Nostalgia & History > Need Location Santa Fe RDC

Photo was taken sometime in April of 1953, I think. Photo taken by Harold Williams, SFRH&M Collection. Need location.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/17 12:31 by edsaalig.

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Not much help, but a search in Google books found a listing for "Park Milling" in Dallas, but it doesn't mention Texas.

Where did the Santa Fe run most often its Doodle bugs?

Might add "Santa Fe RDC" to your subject line in order to draw more knowledgable folks into in this thread.

When did that nasty crash of the San Diegan happen?
Google tells me that that was 1956, so I'd guess
California, but it doesn't look like California.

Was this a test run in the mid-west before these
units hit California?

John.

Looks like the bean elevator down by El Toro, CA. In 1952 the RDC's were in LA - San Diego service.

PHall Wrote:
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> Looks like the bean elevator down by El Toro, CA.
> In 1952 the RDC's were in LA - San Diego service.

Ah! I didn't remember that elevator. But heck, I was
just 10 at the time :-)

John.

Wonder if SFe put the searchlight (?) above
the colorlight for a reason, or was it just
random? (Don't recall a 1950s pic of
a colorlight over a colorlight.)

Wherever this was, it was pretty early in their Santa Fe careers, as they appear to lack any of the company-applied modifications (extended front plating, removal of passenger steps at the normal "outside" cab ends, oscillating headlights, etc..)

NZ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/17 15:42 by NebraskaZephyr.

NebraskaZephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wherever this was, it was pretty early in their
> Santa Fe careers, as they appear to lack any of
> the company-applied modifications (extended front
> plating, removal of passenger steps at the normal
> "outside" cab ends, oscillating headlights,
> etc..)
>
> NZ

They didn't start modifying them until about 1954 when they had a couple of bad grade crossing hits.

Guy's,
Ed Saalig, author of the book "Santa Fe's Amazing RDC Cars" is the instigator of this thread.

There seems to be too much track here to be El Toro.
Please call me wrong here if I am in error.

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

I thought it might be the place off Sand Canyon near the old Irvine later Valencia station, but old photos of that warehouse aren't the same as this one. Not sure what may have been at El Toro. I wonder if this could have been in the Old Town area of San Diego?

Only OG I have is Dec, '54, and I see no mention of RDC service anywhere. My iffy memory banks tell me they served in the midwest after (or was it before) their assignment to the Surf Line. I keep thinking they served on the El Paso to Albuquerque run sometime in their career.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

DC-192 was converted to Combine Baggage after the LA wreck at Topeka and then sent on to Alburquerque-El Paso service.
So this photo shows both cars as RDC-1s in near new condition.

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

JimBaker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DC-192 was converted to Combine Baggage after the
> LA wreck at Topeka and then sent on to
> Alburquerque-El Paso service.
> So this photo shows both cars as RDC-1s in near
> new condition.

They were given their red noses and the Gyralites in the front door and the front stepwells were removed in 1954.
This looks to be within the first two years of service before any major changes were made.

On the envelope of neg it says Los Angeles. If so where?

My best guess is this is Buena Park, CA and the train is westbound. That signal mast on the right is a semaphore-style train order signal with the blades removed, so we are at a station that would be out of the view to the right. The RDC's are crossing a barely discernible bridge, which fits with the Hwy 39 (Beach Blvd.) overpass that a 1951 track chart shows just east of the Buena Park station. The 1954 aerial on historicaerials.com shows a mill building on the north side of the tracks just east of the overpass, and a hint of the cantilever signal, which the track chart shows to be signal 1601. The crossover in the foreground is also in the right place.

timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wonder if SFe put the searchlight (?) above
> the colorlight for a reason, or was it just
> random? (Don't recall a 1950s pic of
> a colorlight over a colorlight.)

Top unit is not really a searchlight, but a fixed-indication US&S HC-33, which in this case displayed yellow when lit. This allowed the signal to display yellow-over-yellow. They were located where ever the Santa Fe needed an advanced approach indication.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/17 23:52 by BCHellman.

timz Wrote:

> Wonder if SFe put the searchlight (?) above
> the colorlight for a reason, or was it just
> random? (Don't recall a 1950s pic of
> a colorlight over a colorlight.)

There are several examples of similar signals on the Santa Fe among the photos from the John W. Barriger III Library on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12230566235/in/album-72157640338946083/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12230972584/in/album-72157640338946083/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12296042434/in/album-72157640338946083/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12295614475/in/album-72157640338946083/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12295739553/in/album-72157640338946083/

agentatascadero Wrote:

> Only OG I have is Dec, '54, and I see no mention
> of RDC service anywhere. My iffy memory banks
> tell me they served in the midwest after (or was
> it before) their assignment to the Surf Line.

According to Mr. Saalig's very detailed book, Santa Fe's RDC's went straight to California for setup and service; no "break-in" runs on midwestern rails.

After the disastrous wreck at Redondo Jct. on January 22, 1956, Santa Fe rebuilt the cars and sent them to work between Newton and Dodge City via Great Bend, KS from 1957 to 1965. See these old threads:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3652942
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2347512
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1740678

> I keep thinking they served on the El Paso to
> Albuquerque run sometime in their career.

They did, between 1965 and 1968:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2929587
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2505007
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3457501

Ed's book is still available: http://www.pacificrailroadsociety.org/PRS_Publications.html

Thanks Evan, that would have been my guess. Unless someone that prove otherwise Buena Park it is.