Nostalgia & History > Monday Memories - WP Zephyrette RDC At Oakland 12/59

I usually post material in Monday Memories that were part of my early railfan experiences, however, I had never
seen the WP RDCs. Economy and local travel trips on the WP between Oakland and Salt Lake City.
Don't imagine too many people made the entire trip on the Zephyette. No food service on board, but
assume they allowed extra time a certain locations for food.
Tom Eikerenkotter Photo
Regards, Jim Evans

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How neat thanks for sharing! i like the look of the single large headlight in the door. Also seems to be wearing a Leslie 75 short chime air horn. not a glorious sounding horn but very neat to see in operation!

AC

FiveChime Wrote:
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"...no food service on board, but assume they allowed extra time at certain locations for food."

Correct, according to the 1954 timetable I have, 30 minutes at both Portola and Elko, both showing the "II" symbol for meal stop.

WP 376 was later Amtrak 32 and received a multi-chime horn (maybe an S-3L?) and an Oscitrol headlight (see https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5784478).

mike woodruff
north platte ne
 

That light in the door was an osculating light.
Regards, Jim Evans

Due out of Oakland Yard at 4:30 thrice weekly

https://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/maps/perryETT/1959-10-25WP_Western46-SheldonPerry.pdf

Great pic. No doubt - a train I'd love riding.

Posted from Android

I have more information about the two WP RDC cars.
The WP sold the two RDC's and one box car full of parts to thw Northern Pacific about  the moved to NP COMO Shops in St. Paul. They were reeumbered B31 and B32 for service on the Fargo an Winnipeg, at two one car trains, replacing a locomotive hauled train (NP 6600 and NP 6601).

The 6600 and 6601 were FP7;s and were further used between St Paul and Livingston, Montana and could not be used west of Livingston because they did not have dynamic brakes. The 6600 and 6601 were the only FP7's the NP had.

The six NP RDC's and probably the GN 2350 (only GN RDC) were sold to AMTRAK.

Any ccorrections will be appreciated.

Ed Burns AKA NP EDDIE. Clerk at Minneapolis 1966 and 2004, 38 years of service to the NP.

Private massage are appreciated.

perhaps used also to dead head crews between various points?

bakersfielddave Wrote:
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> perhaps used also to dead head crews between
> various points?

And company mail.

IDEAL_1 Wrote:

> Also seems to be wearing a Leslie 75 short chime air horn.
> not a glorious sounding horn but very neat to see
> in operation!

WP's RDC's had a fore-and-aft pair of Wabco A-2 horns on each end:

http://atsf.railfan.net/airhorns/a2.html

In the above photo, you can see the air line coming into the back cap, a feature of the A-2 but not the Leslie A-75, which got its air through the bottom of the support bracket:

http://atsf.railfan.net/airhorns/a75.html

The numberboards tend to get in the way of a clear view of the horns on the WP RDC's from ground level, but the first photo below of 375 at Salt Lake City shows both sets of horns (the ones on the far end are covered in diesel soot and hard to see against the roof).

The second,  head-on view on a Bay Area Electric Railroad Association excursion in 1960 on the Sacramento Northern at Yuba City, CA shows the rounded back cap with a vertical fin characteristic of many Wabco horns, and the third view on a Northern California Railway Club excursion on the Tidewater Southern in 1951 shows the fins near the rear of the horn bell that were typical of the A-2 but not of the Leslie A-75. 

Photos courtesy the Western Railway Museum Archives.

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