Nostalgia & History > SP Cab Forward 4227 in Mojave (also an SP freight, and SF Chief)

This is a short clip of SP 4227 pulling passengers in Mojave. There is also an SP freight in this reel. At the end, is a Santa Fe Chief passing through Boron as seen from the front yard. I think this is the grainiest film I have from the collection (also the only with no color).

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Don't recall seeing pics of SFe Erie-builts
on the Valley Division.

When I saw the cab-forward was pulling a passenger train I thought at first it was the West Coast. But the locomotive number board appears to be 51.

That's a VERY rare pic of a Mallet on 51! Extremely rare - never saw one myself in all those years. The Santa Fe is probably 23, the westbound Grand Canyon.
The SF Chief was a later addition. BTW, the gentleman in the pic at the Oak Creek Crossing looked like Al Sylva, the top end of the yard herder, really fine
man and outstanding photographer. It would sure be great to see all the pics he took...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Still photos of a cab-ahead being used on the San Joaquin Daylight:

- November 23, 1952 Stan Kistler photo at the Bakersfield depot with #4257 (I purchased this photo from Mr. Kistler. I don't think it's ever been published). A Stan Kistler photo of what is apparently the same train in Soledad Canyon (i.e., same engine) can be found on pg. 22 of the Fall 2013 SP Trainline (magazine of the SP historical society) but there is a big discrepancy: the Trainline photo gives the date as November 23, 1951. I don't really know which year is the correct one.

- January 1953 H.L. Kelso photo at the Tehachapi Loop with #4243 on pg. 194 of Church's "Cab Forward."

johncarr wrote:

> The old Santa Fe yard was south of the depot on the east side of US 6 (Sierra Highway) that runs north south thru Mojave.

If the "old Santa Fe yard" was on the east side of US 6, are you referring to tracks in the vicinity of the old General Petroleum plant? A news account indicated the last of the oil loading tracks and buildings there were removed by Apil 1956. Did some tracks remain, to be used by the Santa Fe? If so, for what purpose?


> The [top end Mojave] herder receive instructions over a phone connected with the agent or yardmaster at the depot to line trains into or out of the yard.

The herder got his instructions from the yardmaster. He had some discretion, though. My uncle related a story to me involving my grandfather, herder Al Sylva. The crew of the KI local that served the cement plant at Monolith out of Mojave was ready to leave the yard and wanted my grandfather to line the switches to let them out. He refused, saying their train could potentially delay the San Joaquin Daylight while on the way to Monolith. The crew got highly indignant of this and one of them threatened to write a letter to the trainmaster. My grandfather said fine, write the letter. It's better that the trainmaster receives a letter from you than me receiving a letter from the trainmaster for delaying the Daylight (the crewman apparently never sent a letter)


> Radios eventually killed this assignment and train crews had to line their train in or out of the yard.

Actually, the herder positions were abolished when the Mojave yard was closed around 1970 (my uncle, also a Mojave herder, then commuted every day from Mojave to Bakersfield to work as a switchman in the SP Bakersfield yard)

Fantastic video, thanks for posting. Crazy to think how different railroading was when my dad was a kid vs what my kids see today.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Thanks again to everyone giving more details than I knew to these films!

Great vid!  Thanks for sharing!

What's the third unit on the Chief?  Doesn't look like an Erie (note the lack of the big louver section in the rear for the radiators.)

~Joe P.
Hainesville, IL