Tag Archives: #Southern Pacific Company

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SP SD45 on the Siskiyou Line—34 years ago!

On May 5, 1990, I spent the morning following Southern Pacific’s timetable westward MERV-M (Medford, Oregon to Roseville-Manifest) on the sinuous and steeply graded Siskiyou Line. This was led by SP SD45E 7504, which retained its 3,600 hp 20-645E3 diesel engine.

I made this photo at Ager (railroad timetable west of Hornbrook, California) on the run toward Black Butte. At the time SP was operating 7,500 ton trains on this amazing stretch of railroad.

Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Leica M2 with 50mm Summicron about 9:25am.

I made dozens of photos on that beautiful May morning. Most remain unlabled, although I have all my notes from that day. I was delighted to have an SP unit with its oscillating lights in the lead. Since at that time SP was actively removing the oscillating lights from its locomotives.

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Lightshow at Viewland

On January 25, 1993, I rolled by Southern Pacific Co. Modoc train (symbol ROEUM-Roper to Eugene, Manifest) climbing the grade at the Rt395 highway crossing near Viewland, California, where I exposed this single frame of Kodachrome of the helper as it trailed away into the desert fog.

Union Pacific abandoned this unusual railroad many years ago.

Between 1992 and 1994, I made at least a half dozen trips to the remote Modoc Line to capture freights on the move.

SP Modoc Line near Viewland, California. Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Nikon F3T with 35mm PC lens. Exposure about 30 seconds with camera mounted on a Bogen 3021 tripod.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!