Nostalgia & History > WP Wednesday from Oakland

Some views of the Western Pacific in Oakland from the FRRS Archives...

1 - WP 2-8-2 307 rolls down one of the leads for the turntable.  Visibile in the roundhouse are the tender ends of several steam engines and the cab of an Alco S series switcher.  The 307 had been built by Alco in 1919 for the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern but it and 4 others were sold to the WP in 1920 as WP 306-310.  The 307 would operate until October 1950.

2 - WP FT 902 keeps company with 2-8-0 64 on July 10, 1949.  The 902 had arrived in December 1941 and would work for the railroad for nearly 23 years before being retired.  

photos from the Carl Walker Collection, FRRS Archives

---

---

Those heavy mikes are good looking engines.

The 902 looks to be freshly painted into the first orange scheme in that photo.   Too bad it's not a color photo to really appreciate the new paint but seeing this photo is still outstanding.   Thanks for sharing these with us.