Nostalgia & History > Steam Derailment at Margarita in the 1940s

These images were taken by my father, an employee of the Southern Pacific Railroad but not a railfan, while he was working in a signal gang that installed CTC on the Coastline. He labeled them as "train wreck at Margarita" which I'm assuming is Santa Margarita.

What I find fascinating is that it was such a spectacle, which I doubt bystanders would be able to have that kind of access in this day and age.

Jan Austin
Chico, CA
J.G. Austin Photography

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Looks like a 2-10-2?

Ouch!

locogimp Wrote:
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> These images were taken by my father, an employee
> of the Southern Pacific Railroad but not a
> railfan, while he was working in a signal gang
> that installed CTC on the Coastline. He labeled
> them as "train wreck at Margarita" which I'm
> assuming is Santa Margarita.
>
> What I find fascinating is that it was such a
> spectacle, which I doubt bystanders would be able
> to have that kind of access in this day and age.

The only way to have that kind of access is if it is by a public road where you could view it or if you yourself owned the land immediately next to the railroad, and even then the authorities probably would want you to move away in case of the possibility of a fire or a hazmat spill from one of the freight cars. There is always the fear of a liability claim from a citizen who inhaled a chemical or who knows what? We are a people who want to take anyone and everyone to court for the slightest reason and you know how easy it is to get a lawyer today who will take this kind of case.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Here is another image I came across in my father's album of the same derailment. Maybe the automobiles will give a clue as to the date.

Jan Austin
Chico, CA
J.G. Austin Photography

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It would be interesting to know exactly where this took place, as it doesn't look like a simple "derailment". That 2-10-2 appears to have run into another train, or else the 2-10-2 was a rear end pusher/helper and the train it was helping derailed. Sure seems like lots of damage for a simple derailment.

Highway 101 would be just out of sight on the very right of the picture if it was built as we know it now

BNModeler Wrote:
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> Highway 101 would be just out of sight on the very
> right of the picture if it was built as we know it
> now

Yes, photos 2,3 and 4 are shot from US 101. I was at the scene of one or two wrecks nearby on the SP Coast Line in the '50s, and, like this photo shows, there was no impediment to public access to the scene. One thing was forbidden, though, cameras, and railroad officials were on the lookout for them. There was an answer, though, cameras disguised as cigarette packs.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

The last pic is facing "east", (UP south) just pass the east switch at Margarita. (Don't know the dates so don't know if the mains had been switched out yet and Cushing MP 233.4, became the main or if it was turned into part of the siding, West of Pozo Rd.) The highway shown is old 101, in most of the pics. It ran thru Margarita, past the depot on the land side, then Pozo Rd, the Union 76 oil pumping station, Garden Farms, Atascadero, Tempelton, and Paso Robles.

My guess is maybe a rearender, going west?

The car nearest the camera looks like a 1941 Plymouth, and there are no cars newer than that in the picture.  This suggests that it was taken sometime between 1941 and 1946.  Civilian automobile production was suspended for the durnation of World War II, so it's not possible to use the cars to pin the date down any better than that.

D F W


locogimp Wrote:
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> Here is another image I came across in my father's
> album of the same derailment. Maybe the
> automobiles will give a clue as to the date.