlines of PA/PB's?

Steve

SGillings Wrote:
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> Lee:
>
> By chance is that when we went to Barstow and saw
> the deadlines of PA/PB's?
>
> Steve

Well, duh, Steve! You wanted to see results from my new scanner, so I thought I'd start with this trip!

Now... where was I? ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/14 22:09 by mcfflyer.

Let's see... where was I ... Oh yeah, I remember now!

As Steve Gillings rightfully observed this was a trip I made with him and his brother Bruce back in August 1968. Steve was my first railfan friend, having met on an Orange Empire Trolley Museum trip to Oceanside and Fallbrook in 1966, but in the summer of 1967, we moved to Redding, where I started 11th grade. In the summer of 1968, Steve made a trip back to Omaha, a trip that he's posted photos of here on TO several years ago. On his return to California, he took the California Zephyr to Oroville and a caught a Greyhound to my home in Redding. I was 16, had the family car, and I took him around, including up to ride behind McCloud 25. Then we rode the Cascade down to San Francisco, we overnighted at my grandparents in Burlingame, then took the Coast Daylight to LA then Santa Fe San Diegan to Fullerton. I convinced Steve, who was probably 19 at the time, to drive me up to LA to catch the San Joaquin Daylight (5:40am departure!) back north.

While staying with Steve, he'd heard that the PAs were now all stored in Barstow, now all out of service, I believe. So with a stop in San Bernardino, we were off for Barstow. Right at the old diesel shop, there was this glistening line of all of these PAs and PBs. No, I don't have a list of which ones, or even how many were there. But we found them. I knew what the old steam guys felt like when they were searching out the deadlines.

Holy smokes. This photo shot on who knows what film, as it isn't in a Kodak mount, shot with a single speed (1/80 second, I believe) Kodak German-made camera from 1963, borrowed from my parents, is now approaching 50 years old. Time really does fly.

Thanks for that trip up there, Steve. :)

Lee Hower - Sacramento

PHOTO EDIT - I managed to tone down the over saturation of ruby red in the shot of the 78. Looks a bit better now.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 10:32 by mcfflyer.

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Wow they look pretty nice for power in a dead line. Too bad more weren't saved

Especially a Santa Fe unit or two...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

We also saw the new star attraction on that sunny hot day too.

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What a bittersweet lot of photos! But swell... thanks!

~ BZ

This is a fine look back at the end of the ALCO PA era on the Santa Fe! Your photos are great, but I enjoyed the account of your trip south by train, car and bus just as much as it reminds me of similar adventures in my own life around this same time. My introduction to the new FP45's was along Route 66/I-40 that same summer of 1968 on a family vacation across the southwest. Thanks for sharing your photos and memories...

ShastaDaylight

Thanks, ShastaDaylight. (Speaking of the Shasta Daylight, we moved to Redding the first summer - 1967 - it wasn't running, so I never got to see the line north of Redding in the daylight until the TurboTrain came through in 1971. I posted photos from that trip several years ago.)

I'll expand more on the story of this trip later when I look at the slides more, trying to remember more details. I'll be darned that I'm actually starting to forget things. For example, I can't remember if we took SP 11 from Redding directly to Oakland, but I think we actually took 11 to Davis, the connecting Greyhound bus to Sacramento, then 101 to Oakland. But back in those days, the Santa Fe service between LA and San Diego was a southbound connection, but not northbound. At least today, there are connections, so there are some things that have improved since then. When Steve and I boarded 78 for the ride to Fullerton, the three coaches on the train were so full we had to sit in a men's bathroom lounge. Still, what I'd give to go back to experience again.

There will be more to from this trip to come.

Lee

Great stuff Lee, and what a story. Can't believe all of those beautiful engines were put out to pasture. Would have loved to have seen those in action. Much as I love anything in Warbonnet, those PAs sure looked great.

Nathan

I look forward to hearing more about your trip, and any others you want to share. PS, the "Shasta Daylight" was unofficially discontinued in early September of 1966 as it was running summer only. It was to return in the summer of 1967 but SP went against the regulatory agencies and did not bring it back for another summer, and those agencies did not challenge the railroad on this. Thanks again for the great photos and story!

ShastaDaylight

What a shame all of these beautiful engines were in the dead line. Too bad not many were saved. Thank you so much for posting these. Charles