Nostalgia & History > Rare-ish: SP Train 101 with Fs...

From early E-units, through the venerable Alco PAs, to the upstart SDP45s, power for the SP's City of San Francisco was a fairly stable and predictable line of succession.

F's gave a boost out of Roseville, and by the late 1960s, the boost of a single FP7 helped a single SDP45 maintain schedule and steam heat for 10- to 13-car Cities. And F's quite normally held down the Mail Trains, 21 and 22. But an A-B FP7/F7B combo on 101-102 was not a usual thing by 1968, and it was worthy of a photo that day.

This is a latter-day abbreviated consist, at least compared with the City's salad days, and it's just arrived West Oakland on the last day of November 1968. It's likely I rode the train from Martinez that day specifically to take photos of the interior of the Pride of Texas Coffee Shop, coming back on Train 12, the Cascade. We're down to the bare minimums: a couple MBE Economy Baggage cars (there's been no Railway Post Office for over a year), an ex-Sunset Limited crew Dormitory, three Chair Cars (looks like partner Milwaukee Road is not represented in the mileage this trip), the former P-O-T in Coffee Shop Lounge service, and a lone Union Pacific 10 roomette, 6 double bedroom sleeper in the "Pacific" name series. The rear position of sleeping cars would soon be swapped for the head end, ending a long operating tradition on the SP.

Power is a very tired-looking 3,000 HP pairing, SP 6459 and SP 8290. They probably managed their eight cars well enough, and stayed reasonably on schedule, since I don't recall missing Train 12's return or contemplating stepping off at Richmond just in case. The F's may have been working in the freight pool before being called to sub for an ailing SDP45, since even for November that's more than a single trip's coat of grunge on an SP passenger pool FP7, even in 1968. Looks almost as unkempt as the PAs did, eighteen months earlier. Not quite as rusty, and certainly not doomed yet; a few more years of service for SP and Amtrak were still ahead.

I wouldn't meet Photobob for a few more decades. But it looks like I'm doing my best half-crouch, low-angle Photobob ripoff. Not quite full p-bob job, but getting there. And yes, I was watching my back. Simpler days.

~ BZ

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For those who are interested, here is a Pride of Texas Coffee Shop car.  Photographed on April 15, 1969 during a trip from Oakland to Sacramento.  Ours was a virtually identical consist to what Notch16 photographed, except that power was a single SDP-45.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/17 20:15 by Slumbercoach.

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Hope you're not doing the famous 'Harold squat' looking down into a Mamiyaflex?

Notch16 Wrote:
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> ...But it looks like I'm doing my best
> half-crouch, low-angle Photobob ripoff. Not
> quite full p-bob job, but getting there.
...

Great photos. great commentary and details.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/17 23:01 by TCnR.

The guy I bought the Mojave Desert News from warned me to never try to take football pix with a Rollei unless I used the sport finder.
He had the scars to prove his point!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

> Hope you're not doing the famous 'Harold squat'
> looking down into a Mamiyaflex?

Nope. Could have maybe gotten lower! Mamiya-Sekor 35mm SLR with match-needle exposure meter in the viewfinder.

Thanks for the props!

~ BZ