Nostalgia & History > For the Barbarians #42

A Coast Starlight roll-by at Surf CA.  The original (Type 22?) depot was gone by the time I took these in the early 80's, but there was still an operator on duty working out of a rather unremarkable box of a building.  There were still set out tracks for the White Hills (Lompoc) Branch, seen in the 1st photo, and there was still some decent traffic on the branch by the look of it.  
Surf is a quite, lonely, windswept place, and it was an assignment that was probably either prized or dreaded.
I'd have loved it!
SR

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Curious what the crane might have been needed for. I think I would have enjoyed it also.

First photo is particularly cool with the ocean in the backdrop.  B

Think what you're seeing is Vandenburg,  not water.

doge_of_pocopson Wrote:
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> First photo is particularly cool with the ocean in
> the backdrop.  B

Crane, may have been working on the Santa Ynez River bridge to the west or north of the wye/branch line to Lompoc.

 

That is definitely Vandenberg AFB. The ocean would to be the left of the photographer.



SP4360 Wrote:
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> Think what you're seeing is Vandenburg,  not
> water.
>
> doge_of_pocopson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > First photo is particularly cool with the ocean
> in
> > the backdrop.  B

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Not to make a big deal of it, but if you look at Google maps from the crest above the tracks at Surf, looking north, the coast line curves in an arc to the left and you can see the ocean in front of one of the Vandenberg towers.  It's difficult to see where the land meets the sea in the B&W photo posted above.  I think "Doge" is correct.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6826926,-120.6039347,3a,15.9y,359.42h,88.83t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3nlM_D4xWddYTISaEWeBGw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D1.1709344505501917%26panoid%3D3nlM_D4xWddYTISaEWeBGw%26yaw%3D359.4205533986812!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIwNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Railroaders like to tell stories, many of them outrageous, some of which are captured now and then on TO.  The most improbable railroad story I ever heard on the SP involved Surf.  This story circulated among clerks on the SP Coast and Western divisions, and was repeated in whispers by a few of the most senior clerks south of San Francisco.  According to the story, years earlier one clerk had insatiable desires that he sought to satisfy with female clerks and customers, regardless of marital status.  After enough incidents and complaints, according to the story, managers and union officials agreed to relocate the fellow to Surf, where he couldn't cause much trouble.  A variant on the story was that a female employee agreed to go with him, and they lived in the residence there for years.  Did I believe that nonsense?  Maybe, a bit.   

When I first hired out, a longtime conductor noticed me watching a switching move with a bit more than passing interest. He grinned and asked, “Into trains?”.
I shrugged.
“Well, that’s fine, and they ARE interesting, but pay attention to the people involved- THAT’S what RRing is all about”
After a full career, 32yrs with Amtrak (I guess 33 if I count my year with the AFT) I can only say…. Indeed!
SR

There have been presentations about Surf by John Roskoski at various meets, like those at the Central Coast Railroad Festival in San Luis Obispo. Were any of those recorded? I haven't seen anything on the SLO Railroad Museum website but I would love to see and hear those stories and I'm sure others would too.

Pete
About 2400 miles S-SW of Surf

doge_of_pocopson Wrote:
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> First photo is particularly cool with the ocean in
> the backdrop.  B

Photo 1 what you are seeing is the hillside west of Surf.at the top of the hill is the siding at Tangair and the 9 mile track into the base.
Also at the Surf depot there was a bomb shelter for the operator to lounge in during a missile launch.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/25 13:33 by SanJoaquinEngr.

John's Surf show was one of my favorite and most memorable Winterail presentations of all time!

espee51
Nick

It WAS a great show- one of WR’s finest presentations.
SR

John is alive, well, and still painting houses in Lompoc. I saw him last Summer

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> It WAS a great show- one of WR’s finest
> presentations.
> SR
>
> John is alive, well, and still painting houses in
> Lompoc. I saw him last Summer

If you can get John to paint now, you are doing better than me.  He has retired.  But he did one hell of a job painting houses etc. for many years.  One man show, but very particular and thorough in his work.  Have paid him for many hours of work.  Plus I was the kid looking at the train order board in one of his pictures taken many a year ago at Surf.