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So how can you miss a railroad anyway? I grew up and lived most of my life in the Southern Pacific Territory. This went all the way from Portland Oregon following a huge crescent through CA and Southern CA, along the MExican border east through AZ and NM and all the way across Texas through Louisiana. The SP was the first true coast to coast railroad, figuring the Gulf of Mexico as part of the Atlantic Ocean.
I grew up in the SF Bay area, which you could pretty much say was a Southern Pacific Lake. The SP was there first. They owned a huge rail and ferry network that was the dominant transportation forms for over a century there. The Santa Fe and the Western Pacific were late comers who together only made a weak second to the SP. The SP roared into town on a quadruple track speedway. The Santa Fe and the WP kind of crept into town by comparison on single track lines.
One of the things most striking about the SP were the unique engines they used, like the cab forward articulated engines they had. the one shown below is in the last one, in the CA state Railroad museum. The cabs were put in front of the engine to counteract buildup of gases in the long snowsheds in the Sierras. The SP was the only railroad to have this type of behemoth.
Imagine sitting as a young boy watching one of those giants coming at you. Its why I became a train watcher. My dad, another train watcher, used to take me down to the tracks and we'd explore the Oakland railyard. He'd tell them he was an employee (he wasn't) and we'd get cab rides off the turntable into the roundhouse.
Later, after steam was gone, after I was grown up, I had a hobby for a while of hopping freights. It was the usually the SP because it was usually going where I wanted to go.
another head turner of the SP was the gorgeous Daylight engines. These were the GS (golden State) class 4-8-4s that were used on most SP passenger trains. they were called the most beautiiful trains in the world with their Golden State coloring: red orange silver and black. One of these engines is still operating, the 4449, its home base is in Portland OR.
The Southern Pacific was the biggest corporation in CA most of the time I was growing up. It was always there, owned a big chunk of downtown SF and a whole lot of other expensive property all over the state. It ran everywhere. I could never imagine it not being there.
but somewhere it stopped doing what it did best---running trains--- and got off into a bunch of side ventures, some of which lost money. then the Arbitragers came in and sold off all the assets, leaving it with just the railroad.And then Union Pacific bought it in 1996.
It always seemed unfair to me, UP taking it over when UP had been bankrupt several times in its history whereas the SP never went bankrupt, it was profitable up to the day it went into the UP (which is why UP bought it.)
I go down by the tracks and watch the big yellow engines of the UP go roaring by where once the grey and red of the SP "Bloody Nose" paint scheme roared by and its not the same. I miss the old Southern Pacific.
I'm probably going to be asleep as you read this so enjoy.
Jibber your jabber