This is not really a great picture, but I just found this slide I took in 1982. I wasn't a railfan then, but I guess I saw something moving and so I shot it. Is this a GP35? WP 3017 I just got a scanner that does slides, and here is the first discovery!
http://utahrails.net/all-time/up-x-wp.php confirms it as a GP35. http://utahrails.net/all-time/all-time-10.php#gp35-782 has a history. Built April 1965, renumbered UP 795 March 1984, retired January 1993, became Arizona Eastern 2503.
Thanks for the links Triplex. Hmmm, she ended up close to where I live, I'll have to hunt her down. I've photo'd the AE 2501 and it's in ex-UP paint. That slide was taken in Berkley, I think.
Excellent catch. Note that these engines are on "foreign" (SP) track, too. I'm pretty sure it's shot from the BART platform at Richmond; Berserkely stations are underground.
Thanks SG, you're right it was near Richmond and yes we were waiting for BART. I think we were going to Berkley later that day. Can anyone tell if that third unit is WP also? I can read two of the numbers on it.
Well I would have guessed Hayward or Melrose before Berkley. In 1982 WP was still using leased UP SD40-2's and U28C's. It looks like the e/b TOFC, our nameless HOT pig train. I remember racing BART, leaving Oakland. We'd have a BART catch up to us about Melrose. Once over the SP crossing there we could open'r up and go 60mph. BART would pass us but having to stop at stations allowed us to catch up and pass them. About Hayward we'd separate from BART and have to slow down for Freemont, short races. Smokey old GE's were fun too, especially if the wind was from the west. People seemed surprised when we blasted past at 60. The real race was when we had a SD40-2 and three or four auto racks for Milpitas out of Oakland. We could get up to speed real quick and almost keep up with BART. Those were the days..... Greg Elems
