Railroaders' Nostalgia > Railfanning Another Railroad from the Locomotive Cab

Almost from day one I carried my camera to work just in case I encountered a Kodak moment for what I called one of my cheat shots.A favorite job of mine was assigned freight which operated between Barstow and San Diego but at times just San Bernardino to San Diego.Often a night job but sometimes a day job and with regular hours.Daylight trips on the coast,meets with other trains, a little bit of work,not much swiching and a steady good crew to work with.One of the things I looked forward to was seeing the SP Marlboro Switcher.We often passed the diamond on the Olive around late afternoon or early evening allowing me to be on the alert.Sometimes the diamond had 10 mph slow order so that allowed even more oppurtunity to scope things out.The SP Marlboro or Tustin Branch fascinated me since childhood.I remember the PE Orange Depot and the tracks ending in Chapman Ave.I had done auto chases but you never get enough.Here are two examples of shots from the cab at the now gone crossing.Not of good quality but better than nothing.Bill Webb

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Bill, I’m an old Orange boy.  I spent my preteen years just east of your first photo at the corner of Cambridge and the SP, until development forced my folks to sell out.  Obviously, I grew up on the SP Tustin branch, but I always liked the Santa Fe.  My mom would shop at the Olive grocery store and leave me in the car.  It was a good day when I could watch the Santa Fe switch the Olive Heights packing house, where we packed our oranges out of.

I too grew in Orange County.We lived in Gardern Grove until my senior year of high school My railfan spots were Garden Grove PE depot to watch the local after my bike ride.My Santa Fe railfanning was Santa Ana when my parents dined out.at Pops Famous Steakhouse which  was just east of the depot.Occasionally I was treated to the Santa Fe Orange Depot location.I always liked railroad depots  so I remember the SP station in Santa Ana and the PE Orange depot.Bill Webb

While working for the SP as a trainman in the 60's, I was assigned to a road switcher at Anaheim which went on duty about 800am every day except Sunday.  In the morning, we went South on the Santa ana line to the sugar beet mill at Dyer, delivering loads of sugar beets and switching a few other industries.  On our return to Anaheim, we would switch two lumber yards in downtwon Santa Ana.  
after lunch, we traveled over the Tustin branch all the way to downtown Tustin, switching two lumber yards there and picking up the day's loads of oranges from the two packing sheds in Tustin.  The SP Tustin branch ended just cross Tustin Avenue a few hundred feet from the Santa Fe's Tustin spur.  On the return to Anaheim, we left all our cars at South Anaheim except the loads of oranges which we hauled over to West Anaheim for a close connection to City of Industry.   What a bucolic fascinating time to spend in Orange County before all the growth wrecked the place!

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

aronco Wrote:
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> What a bucolic fascinating time to spend in Orange County
> before all the growth wrecked the place!
>
> Norm.              

I agree Norm.  Orange was a great place to grow up, when I visit today I don’t feel any desire to move back.  The only thing I don’t miss is the smog we had back in the late ‘50’s early ‘60’s when your eyes burned and sometimes you could barely see across the street.  As a kid I used to imagine what a paradise Orange County must have been when my parents grew up there before WWII. 

Nice job. Been there, done that.
JB

Development in the South County didn't really start until the Irvine Ranch company decided to get out of the farming business.

Actually, developement of the South County leap-frogged most of the Irvine Ranch and started in the El Toro and  Mission Viejo area. The early developement of land near I-5 in the Irvine area was not owned by the Irvine Company. Lived near Frances on the Venta/Irvine Spur until 1976.

PHall Wrote:
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> Development in the South County didn't really
> start until the Irvine Ranch company decided to
> get out of the farming business.

Ah, Pop's Steakhouse on Fourth Street in Santa Ana. It was a favorite spot for beans of the crew of the PE freight that used the SP through Santa Ana to get to their track to Costa Mesa.
spider1319 Wrote:
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> I too grew in Orange County.We lived in Gardern
> Grove until my senior year of high school My
> railfan spots were Garden Grove PE depot to watch
> the local after my bike ride.My Santa Fe
> railfanning was Santa Ana when my parents dined
> out.at Pops Famous Steakhouse which  was just
> east of the depot.Occasionally I was treated to
> the Santa Fe Orange Depot location.I always liked
> railroad depots  so I remember the SP station in
> Santa Ana and the PE Orange depot.Bill Webb

My Grand\parent's house was located next to the Signal Oil distributor at the end of the Tustin Branch. I enjoyed watching the SP switch the lumber yard and packinghouse from the crossing of Newport Ave. In the 1950 I remember the black and orange switchers with two stacks (which I know now were NW2s) switching there in the afternoon.

aronco Wrote:
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> While working for the SP as a trainman in the
> 60's, I was assigned to a road switcher at Anaheim
> which went on duty about 800am every day except
> Sunday.  In the morning, we went South on the
> Santa ana line to the sugar beet mill at Dyer,
> delivering loads of sugar beets and switching a
> few other industries.  On our return to Anaheim,
> we would switch two lumber yards in downtwon Santa
> Ana.  
> after lunch, we traveled over the Tustin branch
> all the way to downtown Tustin, switching two
> lumber yards there and picking up the day's loads
> of oranges from the two packing sheds in Tustin. 
> The SP Tustin branch ended just cross Tustin
> Avenue a few hundred feet from the Santa Fe's
> Tustin spur.  On the return to Anaheim, we left
> all our cars at South Anaheim except the loads of
> oranges which we hauled over to West Anaheim for a
> close connection to City of Industry.   What a
> bucolic fascinating time to spend in Orange County
> before all the growth wrecked the place!
>
> Norm