Nostalgia & History > Northwestern Pacific Weed sprayer on the Sausalito Branch

On the Western Railroads discussion boaard there is a excellent series of images of what a modern weed UP sprayer train looks like today.  Unless you were born in the 1950's, may have missed your chance of seeing a vintage spray train.  I grew up on the NWP and in 1950's, 1960's thru the early 1970's, this is what the weed spray train looked like. This is early 1968 (which to me doesn't seem so long ago) and the spray train is being pused by an SP SD-9.  The train here is seen railroad west at Corte Madera Ave. in Corte Madera headed for Detour and the San Rafael Branch. Text and Photos by Mike Pechner, Copyright, 2016. "All Rights Reserved." 

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Awesome photo, Mike.

One question: Are you sure that's not East Blithedale Avenue in Mill Valley? 

I agree with Railbaron but I have to say my mind has been completely utterly blown. I've always wanted to see a photo of this intersection and the signals and this is just too much. Wow! East Blithedale at this location was a connector road built around 1957 and there aren't any photos of the intersection between then and the abandonment of the branch that I have found anywhere. And this is a great photo. 

Attached is a 1973 aerial mosaic screenshot with the circa 1935 trackmap layer turned on. Note that there is a spur at Alto that faces east. I heard a story somewhere about a switch being opened and the brakes being released on car that rolled down the grade through East Blithedale, whose crossing signals activated, and out onto the marshy flat area where the cops met the kids who did it. You can really see the slope in this picture. 

If this story is true it means the switch was changed to face the other direction. Or the car could have been up by the tunnel if there was still a spur up there for maintenance, which there was during the interurban days. 

Anyways, Weather's photo shows the grade really well.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/21 23:50 by phthithu.

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Dave, I think you are right!

I have pictures of about every railroad intersection in marin and Sonoma Co.  on the NWP starting from the lare 1950's to present.

It sure is interesting that the NWP bothered sending the weed sprayer down the Sausalito branch in 1968, with abandonment basically a stated aim at that point. I don't think they were keen on spending any money on maintaining the branch.  

Railbaron Wrote:
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> Awesome photo, Mike.
>
> One question: Are you sure that's not East
> Blithedale Avenue in Mill Valley? 

Yup, East Blithedale Ave., which at one time had an overpass built over the track, removed after the electric trains were abandoned.

If you can believe it the overpass lasted until 1959, I believe. They didn't get around to extending Blithedale across the NWP until 1957. Once they did they kept the overpass for a couple years before tearing it down.

There was also an underpass of the NWP that connected Camino Alto Ct. to Lomita Drive https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9024209,-122.5270872,18.17z

I have never seen a picture of it but it is mentioned in maps and newspaper articles. Apparently it was a very sharp corner with poor visibility and considered a dangerous spot. I can't remember at the moment if it lasted until 1931 or if it was removed circa 1910 in favor of a grade crossing closer to the Alto stop. 

First picture comes from the Mill Valley History Room probably from around 1940 and while you can't see it at all the undercrossing would have been around where the man is standing. Second photo came off Facebook, shows Highway 101. That's going to be confusing to some but in 1931 the current highway 101 had only been built as far south in Marin as Tiburon Boulevard/East Blithedale, where it connected to the older alignment of 101 by using this wooden bridge. 

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In the late 1960s I saw this weed sprayer and train on SP’s Oakdale branch. It was moving but not spraying and I had no idea what it was until I got alongside. Never saw it again until this photo. Thanks.

Many thanks for the excellent feedback, maps and photos!