Nostalgia & History > Throw back Thursday, SP . . .

.   .   .   in JUL '74, one of SP's many haulers was eastbound on UP trackage rights in Hacienda Heights, CA, headed for SP's Industry yard.
JB

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Another winner,  thanks Joe-!  Enjoy your Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Other than the D&H,was there a better Alco customer than SP?

Posted from Android

Historic nice shot! ALCOs and 40 footers!

A pair of ALCO C-415's!-What a catch!
Bob

cnr6776 Wrote:
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> Other than the D&H,was there a better Alco
> customer than SP?
>
> Posted from Android

New York Central was their biggest customer. Oddly enough, the NYC would only buy 44 251 powered Alco's.

Great catch. It almost seems a land lost in time. Thanks for sharing. Bill Webb

Excellent catch!
GK

cnr6776 Wrote:
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> Other than the D&H,was there a better Alco
> customer than SP?
>
> Posted from Android

Spokane Portland & Seattle comes to mind.

Sorry this was a double post!

Amazingly enough this area still looks pretty much the same today. Mobile home park and the golf course are still there.

cnr6776 Wrote:

> Other than the D&H,was there a better Alco customer than SP?

"Better" meaning what?  In sheer numbers, the SP system bought more Alcos total (558) than D&H had diesel locomotives.  However, like the fella said, New York Central bought even more Alcos (720), and successor Penn Central ended up a couple dozen shy of 1000 Alcos. 

As a percentage of the roster over the lifetime of the railroad, D&H has SP beat...but so does Green Bay & Western or for that matter the Fairport Painesville & Eastern (8 locomotives, all Alco).

Fabulous shot!!!

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cnr6776 Wrote:
>
> > Other than the D&H,was there a better Alco
> customer than SP?
>
> "Better" meaning what?  In sheer numbers, the SP
> system bought more Alcos total (558) than D&H had
> diesel locomotives.  However, like the fella
> said, New York Central bought even more Alcos
> (720), and successor Penn Central ended up a
> couple dozen shy of 1000 Alcos. 
>
> As a percentage of the roster over the lifetime of
> the railroad, D&H has SP beat...but so does Green
> Bay & Western or for that matter the Fairport
> Painesville & Eastern (8 locomotives, all Alco).

SP continued to dip their toes into the ALCO pool into the mid-60’s, well after the NYC decided to stop purchases of new ALCOs. They were aware of the problems but still continued to hold out for ALCO.

Posted from iPhone

badman Wrote:

> SP continued to dip their toes into the ALCO pool
> into the mid-60’s, well after the NYC decided to
> stop purchases of new ALCOs.

Ten NYC C-430's don't count?  

https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/photos/pc-prototype-photos/pc2053clearfield/

What is a hauler?

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> badman Wrote:
>
> > SP continued to dip their toes into the ALCO
> pool
> > into the mid-60’s, well after the NYC decided
> to
> > stop purchases of new ALCOs.
>
> Ten NYC C-430's don't count?  
>
> https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/photos/pc-
> prototype-photos/pc2053clearfield/

Well yes and no. The NYC had stopped buying Alco's after the RS32's. However, as the PRR merger approached, the PRR practice of giving Alco a share of the business was adopted. As a result, Alco was given the C430 order.

The NYC made other compromises. They did not want Hi-Ad trucks favoring AAR-B's. Unfortunately, the NYC had ordered two different groups of GE's built with FM AAR-B's. This had proven to be problematic as they required different wheel set/combo's due to different bearings and other components. They used the trucks under the trade ins to Alco under 10 of these GE's in order to create standardization.

PC did place an order with Alco for 15 additional C430's but the end came before they could be built!

Posted from Android



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/25 17:49 by NYSWSD70M.

3rdswitch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> .   .   .   in JUL '74, one of SP's many
> haulers was eastbound on UP trackage rights in
> Hacienda Heights, CA, headed for SP's Industry
> yard.
> JB

Probably the Anaheim Hauler or Buena Park hauler.

Posted from Android

Looks like it's been triple tracked since then:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0303828,-118.0010894,439m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTEyMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

nydepot Wrote:
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> What is a hauler?

The term 'Hauler Crew(s)' appears in Pacific Electric's Agreement with the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT)
and their trainmen effective December 16, 1953. I find no use of the term in SP's Engineer agreement with engineers
represented by the BLE or SP Firemen represented by the BLF&E. When the Pacific Electric was fully absorbed into longtime
parent SP in August 1965 the resulting labor agreements between prior PE and prior SP employees were modified to insure
certain assignments would henceforth be provided 'protected' status. I'm not absolutely sure, but it's possible this (1965) is when
the term 'hauler' might have crept into the vocabulary of railroading on former SP/PE assignments. Just a guess.  

As used in so-called 'railfan' publications (yes, that includes Trainorders.com) a "hauler" on the SP denoted a group of cars
being moved to or from their destination for loading or unloading; such placement for loading or unloading at these destination 
points being being accomplished by other trains/crews, not the "haulers" themselves. As SanJoaquinEngr notes, in this example
most likely the 'Anaheim Hauler of Buena Park hauler', two such "haulers" with home terminal at SP's City of Industry yard, a few
miles ahead of the train in JB's photo. Officially, their assignments were: 'Local Freight'.

The two 'haulers', at the time of the photo would take their train, made up of mostly building product loads destined Orange County
home builders in the Buena Park and Anaheim area to their respective end points for further movement to the receiver by "local freight"
assignments based at the two locations. 

SP also had "haulers", again, in official terms: 'Local Freight' assignments, that plied the rails between SP's Taylor Yard in Los Angeles to
such points as Dolores and Torrance. There may have been others that I'm forgetting--it's been 46 years since I last pulled an SP throttle.

Charlie 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/25 22:00 by cewherry.