Nostalgia & History > Western Pacific In San Jose, 1970

Photos I took for a college project in 1970.

All WP in San Jose.

Regards, Jim Evans

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A lot of new trackage was being constructed in the Milpitas area during that time period.

#5 shows southern end of the WP in San Jose.

Regards, Jim Evans

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Here is the WP SJ turntable.

Regards, Jim Evans

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Where was the WP turntable in San Jose?

Tom Daspit
Morgan Hill, CA
Tom's Trains

tomd Wrote:
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> Where was the WP turntable in San Jose?

At the Williams Street Yard, IIRC.

Great shots. In the photo of the 2 GPs and the 2 Alco switchers, I can't tell the numbers of the GPs or the rear Alco, but the 563 is alive and well in Portola and now repainted into green and orange.

Cool to see the WP in what I consider my hometown.

Z

Thanks Jim. Photos of the WP in San Jose are scarce.

So am I correctly understanding that much of the operation you viewed in these 1970 ceased to exist when the Milpitas yard was constructed?

There definitely has not been much WP shared south of Milpitas so thank you for sharing these photos.

I lived near the branch in Willow Glen in spurts from the 50's to the 90's, so thanks for posting the photos!

>> Where was the WP turntable in San Jose?

Originally, the turntable served a roundhouse at Williams Street.

-E.O.

Neat photos, including the shiny new Mavericks and Cougars! Thanks for posting.

Miss the days of open auto racks, vandals and crime have changed many things.

Great shots!- Steve in wet Grossmont, CA

ATSF5964 Wrote:
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> Neat photos, including the shiny new Mavericks and
> Cougars! Thanks for posting.


I WANT that Torino GT convertible on the lower level of the left hand rack!

Luke

Ruger338 Wrote:
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> Miss the days of open auto racks, vandals and
> crime have changed many things.

And still is changing things all the time. =(

I enjoyed the photo's with the freight cars like the 89' flat car and the auto-racks too. Those always seem to be short in supply! Few back then thought it was desirable to photograph freight cars.

Cheers, Jim Fitch



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/14 09:42 by SPDRGWfan.

Milwaukee Wrote:
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> So am I correctly understanding that much of the
> operation you viewed in these 1970 ceased to exist
> when the Milpitas yard was constructed?
>
> There definitely has not been much WP shared south
> of Milpitas so thank you for sharing these photos.


No. Western Pacific's Milpitas yard was completed in 1955 to serve the adjacent Ford assembly plant. WP's William's Street yard (San Jose) continued functioning into the late 1980s/very early '90s. After the early '80s it became much quieter, as many of the industries in the nearby industrial parks (north and south of the yard) began closing, thus negating the need for much local service.

While attending high school in the late 1970s, used to drive over to WP's Williams St. Yard every now and then with a couple railfan buddies, hang out and watch them switch. Got invited into the cab of GP7s and GP20s a few times to kick cars in the yard. Engineer even let us blow the horn for the grade crossing as we worked back and forth across E. Williams St. and McLaughlin Ave. Didn't get my first camera until senior year in 1979, so wasn't able to capture too many pix of WP action there. Besides, Espee's Newhall Yard (Santa Clara) was lots closer to school (Mitty), and typically busier, not to mention the Lenzen Ave. Roundhouse (San Jose) was a great spot to watch motive power. Nevertheless, visiting WP's Williams St. Yard was fun, getting to experience the always friendly WP and their crews.

Those photos were taken when the WP was transitioning from Alco switchers to geeps. My grandmother lived off William Street and I loved seeing sets of Zephyr-painted F-units laying over. WP tracks went all over the south cannery district of San Jose, through Willow Glen to the freight depot on The Alameda at Bush Street. They pulled a tremendous amount of freight out of the south end of the San Jose Branch in the 1950s and into the 60s. The demise of the orchards and "clean" semi-conductor industry took away all the freight traffic.

Stan Praisewater

Williams Street yard looks very abandoned in 92-94...

I walked the ex WP San Jose from the Cahill depot/Cannery all the way till way it crossed the SP mainline in 1994. While the tracks appeared to be well maintained, there was no hint of freight traffic or any sort of railcar served industries. The only railcar I found on the line was a building contractor that had an ex MP caboose as its office.

The only traffic I could find on the UP (within the limits of my Santa Clara county bus pass) was in Milpitas.

As strange as it sounds, after only seeing SP stuff, I wanted the "treat" of seeing UP.

The irony.

My father worked at the electrical equipment factory in Milpitas, and I recall the new California Zephyr equipment on display at the Alameda freight station. What year was that? Maybe around 1950? Were any of you geezers there?