I can't offer much about the SP or PE in the early 1960's as I didn't go to work for the SP until later that decade, and then in northern California. But I worked for the Santa Fe on the LA Division starting in 1961. Trainmen had dual senority (yard/road) but it took more senority than I had to hold the road extra board, so I worked within the "switching limits".

Santa Fe had a virtually all-ALCO switch engine roster in LA, and my recollection is that they were very good pullers, taking over 100 cars routinely from the First Street yard to Hobart every afternoon, though speed with that many cars was pretty slow. That job always seemed to cross Downey Road (adjacent to the UPRR line down to the harbor) right at the evening rush hour, and the motorists were not happy when the several cabooses that were usually on the rear finally cleared the crossing.

The Santa Fe switching limits ran from the Second District bridge over the LA River (north of Broadway) down to Hobart Yard on the Third District, and about eight miles out the Harbor District to nearly Inglewood.

The Harbor District was my favorite place to work, busy with industries, grade crossings and the crossings with the P.E. and the S.P. Alameda Street line. Wingfoot was a freight station across Slauson Avenue from the Goodyear Industrial District (from which I suppose it took its name). Santa Fe kept an engine there on the house track, usually one of the ALCO high-hood units, and the midnight crew went on duty there (I think other shifts did too but I also went down the Harbor line on jobs that went to work at First Street).

My only interaction with the S.P. at that time was taking transfer runs to the S.P. yard that diverged from the Second District just prior to the bridge over the river. I don't recall the name of that yard but it was the only place in LA that I know of where the S.P. and Santa Fe exchanged cars. On that job we typically took 70 or 80 cars up to the S.P. and brought a similiar number back to First Street.

Just to indicate how primitive things were then, when leaving the S.P. the "field" man (rear switchman) had to line and lock a derail, then the Second District mainline switch and run for the last car. Usually the engineer was pretty good and slowed (but didn't stop) when he thought the rear end was pulling out onto the main. Most cars then were high cars (box cars) so after running to get on, it was necessary to go high on the catwalks, go forward at least three cars (to get some running room when the slack ran out as the engine began pulling again), light a 5-minute fusee and signal a big backup sign (circle) so the engineer (who was facing rearward, along the curve of the river) knew that the rear guy was on board.

These runs were always at night, and on a cold rainy night (LA does have those) it was sometimes quite a run to catch that last car. But hey, I was young and remember those as good times.