Meet at Mott, May 31, 2007
These two Northbound Union Pacific freights met today at Mott siding, just on the former SP Shasta line. As the trains met clouds rolled in from an approaching thunder storm. I am heading north and this seven minute Track Warrants video is the first for this trip. I am on the road! This was Quicktime Video shot less than five hours ago and edited in a campground near Ashland on my laptop and posted using a nearby open wireless network.
SP Finales, 1985, Farewell to Commutes and U-Boats
In the Summer of 1985 SP power stopped being used on the peninsula commute trains. Meanwhile, across the bay, some of SP's last U-boats were being scrapped. This video, converted from super-eight Kodachrome movies, captures that period. As these movies were silent, this video includes the song "What I'm Missing" by Everyday Jones.
"Scab Trains" of Altamont Pass
In May of 1985 the Southern Pacific Railroad was preparing for a possible union strike. To train its management crews to operate trains in the absence of union crews, the SP conducted management training on the embargoed SP rail line over Altamont Pass. The union train crews called these the scab trains. It was SP's last use of this famous line.
My older son's are now grown men with families of their own. This video, taken from family movies and told from their mother's perspective, shows the world when they were little as told to the music of Heather Sullivan.
International Stack Train on Tehachapi
On April 29, 2006 this double stack train was seen going over the Tehachapi mountains with locomotives from Canada, the US and Mexico. This power set contained BNSF, CN and Ferromex power. This train with its unusual power set is shown here at Bealville and Caliente California.
SP Commutes 1985, Volume 1
In the summer of 1985 the Southern Pacific Railroad's commute equipment stopped operating on the San Francisco peninsula and was replaced by Caltrain. This ended over 100 years of SP commute operations on the San Francisco peninsula. This short Track Warrants video, converted from silent Super8 movies, captures that period. As well as the film, this video features the music of Heather Sullivan.
