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Santa Fe Sunday 2023

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Number 90Number 90OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I think I posted this a couple of years ago, but it's a favorite of mine, because it reminds me of the times in my teen and young adult years when I would stand at trackside and watch a pair of Santa Fe's Alco-GE PA1's clear their throats and start a San Diegan out of the depot at Fullerton, making a raspy racket, or watching an A-B-A trio lead No.7, Fast Mail & Express, through the big curve between Prado Dam and Esperanza just before sunset.  

I really "lucked out" as far as getting a first hand acquaintance with the PA and PB units was concerned.  I can remember watching a trio of them gliding around a curve on the point of a long San Diegan in 1949, and watching them for another 19 years, right up to their swan song on No.23 and 24 over Christmas 1968, and then, sitting in storage at Barstow, ready for a return to duty which never came.  Not only were they good looking, but they really put on a sound and smoke show.

When I put the Sunset PA's on the layout, my mind goes back decades, and I am standing at Fullerton, next to the engine while the train does station work.  The signature Alco aroma of raw fuel is intriguing, reminding one that these are tough and aggressive railroad locomotives.  The Westinghouse air compressor emits its rapid hammering sound as it cycles on and off, while the big Alco 244 series diesel engine idles unevenly.  Then the Conductor waves a highball, and the Engineer reaches for the whistle cord and boots two shorts, as he puts the throttle in Run-1 and releases the air brakes.  As soon as the train starts rolling, he begins a long crossing whistle sequence.  The crossing signals at the west end of the depot are designed to time out when a passenger train stops at a line painted on the platform.  There is a microphone which will hear the whistle as the train begins moving, and will activate the signals.  As soon as the gates are down, the Engineer will advance the throttle to Run 3, then Run-5, and, by the time the train is moving 15 MPH, he'll go to Run-8.  The black smoke pours out of the Alcos for a few seconds, then reduces to a barely visible smudge as the train picks up speed and disappears to the west, whistling for the Highland Avenue crossing (which is protected by two wigwag crossing signals).  Good memories.

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