Unfortunately for SP, this "spit and polish" power was seldom seen past the first few trips of new locomotives out of the factory (or paint shop), and by this time they seldom kept their ostensibly "hot" trains on schedule. Once intermodal replaced box cars for most rail freight, SP's roundabout route (and their stranglehold on the rail siding access in much of California and the other western states) no longer held sway, with the Santa Fe (and then BNSF) eating SP's lunch.
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