Nostalgia & History > SP Train 19 near Dunsmuir 1961

Alco PA 6016 descends the grade from Mott to Cantara Loop in the summer of 1961. Train 19 was once called the Klamath and ran between Portland and Oakland handling mail and passengers with usually a coach tacked on the rear. This train had some heavyweights and the SP Business Car San Jose bringing up the rear. PA's on the point and a business car bringing up the rear what more could you want.

Robert Morris Photography
www/snowcrest.net/photobob

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Two more fine images proving that it's all crap now!

Thanks for posting Bob,

Dave

Good memories!

The Klamath occasionally met the south-("west")-bound Cascade just north of Salem at Labish which was about a mile from where I lived as a kid during the '50s. Prior to CTC, the headend crew would let me climb aboard the lead PA when they stopped for the switch and ride along to the end of the siding while they waited for #11 to show up. For me, it was better than a trip to Disneyland!

Thanks for the look back in time.

-- Greg

Another pair of Aces Bob. Thanks for sharing.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Boy, oh boy, what a great pair of photos!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Bob:

Your photos never cease to amaze me, both in quality and content.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

kilroydiver Wrote:
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> Two more fine images proving that it's all crap
> now!

So true! Lovely photo's. Makes me wish I could hop in a time machine and go see more for myself!

Trains 19&20 were coach only by this time, having lost Pullman and meal service in October 1956. The name was also dropped around that time. Business cars and deadhead equipment often hitched a ride.

Wow!
SR

In 1961 I had a college friend from LA whose father worked for the SP and therefore rode on a pass to Portland. This was the train that he took as passes weren't good on the Cascade or Shasta Daylight, which were the trains that I rode from the Bay Area.

Is that the location of the old tunnel?

BobB Wrote:
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> In 1961 I had a college friend from LA whose
> father worked for the SP and therefore rode on a
> pass to Portland. This was the train that he took
> as passes weren't good on the Cascade or Shasta
> Daylight, which were the trains that I rode from
> the Bay Area.
We made a few trips on 19/20 during it's time as a full service secondary train in the '40s and '50s. If memory serves, this train once handled through Pullmans to Seattle.
I can recall the replacement of the full dining car with a Hamburger - Grill car, though not the year of that event.....the beginning of the end, as it were, for this train. Oddly enough, we lost our Pullman passes at about the same time as Pullman service was being removed from the secondary we once rode. Again, the exact year of that event is lost to me, but I'd guess '54 or '55. We too only one rail vacation after that, by coach. The sad end of all those full service secondary trains came all too quickly, and too soon. I do feel good fortune was smiling down on me for those trips we did take, in the years between '47 and '54 or '55.
My thanks for another great posting, though, with those darn stinkboxes up front, it was already "all crap", after the demise of steam power.
AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

Last run of Pullman service September 22-23, 1956 between San Francisco and Portland. The Hamburger Grill car was discontinued September 30, 1956. The name "Klamath" was dropped September 30, 1956 and therefore became "Passenger".

goldcoast Wrote:
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> Last run of Pullman service September 22-23, 1956
> between San Francisco and Portland. The Hamburger
> Grill car was discontinued September 30, 1956.
> The name "Klamath" was dropped September 30, 1956
> and therefore became "Passenger".
Thanks, goldcoast, for that. It appears the Hamburger-Grill cars had a short career on 19/20, as reference to a 1954 OG shows a diner lounge offering Coffee Shop service.....that being the first step in the downgrading of dining service on the once grand old SP.
AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA