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Re: SP question for John Sweetser
Author: John Sweetser
Date: 12-22-2011 - 21:21
The fan trip with 4443 to Fresno occured on March 24, 1957 according to photo captions in Dill's "Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Valley Line" (the book has four photos of the trip).
On the other hand, John Illman indicated in his article "Bay Area Fan Trips" in the Winter 1997 issue of Vintage Rails that the excursion ran on March 25, 1957. Considering that March 25, 1957 was a Monday, I doubt Illman's date is correct.
Even though Dill got almost all of the other excursion dates mentioned in his San Joaquin book wrong, the March 24, 1957 date seems reasonable.
The consist behind 4443, around 12 cars, included a horse-baggage car at the front painted in two-tone gray, a heavyweight car in Pullman Green in the middle of the train (possibly a diner or grill), with the rest of the cars in Daylight colors, including a Daylight observation car on the end.
From Fresno, the train returned via Martinez operating as No. 51. A photo of the train headed to Fresno is on the cover of the Vintage Rails issue I mentioned.
Another steam excursion following the same route occured on October 12, 1958. This time, GS-6
4460 was the power pulling about eight Daylight cars, along with the horse-baggage.
On the other hand, John Illman indicated in his article "Bay Area Fan Trips" in the Winter 1997 issue of Vintage Rails that the excursion ran on March 25, 1957. Considering that March 25, 1957 was a Monday, I doubt Illman's date is correct.
Even though Dill got almost all of the other excursion dates mentioned in his San Joaquin book wrong, the March 24, 1957 date seems reasonable.
The consist behind 4443, around 12 cars, included a horse-baggage car at the front painted in two-tone gray, a heavyweight car in Pullman Green in the middle of the train (possibly a diner or grill), with the rest of the cars in Daylight colors, including a Daylight observation car on the end.
From Fresno, the train returned via Martinez operating as No. 51. A photo of the train headed to Fresno is on the cover of the Vintage Rails issue I mentioned.
Another steam excursion following the same route occured on October 12, 1958. This time, GS-6
4460 was the power pulling about eight Daylight cars, along with the horse-baggage.
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 SP question for John Sweetser
|
Tom Moungovan | 12-22-2011 - 10:24 |
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Re: SP question for John Sweetser |
John Sweetser | 12-22-2011 - 21:21 |
|
Re: SP question for John Sweetser
|
Tom Moungovan | 12-23-2011 - 06:44 |