Nostalgia & History > Cadillac dreams

I took this photo about fifty years ago with dad's Kodak Pony camera (828 film).  When I was in high school in Salem back then, I liked to spend Saturday mornings at the SP passenger station there and watch the trains go by while I sat in dad's '59 Plymouth Savoy.  And take pictures. I find it fascinating that SP would put a lowly pair of SD9s on what looks like a fairly hot train compared to current practice of UP putting four big GEs on the daily Z.  But I bet those Cadillacs (which were just over 10 years out of La Grange) handled that train very nicely - and the crew had a nice ride on what looks like a nice Spring day.  If I kick myself for anything, it is not going after the occassional Baldwin switcher as it went over to Trade Street on its way to industries there and on Front Street. But you ever knew (in the age prior to scanners and internet) what might be coming down the main line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 09:25 by roustabout.

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Thanks Lou,a great photo of my favorite engines.

Fifty years ago I was in Lancaster, CA, so is that photo on Front St. or at the station?
Bill Pyper
Salem, OR
 

I still see & dream SP @ Albany OR in 2007 and 2019  Thank's Lou,  love seeing sp @ Salem  OR                                                         

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Nice catch !  'Looks like what I think was called the "PCE" (Pacific Coast Expediter) at the time.

My dad used to drop me off at the station to check out the "Shasta Daylight" on his way to work back in the mid-'Fifties.  No camera, then... I was only 14 or so. Dang.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 12:07 by E25.

That was taken at the SP Passenger Station just off 12th St at the Mill St crossing.  The building in the background in the (long gone) Del Monte cannery, where I spent five summers working - and watching trains when I could.

wjpyper Wrote:
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> Fifty years ago I was in Lancaster, CA, so is that
> photo on Front St. or at the station?
> Bill Pyper
> Salem, OR
>  

Wow!  I've never seen 3 axle trucks that long!
Thanks for the video.
Frank30

If those 9's were only 10 years old, there probably wasn't anything newer or more powerful on the old Oregon Division in the mid-60's.  But a fine portait in any case!

I rode scads of SD9s working for DM&E in the summer of '87. I rode a few more while working for MRL. Where I enjoyed an SD9 most was in switching service in MRL's Laurel Yard. Those "cadillacs" rode just fine, but they pulled VERY well, and had great stopping power with all 6 axles equipped with brakes...

Lance/199

That is one video with some mood to it!  A Cadillac looming out of the fog.  I like it.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Hey Lou!  I remember that 828 camera you had!  Thanks for this one!

Lee Hower - Sacramento 

It changed power at Eugene

The SP would most often take the modern high horsepower units off in Eugene and let the older SD9's ramble north with trains to Portland.   Portland often had just SW1500's, SD9's and occassional GP9's on hand in the 1970's.   Go to Eugene and you'd see a lot more diverse power.

I believe the ATSF must have read the same how to run a railroad book as they did something similar in California out of Barstow.   They would pull off their higher horsepower and more modern units and turn many of their trains over to their fleet of GP35's and GP30's during that same period.   

WAF Wrote:
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> It changed power at Eugene

I wondered about that...thanks.

roustabout Wrote:
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> WAF Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
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> > It changed power at Eugene
>
> I wondered about that...thanks.

I'm familiar with the practice of changing out the power in Eugene- in later years when big power was in short supply.  But if Lou's shot was from 1965, what new power would've brought the train over The Hill?  

They were still swapping out big "road power" for SD9's at Eugene into the 90's. I used to love catching the LABRF out of Eugene with 3 or 4 SD9's - they rode awesome at 60+ mph!!!

WestinAshahr Wrote:
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> roustabout Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > WAF Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > It changed power at Eugene
> >
> > I wondered about that...thanks.
>
> I'm familiar with the practice of changing out the
> power in Eugene- in later years when big power was
> in short supply.  But if Lou's shot was from
> 1965, what new power would've brought the train
> over The Hill?  

That and all pig trains would have had F units

Did I miss reference to 1965?  The SP's SD9's I believe were built in the second half of the 1950's so with the comment about the power in the photo being a bit over 10 years old, the power that would have taken the train over the hill would have been SD40's and SD45's.  

WestinAshahr Wrote:
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> roustabout Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > WAF Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > It changed power at Eugene
> >
> > I wondered about that...thanks.
>
> I'm familiar with the practice of changing out the
> power in Eugene- in later years when big power was
> in short supply.  But if Lou's shot was from
> 1965, what new power would've brought the train
> over The Hill?  

For the most part, the SD9 fleet was built in 1954-55. First SD40/45 didn't show up until 1966