ATSF Santa PA's

There is no better sight than a set of Alco PA's in Santa Fe Warbonnet paint. Just a beautiful thing to see.

 

So did they. That is Santa Fe and the agent's along the right of way.

Photographers grabbed whatever shots they could get without concern for details.

Still they were awesome in appearance and hold their appeal to this day.

 

Mr SP
Does the source give the date, location & photographer of these pix? The 2nd PA looks like #57

 

I took the photos in 1967 in California

 

California is a big state. Santa Fe ran from the Bay Area to San Diego & LA to Needles. Any idea what train the top one was pulling? 2nd one could be light power LAUPT/8th St Yard.

 

I believe the only ATSF streamliner still operating in California in 1967 which only got 4000 horses assigned to it was the San Diegan. And since it just about always used double-ended lashups (was National City really the nearest wye?) I think that's a safe educated guess.

Beautiful pics, Mr. SP. Thank you!

 

There used to be a wye on the Naval Base north of the depot that Santa Fe used to turn trains. In fact that lasted into the Amtrak era.

 

Thank you! That's a piece of trivia I was wondering about.

Even so, they definitely preferred not to turn anything. One of their favorite things about the diesel era seemed to be only doing a runaround to turn the San Diegan. Otherwise, they seemed perfectly happy running single-ended lashups, and downright OCD about putting the baggage at the head of the train.

 

It took a Santa Fe yard crew to turn all Amtrak trains before they went pull-push. Santa Fe charged Amtrak a full days pay for each 3 man crew for each turn.

 

PAs are gorgeous engines to start with, but in a Santa Fe warbonnet...

A shame CN didn't bite after the two PA demos were here...

 

The title of the thread - "Santa PA's - had me thinking it was about this unit:

 

"Daylight" PA's aren' t bad either.

 

The top photo If I'm remembering right was a San Deigan. The other one I really don't remember where I took the photo. I'm guessing Los Angeles

 

One still survives. ATSF PA 59L was saved from the NdeM and is in the process of being restored by the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco TX. http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/ She was in pretty bad shape and they still have a long way to go.

 

Here's the PA-1 in the Oregon Rail Heritage Museum in Portland during Train Day.

 

It's almost operational. Just have to wire in the traction motors and it's done. It has a Alco 251 engine in it.