A Southern Pacific freight is seen near Cougar California, with snowcapped Mount Shasta visible in the background, on July 26th 1938. Otto Conrad Perry photo, from my collection.

An eastbound manifest on the Modoc Line reverses direction at Likely Loop. The train is just starting the climb to the summit at Sage Hen, twelve miles and 880 feet of elevation distant.

An eastbound lumber drag on the Modoc Line descends Viewland Hill into the Honey Lake Valley. The train will stop for a crew change at Wendel in less than ten minutes.

Forest fire smoke dominates the high desert as an eastbound Modoc Line train rolls along US 395 near Termo. Both the road power and helper can be seen as this lumber drag curves through the sagebr... (more)

An eastbound on the Modoc Line winds up for the short climb out of Mud Flat to Viewland. Once this modest grade is scaled, it will be all downhill to the crew change at Wendel.

With the Amedee Mountains for a backdrop, an ASEUM prepares to depart for Klamath Falls on the Modoc Line. This train of lumber empties should arrive in Eugene the following day.

In October 1987, a pair of slug sets normally found on Southern Pacific's Toledo Hauler are working as helpers in the Cascades. They display the result of ongoing operation in this service as they... (more)

Rolling southward freight (eastbound in Southern Pacific parlance), a trio of EMD SD45s, consisting of SP 8898, 9120 and 9100, is nineteen miles from San Luis Obispo, at which point this crew will... (more)

“Madame Queen” the diesel-devotees called her - or the “Queen Mary,” she was SF-1, under her original EMD (General Motors) serial number 744 of December 1937. She was 1800 horsepower, and ... (more)

Southern Pacific train No. 52, the southbound "San Joaquin Daylight," running south of Caliente in the Tehachapi Mountains of Southern California in January 1960. Photo by Southern Pacif... (more)

Marching down the New Mexico mainline of Southern Pacific comes a big 2-8-8-4, looking "right nice" with the cab behind the boiler, and real coal heaped high on that tall-sided tender ba... (more)

The well-known red, orange and black of "Daylight" was the stamp of approval among seasoned travellers in the West on July 10, 1949, when this flashy new streamliner took to the rails of... (more)

An intermodal train bound for Los Angeles rolls through Northern California on the Shasta Route. Today, you can see lots of trailers here anytime - a massive Wal-Mart distribution center was built... (more)

A 66-car Southern Pacific intermodal train approaches Tunnel 2 on the Tehachapi grade. Three SD45’s and a pair of SD40T-2’s muscle the tonnage over the mountains.

On a clear winter afternoon, a westbound train on the Shasta Route heads for Roseville. After rebuilding at Sacramento, lead unit SP 6768 was briefly SP 9501. It was renumbered for the proposed S... (more)