What is the story here?
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What are the tracks to the right? They look to be a very wide gauge or is an optical illusion?
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I am curious about the grade? That looks like a steep little hill, or is it just the camera angle?
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I would guess that the MILW units are on this train due to SP having tons of power shortages in the 80s.
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| Posted by Sport! on April 8, 2013 | |
Think of that system marriage! SP + MILW = ???
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If memory serves me right, there was a little "dip" in the tracks to get under the bridge, plus there was a bend in the track to get around the bridge support, so the grade wasn't that bad coming out of the yard. I have no idea what the track to the right is, except that it was elevated higher than the SP track on the left, which might be why it looks larger. There was pool power running on the UP, ATSF and SP in the 1980s, and we would see all sorts of "crazy" stuff, however, seeing three Milwaukee Road units together was a first. When we saw this train coming out of the yard, all of our plans changed for the day and the focus was to chase this train all the way to West Colton yard. There the SP pulled off the power, ran it down to Pepper Street at the east end of the yard, and put it on another train. A short time later the train started up Cajon Pass, so we chased it all the way to Hiland at Cajon Summit. The engineer and conductor were nice enough to take our tape recorder on board and taped the trip from Sloan siding all the way to Summit, where they slowed down and handed us the recorder before heading on to Bakersfield. It was one of those "special and unique" railfanning trips that my brother and I will always remember.
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Tracks coming up to street level on on the right is the original UP Pasadena/Altadena Branch http://www.abandonedrails.com/Pasadena_Branch
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