In March of 1973, a few friends and I were fortunate enough to get into the cab of a Santa Fe F7A at the railroad’s Redondo Junction engine facility. 44 years later, I was able to get into the cab of Amtrak F59PHI 458, which was sitting on the same whisker track (or very close to the same one) to replicate that photo. Obviously, a lot has changed in 44 years: The roundhouse has been razed, the Santa Fe is gone and the motive power looks a lot different. Happily, the turntable remains (and remains in use), and with a lot more passenger trains in operation in southern California, this facility is very busy these days.
