These photos were taken in the late 1940’s. These are of the commute run between San Francisco and San Jose…before CalTrain…when Southern Pacific was still doing it…with steam!
Photograph #1 – Commuter just north of Lomita Park.
Photograph #2 – Near the town of Millbrae…south of the depot.
Photograph #3 – In the town of San Bruno, just south of their depot. The city of San Mateo is in the foreground.
Photos taken and copyrighted by Frank Maffei; courtesy of George Manley
Matt
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Good to see nicely groomed steam locomotives. By the '50's, some railroads like the Pennsy, New York Central and Chicago & North Western had pretty disheveled locomotives (but then, they were all heading toward eventual - PRR/NYC - or near bankruptcy).
Although Southern Pacific took a lot of criticism for its undisguised attempts to get out of the passenger business, SP passenger engines -- steam and diesel alike -- were kept very clean, as were the passenger cars.
Freight engines on SP were not accorded the same level of attention and some were allowed to get somewhat grungy. SP has many tunnels.
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