Nostalgia & History > Valley Ice Company: Stockton CA 1968

Western Pacific fans have all seen the iconic Valley Ice Company building that was the backdrop for so many WP locomotive photos in Stockton Ca. Here's a view that shows the icing platforms that usually did not show up in most photos. This was taken on June 15, 1968. The actual subject of the photo is the new track being laid in the foreground. In that regard, former WP employee Dave Stanely wrote the following:

"If memory serves me well, this is Drill 1. The lead disappearing to the left is A lead. Just out of range of the photographer on the left should be the Cab 2 switch which also came off A lead. The track to the right of the new ties is Drill 2. Further to the right side of the photo is B Lead, and C (later Z) Lead, occupied with cars. We would drag inbound cuts from the Santa Fe transfer into Drills 1 or 2, run around them and then switch them into the classification tracks. Fun times!"

These two photos were taken during the constuction of WP's new Stockton diesel shop as seen in the second photo. I also have a pair of b&w photos taken in December of 1968 showing significant progress in construction.

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Great photos and captioning. Thanks!