Nostalgia & History > SP 'railroady' stuff at Reno and Truckee

Sometimes when you go back and start really looking at a railroad picture, you start seeing all sorts of things you didn't notice before.  The first photo is a westbound passenger train arriving at the Reno station.  Train has an SD-45 leader, SP 8888, with it appears four UP E units and an F unit trailing, possibly with possibly ice breaker bars on the cab roof.  The train is long, stretching back under the Wells Avenue overpass.

But what caught my eye, besides the blinding contrast and the high sun  (I wrote on the back of the print that it was taken on June 10, 1973 and that the train was 3 hours, 45 minutes late.) was the baggage cart. They always seemed kind of crude with their steel wheels and and simple construction.  The little three-wheel tow vehicle is kind of cool, though.  I can't tell what that wrapping stuffed behind the driver's seat is.

Now the Truckee depot photo has lots to look at that really gives the 1970s scene that railroady look we always used to soak up.  There is a railroad building on the far left, a spreader in the background by the arriving freight train, a speeder poised just off the main in the front of the depot, the train order signal and the dirt platform with a puddle that doesn't look too passenger friendly.  And yes, a typical railroad practical use of what's around to separate the platform from the parking area; old rail sections stuck in the ground.  Watch your step! 

JB - Omaha

I should give credit to the late Jim Boyd, former editor of Railfan Magazine for coining the word “railroady”.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/19 16:21 by Copy19.

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The baggage tow was made by Cushman Motors. Which at the time was owned by OMC Outboard Marine Corp that made mostly outboard motors Evinrude and Johnson. OMC sold that division about thirty five years ago. OMC went bankrupt in 2000.

That first photo was the first trip of Es coming west on No 5
 

usmc1401 Wrote:
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> The baggage tow was made by Cushman Motors. Which
> at the time was owned by OMC Outboard Marine Corp
> that made mostly outboard motors Evinrude and
> Johnson. OMC sold that division about thirty five
> years ago. OMC went bankrupt in 2000.

Did Cushman make motor scooters?   I seem to remember a couple of guys back in high school that rode Cushmans?

JB-Omaha

WAF Wrote:
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> That first photo was the first trip of Es coming
> west on No 5
>

That's amazing.  How in the world did you know that?

JB - Omaha  

Yes, they did make motor scooters, rode on them.

Don Allender

As a reporter you should know that answer, John......... notes



Copy19 Wrote:
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> WAF Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That first photo was the first trip of Es
> coming
> > west on No 5
> >
>
> That's amazing.  How in the world did you know
> that?
>
> JB - Omaha  

ATSFSuperChief Wrote:
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> Yes, they did make motor scooters, rode on them.
>
> Don Allender

They also made a zillion golf carts, too.  Today, they're still in business and make a variety of vehicles.  Cushman Motors

Why not share the source of information with the rest of us?

JB


WAF Wrote:
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> As a reporter you should know that answer,
> John......... notes
>
>
>
> Copy19 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > WAF Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > That first photo was the first trip of Es
> > coming
> > > west on No 5
> > >
> >
> > That's amazing.  How in the world did you know
> > that?
> >
> > JB - Omaha  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/19 08:57 by Copy19.

Notes I kept of operations in 1973
 

Thank you.  I had no idea that train was anything special.   I remember seeing a lot of UP E units through Reno in those days and photographed them several times.  

JB - Omaha

Our power for mail and baggage carts was our legs.

Copy19 Wrote:
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> Thank you.  I had no idea that train was anything
> special.   I remember seeing a lot of UP E units
> through Reno in those days and photographed them
> several times.  
>
> JB - Omaha

The power pool changed on 5/6 from F’s to Es. The F’s went to 1/2. The next power change came in Spring 1974 with the arrival of SDP40fs
 

Copy 19,

These are great photos which bring back fond memories of one of my favorite summers on Donner Pass. The westbound "SFZ" of June 10, 1973 was the first daily "Zephyr" of that summer, thus the extra units and cars being moved west to Oakland. The train was to have reverted to tri-weekly come fall, but the energy crisis and record loads helped Amtrak decide to make both the "Zephyr" and the "Starlight" daily year round in the fall of 1973. As a side note, one of the UP E-units in the consist that you photographed was UP E-8A 926, UP's first E-8/E-9...

Thanks so much for sharing!

Best wishes,

ShastaDaylight