Nostalgia & History > SP Truckee Limited 1971

On April 25, 1971 the Truckee Limited made a round trip Oakland – Truckee on the Southern Pacific. The Bay Area Electric Railroad Assoc. and the Pacific Locomotive Assoc sponsored the special. Five SP F units, headed by the SP 6459, powered this classic train. The train had a 21 car consist, including 2 dining cars, 3 lounge cars and the required and most popular “fresh air sightseeing baggage car”. It even had an official Train Newspaper – printed enroute aboard the train! As proof it was printed enroute, it even mentioned (on page 1 of 4) the train’s failure to stop for passengers at Richmond, who caught up with and boarded the train at Martinez. Here the train has stopped for a photo shoot at Colfax. The rear car is the Circumnavigators Club Pullman lounge. There must be other Trainorders viewers who rode this train. Let’s see some of your photos.

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For those of us who remained on board at Truckee, we had an unusual treat. The entire train turned on a sharp balloon track at less than 5 mph, passing inside a working lumber mill. The rear of the train passed the front of the train. Here the head end has straightened out from the balloon track and creeps forward as a light snow begins to fall.

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Yup, was on that trip. Don't have the ways to scan though. Remember the work train that was out between Stanford Flat and Truckee picking up the units that ran off the track a week earlier on an e/b runaway? The w/b leg of the trip was 3 hours late. Last SP excursion. Let's see other trips of the late sixties on the SP... That was I think, SP 2451/52, the first articuated chair car set on the train, the last set to wear the fluting.

I chased this with Joe Ward & Jim Evans, two friends who also belonged to PLA. The year before, we had a new U-33C on the point, a request from Excursion Director Henry Luna that the SP was good enough to grant. Worked that train as a coach attendant. Those were great times then.

The best year of this operation was 1968 when we used the DH643 on the point.

Regards, Jim Evans

If memory serves, BAERA ran the bar service only.

From tales I've heard they made out like gangbusters, and PLA lost money on the rest of the trip.

A little before my time, but looks like one heck of a nice trip. Too bad it won't be repeated...

Luna's trips were always a class act. I was on this (1971) trip as the piano player. The train stopped EB about 1000 feet west of Shed 47, whereupon a bunch of us clambored up on the shed a got a really nice shot of the F units heading the long SP psgr train with the snow coming down.

When I get around to hooking up a scanner, maybe I can post the shot.

Best regards,

Rob L.

This is the Truckee Limited I remember

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That's the year prior ( 1970 )