(above: Third & Townsend Depot, San Francisco1968; click on image for another, larger view)

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SP Pages

Coast Daylight in San Jose: Gallery II


MORE SAN JOSE
(except above, obviously)



More Paradise Lost
I shot this picture of # 99 not far from the previous page's color shot on a fairly-common-for-June overcast day in 1968. E-9A 6046, E-7B 5916, the farmer's water tank, the orchard trees - they're all gone now - replaced by Caltrain F-40's, Amtrak P-40's and housing tracts.

Dos Puentes
Number 98 departs San Jose, passing under the San Carlos Street bridge and over the Los Gatos Creek bridge. FP-7 6453 leads the charge, followed by E-9 6053 and F-7B 8298 on the morning of June 21, 1968. The new ties and ballast spread about are the result of I280 freeway construction.
Same Train, Same Location, Different day
I scanned this photo mostly because I wanted to see what was on the billboads on either side of San Carlos Street. Today (in January 1969), it's two FP-7's and a Commute Geep out in front: 6446, 6448, 3007. As the ranks of SP's E-Units fell precipitously in 1969-70, SP again heavily relied upon F's, FP's and GP-9's (except the 3010, which was the Sacramento Daylight engine) to power the Daylight, as the SDP-45's were stretched pretty thin. Oh yeah: the far billboard advertises Ancient Age whiskey - their ads could also be found on the depot platforms - whiskey has always been a good sell near railroads, The other board features a picture of two (now vintage) gas pumps, and says "The last one in is a Volkswagen." Most people of the day found Volkswagen ads to be largely unintelligible, I think.

Coast Nightlight?
During most of the late 1960's, #99 was scheduled to arrive in San Jose at 5:53 PM. Thus, during the winter months it arrived in San Jose after dark, as it did this January evening in 1969. SDP-45 3200, still a half-decade away from Commute asignments, is the sole power of a typically short consist for that time of year - a half-dozen to eight car trains were common in the winter. SP dinked around with the Daylight's times a fair amount in the mid-late 1960's:
  • January 6, 1964 Timetable, 4:53 PM departure (traditional 8:15 AM L.A. departure; arrival in SJ only 8 minutes slower than August, 1940)
  • October 30; 1966, May 12, 1968: 5:53 PM (9:15 AM L.A. departure)
  • June 22, 1969; October 20, 1970: 5:05 PM (8:30 AM L.A. departure)


Other Winter Considerations
So, you think that you've seen fog? HA! I'll show you fog! Shortly before 9:30 AM, the fog at San Jose Depot is still thick enough to cut with the proverbial knife. In fact, the fog this January, 1969 day was the thickest that I've seen before, or since, anywhere, anytime. FP-7 6446 is in the lead of #98 again (see 1968 pic, above) and is trailed by E-9 6051, the only SP E-Unit to be preserved (whereas the 6053 in the above 1968 shot was the last one in regular service). For a modern look at the 6051 in old colors, click here for a shot taken by renowned hobo North Bank Fred during Dunsmuir Railroad Days in the 1990's.

I rode this one...
...and managed to scurry up to the head end before #99 departed for The City. That's the good old 6462 trailing SDP-45 3208 in August of 1968. I believe that "Commute" engine 6462 actually spent more time on the Daylight than anywhere else in the late 1960's.

Coming and Going...
The northbound Daylight meets the southbound Del Monte south of the San Jose depot in July, 1968. By this date, SDP-45's like the 3205 were more the rule than the exception on #'s 98 & 99, although E's, F's, FP's and GP's still made frequent appearances. Power must have been short this day, since an FP-7 normally trailed behind a SDP in heavy summertime consists. Note the Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) boxcar at top left. It is still there, used as storage.

Just about as short as it gets...
Although the Coast Daylight very occasionally ran with only four cars, a five car consist was common in slack periods by the time of this photo of #99 on April 28, 1968, as it passed the Park Avenue herder's shany at the San Jose depot. Behind E9A #6054 that day were a pre-war combine and coach, an infamous Automat car, with two more coaches trailing.

Over the river and through the bridge...
Despite #99's twelve cars, SDP45 #3206 (an engine that I rode behind (and later: upon) many times on the Coast / San Joaquin Daylights, City of San Francisco and Peninsula Commutes over the course of 15 years) horsed the train on time past the Orchard Supply boxcar south of the San Jose depot on this June, 1968 day. For a Super-Size (without fries) picture, of the tail car end of the train as it enters the depot, as tphotographed from the other side of San Carlos Street overpass, go here.