Yosemite Valley Ry Trip July 12-22, 1944
Total miles 1234

Frank left Bayshore on X3304E at 1245 on the 5th on got to Redwood Junction at 1330.
The train was now 2nd 408 and still had 3304 as a road engine along with 3620 as a helper from
Niles to Altamont. Train arrived Tracy at 2030.
The next day Frank rode X2331E from Tracy to Lathrop. Helper was Consolidation 2812. Left Tracy at 1500 and arrived Lathrop at 1540. Frank spent the night here.
The next day, he took X1812E from Lathrop to Calla. Left Lathrop at 1300 and arrived Calla at 1340.
At Calla, he then got on X3250E and rode it to Merced. Left Calla at 1500 and arrived Merced at 1830. Frank spent the night in Merced.
On the 15th, Frank rode YV train 2 behind engine 28 from Merced to El Portal. Left Merced at 0800 and arrived El Portal at 1230. He took train 1 back to Merced, leaving El Portal at 1305 and arriving Merced at 1735. Frank spent the night in Merced again.
At 1330 the next day, Frank took SP X3259E to Fresno, arrivng there at 1530. At Fresno, the train became 474. With the same power, Frank left Fresno at 1700 and arrived Bakersfioeld at 2130. He spent the night there.
At 1130 on the 17th, Frank rode SP X4183E out of Bakersfield at and rode it to Mojave, arriving there at 1530. They had through helpers 4167, 4120 and Mike 3243. Frank rode the cab of 3243.
Frank got an ATSF 2nd 56 and rode it to Barstow. They had 2-10-2 3833 as power. Left Mojave at 1630 and arrived Barstow at 1930. Frank spent the night in Barstow.
On the morning of July 18, Frank rode UP X3831W to Los Angeles. They left Barstow at 0945 behind Challenger 3831 and arrived LA at 1730. They had Mikado 2707 as a helper from Victorville to Summit.
Frank spent 19th in Los Angeles and got on SP train 833 on the morning of the 20th. They left LA at 0930 with AC 4190 for power and got to Santa Barbara at 1830.
The next morning, Frank rode 1st 763 from SB to SLO. Power was 4193 and Frank rode the cab. They left SB at 0930 and got to SLO at 1530.
Five minutes after he got to SLO, Frank got on train 765 and left town in the cab of Ten-Wheeler 2377. He rode the engine all the way to Watsonville arriving there at 0300 the next morning. They had Deck helpers 3688 and 3692 out of SLO to Santa Margarita. After the helpers were cut off, the little 2377 staggered up the Valley with the big train all by herself. Frank used to get a big smile on his face when he recounted this part of the trip. He said that they never got over 35 miles an hour and had a hell of a time starting the train after every water stop. There was a war on and everybody had to get by with what they had. Frank hit the sack right away after getting a place to stay in Watsonville.
On the 22nd, he rode the cab of Pacific 2471 on 763 from Watsonville to San Jose. Left Watsonville at 1630 and arrived SJ at 1900. He left SJ at 2230 and rode the cab of X3238W to West Oakland, arriving there at Midnight.