Nostalgia & History > Being a rail fan in a more innocent time

One of the big rail fan experiences in the early 1960's was hitching a ride on SP's TBX which ran from Bayshore Yard to Oakland. If I can remember right it left about 1pm for a leisure ride around the bay by way of the Dunbarton Bridge. In this case we found a gondola car and settled down for the ride.

Photo #1 Passing MP * near Butler Road.
Photo #2 Crossing the Dumbarton Bridge.
Photo #3 Passing Newark Tower with a wave from the operator.

After arriving in Oakland it was a walk up to the Greyhound Station for a 50 cent ticket back to the City. Upon arrival at home my Mom would ask "Bobby what did you do all day" and the reply would be "Oh nothing much".

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

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Ha!  Yes, I had a few of those, "Don't tell Mom" adventures.  My most outrageous:

1966.  Rode my bike down to the tracks in Santa Barbara, hid it in some tall grass (who had locks back then?!), and climbed aboard an EB gon at Milpas Street.  
Hopped off as I rolled into Taylor Yard in LA about 4hrs & 90ish miles later.
Hitchhiked to LAX.
Boarded a United Airlines Convair Mainliner back to Santa Barbara ($10!).   Can you believe they even sold me a ticket-  I was only 15yrs old!  It was truly another world.
From the airport in Goleta I hitchhiked back to SB and retrieved my bike.
Sat down to dinner with only minutes to spare me from suspicion.
"So, Stephen.  What did you do all day?"
Um..  (think quick)  Went to the beach?

SR

Funny. I remember in 1975 my teenage step-son got in an empty gondola in SLO with the idea of getting out in Paso Robles and hitching back home. Unfortunately for him the train never slowed down. I got a phone call that evening: "Dad, I'm in Watsonville. Would you come get me, please?" He just took early retirement from UP.
Bill Pyper
Lacey, WA
(slo 1975-2007)
 

Milepost 8 in the first pic.

That's not the highway bridge in pic 2? (Just learned that on the road bridge the toll booth was originally between the eastward and westward lanes, at the lift span.)

Turning onto the Mulford line in pic 3?

timz Wrote:
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> Milepost 8 in the first pic.
>
> That's not the highway bridge in pic 2? (Just
> learned that on the road bridge the toll booth was
> originally between the eastward and westward
> lanes, at the lift span.)
>
> Turning onto the Mulford line in pic 3?
Yes

timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Milepost 8 in the first pic.
>
> That's not the highway bridge in pic 2? (Just
> learned that on the road bridge the toll booth was
> originally between the eastward and westward
> lanes, at the lift span.)

Hetch Hetchy waterway, Highway is to the left of that.

> Turning onto the Mulford line in pic 3?

Continuing on the Centerville line and will head up the Hayward line out of Niles to Oakland. It was hit or miss whether you'd use the Hayward or Mulford line to Oakland.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/20 14:17 by Railbaron.

Great photos. Even better stories.

Posted from iPhone

You all were lucky that you were not caught and arrested, or worse yet, been killed.  To me it was so much easier to just ask for a ride either on the locomotive or the caboose.  Much safer and most of the railroaders whom I knew years ago would welcome you once they got to know you and you acted properly.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Sixty years ago when I did this things were a little simpler and danger was the furthest thing from your mind. If I can remember correctly at that time I had a letter from the SP to photograph on their property. Times were different but just as dangerous. I bet there are many older TO members out there that did their share of freight riding.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

Back in my teenage days I came home one night and my Dad asked, "Where have you been?"
"Out stealing hubcaps with Bob and Harold," I truthfully replied.
He chewed me out for being a smartass!
Sometimes you can't win!
BTW, nothing else ever came from that, which occured way out in the desert and was the only time I ever did something dumb like that.
If I'd been caught I would have probably become a politician or something sleazy like that. Oh! wait a minute...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

I was both caught (2 or 3 times) and arrested (once). Never killed.
I rode trailing units several times (w crew’s okay) and a caboose once (w crew)
It was a different world.
SR

A friend and I spent a lot of time chasing, and riding, the NWP. This "situation" occurred shortly after I got my first car while still a teenager.

