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Here are a few photos of Southern Pacific equipment. A few date from
the actual SP era, but most are more contemporary. As the SP fades, I
try for as many photos of remaining equipment as possible. Photos grouped
by type, more or less. |
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Rolling Stock |
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Autorack No. 516176 is parked at Carrizozo, NM on 7/18/2002.
Note that the rack sits on a Southern Pacific flat, not a Trailer Train car. |
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Autorack
on an ETTX flat, seen on the Golden State route north of Tularosa on
2/18/2008. This one has had several panels replaced. |
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SP
autorack on an SSW flat, No. 80631, seen on the Golden State route north of
Tularosa on 2/18/2008. There were two SP racks on this particular UP
train-- kind of nice to see them still in service some 12 years after the
merger.
Bottom: A closer view of the same car. |
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Cotton Belt (SSW) car and tri-level rack, both carrying number 80691 per SP practice
for some railroad-owned flats. This one received Speed Lettering sometime prior to
the UP merger, just like its sister in the photo above. Here it's in
Albuquerque on 2/26/2009. |
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SP autorack on ETTX 854308, seen on the BNSF on 2/21/2011. Apologies for not
getting the entire car-- these BNSF trains really fly through there. I
was thrilled to see an SP rack still rolling, fifteen years after the UP
merger. |
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Tool car No. 5810 sits at Grand Junction, CO on 8/02/1998.
Some of the lettering has been peeled off; look closely for the words "Car
Houston". And now we see why the SPL had difficulty making money: they
painted their MOW cars like first-class varnish! |
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SP container No. 681710, a 48-footer, is on a westbound stack train at
Tucumcari, March 24, 2001. |
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Eleven years after the UP merger, one wouldn't expect to find an SP 5-pack well car
in pristine condition. Yet, on 7/29/07, such was the case. SP
No. 513821 was in line at the BNSF intermodal yard in Denver, clean as a
whistle and looking good. Unfortunately, it wasn't positioned so that
I could photograph the whole thing. The other three sections are out
of sight to the left. One carried a white-on-brown version of the SPL
"meatball" (herald). |
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Here's a short ACF covered hopper, in soda ash service in Colorado. It's on a
westbound UP freight seen at Hot Sulphur Springs on 8/09/2007, headed eventually
for the Soda plant at Rifle. These cars stand out, being much shorter than
the usual ACF hoppers. The cargo is a lot denser than wheat, though, hence
the smaller size... |
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Ex-SSW
covered hopper parked in east Alamosa on 12/28/2009. It looks like an ACF
design. Based on the fine lettering (in Roman type) and the repainted patches, I
am speculating that Cotton Belt picked it up second-hand. Now it's
lettered for CMHX (CarMath, Inc.). Alamosa was on the SP system from 1988-1996,
now SL&RG. |
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SP Boxcar, heavily tagged, is eastbound on the BNSF at Kingman, AZ in June 2004. |
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Double-door boxcar No. 246159 is on a westbound freight at Sulphur, CO on 8/09/2007. |
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Double-door boxcar No. 226525, lettered for Golden West Service, is on a westbound freight
at Sulphur, CO on 8/09/2007. |
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Gondola 323074 at Rocky, west of Denver, 12/06/2008. Lots of graffiti, a common
occurrence on cars that often sit in one place for extended periods... |
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Gondola 323157 in Denver, 9/01/2008. |
Southern Pacific
