Nostalgia & History > Last SP Suburban Commute Car Specials 6/15/1985

Here is my video coverage in three parts of all the specials SP ran that day as a farewell to the Subs.
Very nice of SP to run these special trains.
Regards, Jim Evans

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That was quite a memorable trip.  I managed to take a photo of Rollin Bredenberg, SP General Manager who was aboard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/24 14:15 by goldcoast.

Great stuff Jim!

At the 2:35 minute mark on the first video clip.
I see a yard filled with Fishbowls.
Who fishbowls are they?

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Wow, a superb group of videos of a memorable event. I too, rode all four of those trips (long day...) and recall seeing Mr. Bredenberg quietly enjoying the day.
He was truly one of the nice folks with the Espee.

I lived my first 30 years on the Peninsula, and was back there last weekend. The only word I can use to describe the the area almost 40 years later is "unrecognizable ".

Thank you for this pleasant look into the past.

S_W

Posted from Android

Many thanks for posting these.  At the time these excursions were run, I was living at the opposite end of the country and was not able to ride them.  Accordingly, I very much enjoyed watching these.

I am surprised that the SDP45 did not have a more interesting horn.

On the other hand, the F40's horn is the sweetest sounding of them all.

Does anyone have scans of the flyer announcing the excursions which can be posted?

Jim's responses. The buses were used on Greyhound's Sam Trans contracted Pennisula mainline service.
SDP45 3207 had a sour sounding M3 horn as most of the other SDP45s had nicer sounding M5 horns, especially 
3205 & 3206. All were handed down from the FM H-24-66's that the EMDs replaced.
Regards, Jim Evans

Were the same 8 suburban coaches used and just switched to the various locomotive power?

Dave 

Very enjoyable videos!

Larry

IIRC, yes. The trainset remained the same, the power was swapped out at the end of each leg. 

S_W

Defintely VOTD!  I think I enjoyed the audio just as much as the video.
REAL bells at the road crossings!  Thanks for posting!  Good video to digital transfer too!

Good stuff for sure. I was aboard the subs with Huff and Puff. Wasn’t working. Just another passenger marking the end of an era.

Posted from iPhone

Great stuff Jim!

Your railfan instincts are spot on in the first video, where you anticipated the meet near 4th and Townsend. Nice catch of the bridge and the nearby El Palo Alto in the 2nd video. The station stop, then the climbing grade reminds me of Belmont, but things have changed so much since then that I'm not too sure.

My young distractable mind missed the SP --> Caltrain transition era, so I missed the last run of the Subs. (I was busy with computers) Now that you posted these clips, I can pretend to live my life backwards. 

Very good Jim. Interesting not to see a single SUV, mostly just big American sedans.