We had been following an "east train" up the NWP and they stopped at the company cookhouse at Geyserville to eat (that place had good food!!). After they ate one thing led to another and we got invited to ride a trailing unit to Ukiah, their next stop. Heck, teenagers, a chance to ride a train, who would think ahead? In nothing flat we were on the power headed north leaving my car in Geyserville. 

Once in Ukiah reality set in - how to get back to my car. Neither of us wanted to hitchhike, it would be hours before a Greyhound bus would show up (I'm not sure we had enough money for a ticket anyway). The only option was to call George's mom and ask if she could save us. She did, leaving work in Petaluma and coming to Ukiah to pick us up. As I remember it was a fairly quiet ride back to Geyserville but we didn't really get in trouble - boys will be boys. 

Surprised the agent didn't call the POs on you

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A friend and I spent a lot of time chasing, and
> riding, the NWP. This "situation" occurred shortly
> after I got my first car while still a teenager.
>
> We had been following an "east train" up the NWP
> and they stopped at the company cookhouse at
> Geyserville to eat (that place had good food!!).
> After they ate one thing led to another and we got
> invited to ride a trailing unit to Ukiah, their
> next stop. Heck, teenagers, a chance to ride a
> train, who would think ahead? In nothing flat we
> were on the power headed north leaving my car in
> Geyserville. 
>
> Once in Ukiah reality set in - how to get back to
> my car. Neither of us wanted to hitchhike, it
> would be hours before a Greyhound bus would show
> up (I'm not sure we had enough money for a ticket
> anyway). The only option was to call George's mom
> and ask if she could save us. She did, leaving
> work in Petaluma and coming to Ukiah to pick us
> up. As I remember it was a fairly quiet ride back
> to Geyserville but we didn't really get in trouble
> - boys will be boys. 

Figone wasn't with you?. He had story where all of you got run out of Healdsburg by the cops at midnight

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Figone wasn't with you?. He had story where all of
> you got run out of Healdsburg by the cops at
> midnight

No, that was a different trip - good times though.

BoilingMan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ha!  Yes, I had a few of those, "Don't tell Mom"
> adventures.  My most outrageous:
>
> 1966.  Rode my bike down to the tracks in Santa
> Barbara, hid it in some tall grass (who had locks
> back then?!), and climbed aboard an EB gon at
> Milpas Street.  
> Hopped off as I rolled into Taylor Yard in LA
> about 4hrs & 90ish miles later.
> Hitchhiked to LAX.
> Boarded a United Airlines Convair Mainliner back
> to Santa Barbara ($10!).   Can you believe they
> even sold me a ticket-  I was only 15yrs old! 
> It was truly another world.
> From the airport in Goleta I hitchhiked back to SB
> and retrieved my bike.
> Sat down to dinner with only minutes to spare me
> from suspicion.
> "So, Stephen.  What did you do all day?"
> Um..  (think quick)  Went to the beach?
>
> SR

Hilarious!
 

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Surprised the agent didn't call the POs on you

Ha! Yes, the agent in Martinez one time spotted me as I went by on a beet gon. He pointed at me and I knew I was had.
Ah-oh.
Yep. The dreaded White Novas were waiting in Oakland...
SR

I did my frieght riding with my uncle in the locomotive and also in the caboose. They did let me ride a flat car thru the Carrizo Gorge back in the mid 60's. I had a fun time growing up with the SD&AE as my playground.

​Larry

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Surprised the agent didn't call the POs on you

Most of the agents/operators on the NWP knew us and they looked the other way generally speaking. We played nice, respected the employees, and if told "no" we respected that also. Even Hawkins, the NWP special agent, wasn't really that bad if you approached him the right way. The NWP was a really low-key place with great crews. 

George and I used to hit a small burger place just south of the depot in Petaluma sometimes and get a bag of burgers and fries. They were ridiculously cheap but really good. We'd then head to Burdell ahead of the train, eat a couple of burgers and fries ourselves and then as the head-end approached would hand up a bag to the head-end and one to the rear-end; westward trains were restricted to 4 mph over the weigh in motion scale there. The crews always took them and we got a lot of rides. Definitely a different world 50 years ago (damn, did I really say that). 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/20 20:51 by Railbaron.

Sounds like maybe Hardy’s (or a name close to that). It was a Bay Area chain in those days (like Doggie Diner)- burgers for 15 cents, cheeseburgers for .25. We bought a big sack of them and used them for poker chips one night.
SR