Nostalgia & History > City of San Francisco near Pinole in the late 1960's

Gone were the day's Alco PA's lead the City. Here's their replacement leading the City of San Francisco just west of Pinole. It was all crap already.....

Robert Morris Photography
www/snowcrest.net/photobob

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Maybe it was "all crap" compared to what the City had been in the day, but I'd ride that train over today's Amtrak version any day.

I would mind all those crappy passenger cars in HO!

Cheers, Jim Fitch

They look great in N Scale, all of them!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

photobob Wrote:
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>It was all crap
> already.....

Maybe it was at the time, but today we're glad you took the photo anyway!

Andy

daylightdon Wrote:
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> Maybe it was "all crap" compared to what the City
> had been in the day, but I'd ride that train over
> today's Amtrak version any day.
This and the "Cascade" were SP's best trains and not that bad in the scheme of things.

"It was all crap already..... "

You ain't seen nuttin' yet :)

WP-M2051 Wrote:
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> daylightdon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Maybe it was "all crap" compared to what the
> City
> > had been in the day, but I'd ride that train
> over
> > today's Amtrak version any day.
> This and the "Cascade" were SP's best trains and
> not that bad in the scheme of things.
The Coast Daylight was Number 1 on SP's good passenger train list

Hit that one squarely on the head...

41 Wrote:
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> "It was all crap already..... "
>
> You ain't seen nuttin' yet :)

TCnR Wrote:
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> Hit that one squarely on the head...
>
> 41 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > "It was all crap already..... "
> >
> > You ain't seen nuttin' yet :)


SDP45 leading, F unit trailing, multiple baggage cars, jointed rail and ABS signals - hardly crap.

v20s!

DFWJIM Wrote:
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> TCnR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hit that one squarely on the head...
> >
> > 41 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > "It was all crap already..... "
> > >
> > > You ain't seen nuttin' yet :)
>
>
> SDP45 leading, F unit trailing, multiple baggage
> cars, jointed rail and ABS signals - hardly crap.

ditto ... was thinking the same exact thing ... i remember seeing that power set on the CoSF in Trains Mag ... when i see photos like this i can transport myself mentally back to what i was doing at the time i saw the photo ...

Great photo! Thanks for sharing this with all of us Bob! I enjoyed the comments relating to service levels on the SP "City," versus today's Amtrak... I remember when Amfleet first came out in the mid-1970's (1975-1977) and I was having a conversation with the late Art Lloyd of Amtrak. I told him that an Amcafe and Amdinnette were nothing more than a new version of SP's infamous Automat Cars, only with smaller windows. Art got really upset at my observation to which I politely replied (we were friends after all) that a pre-packed sandwich was still a pre-packaged sandwich whether or not it came out of a machine or was handed to you by an attendant... Art finally looked down and said that I was right...

The point here is that while us old timers remember with disdain SDP45's, Automat Cars and the like when compared to ALCO PA's, triple-unit diners, etc. think about the following... SP's 1968/1969 "City" versus today's Amtrak "California Zephyr:" Comfortable reclining seats versus those awful seats in the Superliner coaches, sleeping cars with real beds, in room "facilities," and which were much younger in the late 1960's than the Superliners are today, a dining car (Coffee Shop in this case) serving real food, freshly prepared on board and while the steak dinner was $7.00 back then (which was very high priced for that era), compare that to Amtrak's $36.00 Steak and Shrimp which does not include dessert, etc.???

So, which was the better train relatively speaking? In my opinion the SP "City" of the late 1960's was a much more comfortable and enjoyable to ride operation than today's Amtrak "CZ..." It has come down to the point that I wish Amtrak would quit using the "California Zephyr" name since today's train isn't anything like the REAL "CZ" with domes, fresh food, etc. As one who has made over 300 trips on what is today's Amtrak Overland Route/CZ route I observe the decayed condition of today's train with the pre-Amtrak trains as well as Amtrak's 1980's CZ when the equipment was new, the on-board service much better, and as a result the train carried more than twice as many passengers as it does today... (But the seats and beds even when Superliners were new were a major comedown from pre-Superliner equipment...)

Just my opinion and professional observations, but I sure wish I could have a reclining seat or roomette on the old SP "City..."

ShastaDaylight