Mongo Wrote:
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> Very nice shot, and, I have a question. I seem to
> recall that SP used to paint a city name on the
> side of the locomotive near the front, and it
> would usually be Roseville, Los Angeles, Oakland,
> etc....Why did they do this? Did SP have certain
> units assigned permanently out of those locations?

Known as "Home Shop," the name was applied to both sides of the cab, somewhere near the unit's number. It was the location of the shop where the unit was assigned for scheduled maintenance. Switchers and local service units tended to usually stay in the general area where they were assigned. Road units were supposed to be returned to their home shop for scheduled maintenance (such as FRA inspections), but that didn't always happen.