In 1975 I began recording the trains I saw back then. I was only 15 years old when I started doing this. I thought back then it would be really cool to record what I saw just simply because I thought it would be neat.
I had no idea that what I was doing was recording History in the making as many if not all of what I recorded back then has long since disappeared into the pages of Time.
All of what you hear was recorded by me in about a 20 year span. I am slowly going through all the cassettes I made from back then and getting them uploaded here for all to enjoy. It's a labor of Love that I know I won't regret. So grab a par of headphones or crank up your speakers and enjoy a trip down memory lane!
My friend Jim and I use to sleep at Tehachapi Loop and this is what we did when, on this morning we awoke to the sound of 4 Union Pacific SD40-2's idling away in the siding at Walong. They were brand new as we were told by the Crew and they were happy to have them running the Hill on this day. So this recording is of these 4 SD40-2's notching up to get it's Train moving up the steep grades of Tehachapi.
Union Pacific SD40-2's on Tehachapi Loop June of 1979
There year was 1979 and Alco had been out of business for 10 years and SP's West Colton Yard had only been serving it's Southern California operations for about 5 years. West Colton Yard at that time did not have facilities for heavy repair of locomotives so this responsibility fell on the Taylor Yard Shops which was a boon for the Railfan as SP's ALCO C628 and C630's would occasionally wonder onto SP's Coast line for breaking in after maintenance and repairs were performed at Taylor Yards Engine Facility. Thus was the case one day in June of 1979 when my friend Jim and I showed up at the east end of a then very busy Van Nuys GMC assembly plant and to our surprise sat an ALCO C628 that was working! The Brakeman told us it was being broke in after repairs had been made to the governor and that the Shops had told them to keep it under 25 mph. This was like the time I remember seeing the only 4 U28B's SP ever owned sitting on the east yard lead at GEMCO Yard running no less but that's another story for another time.
Alco C628 working the GMC Auto Loader @ the East end of Gemco Yard 6/79
In June of 1979, the Santa Fe had taken delivery of a bunch of brand new General Electric C30-7's and were breaking these loco's in on Tehachapi. My friend Jim and I hit it just right as our visit to Tehachapi Loop in June 1979 coincided with what turned out to be almost every Santa Fe freight train having nothing but new C30-7's on the point as well as in helper service. What a great weekend this was as we got to talk with a lot of the Santa Fe crews who dialed us in as to the goings on with these loco's.
What your about to hear is an Eastbound Santa Fe freight train moving out at Walong siding. This train has a new C30-7 in the lead consist. This is a great recording as you'll hear the C30-7 and it's 4 stroke diesel engine notch up several times working hard to get this train headed up the hill.
E/B Santa Fe Freight at Walong siding with a C30-7 in consist
Things just don't sound the same anymore on the Loop. Oh sure, the locomotives of today are pretty cool for sure but if you ever experienced the loop in the 1970's and 80's, you would know that nothing sounded as good as the locomotives from back then. Next up is an eastbound Southern Pacific freight working hard to get it's train to summit.
E/B SP Freight working hard to get it's train to summit
During this time, Santa Fe was still using a lot of it's U36C's on it's trains so I have included a recording of a quartet of Santa Fe U36C's I recorded in 1979 as well. The U36C was GE's equivalent to EMD's SD45. With steel capped pistons and prone to numerous break downs, the U36C's didn't last as long as there counterparts but when they did work, they sure sounded Great!
A quartet of Santa Fe U36C's working hard at Walong
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