R-55-3

N E W S    O F    T H E    P A C I F I C    S O U T H W E S T    C O R N E R

SAN DIEGO AND ARIZONA EASTERN: Rain, Rain, and more rain. Lots of soft track and broken rails helped the line to have many minor derailments in January and February. One derailment that wasn't so minor occurred on the El Cajon line at Francis St. and Imperial Avenue on January 20. An El Cajon bound roustabout with 22 cars lost the rear seven cars in a derailment. Several cars toppled over on a bank which kept them from going all the way over. One of the cars involved was a car of chlorine. Luckily the car did not develope a leak.... Service on the El Cajon line was resumed 5 days later. Three diesel units, the 1110, 1111, and 1115, were marooned at Encanto during the tie-up..... Rumors are out that the Coronado line will be discontinued some time after March. The portion of the branch west of the Salt Works will still continue... A second roustabout was placed in service at the first of the year to serve the Chula Vista celery sheds. On duty at 4:00 p.m. the job worked until February 21, when it was discontinued.......

ATCHISON TOPEKA AND SANTA FE: The Santa Fe was hard hit by the rains. The surf line was closed for a part of one day while a mud slide near Del Mar was cleaned up. A freight derailment at Miramar closed the line part of another day in mid-February.....In case you haven't noticed, most freights into San Diego have had two Cabooses. On the southbound trains it is right behind the engines. (The extra cab, that is.) Going north the trains have both cabooses on the rear end. The reason for this move is that the Coast Lines cabooses are being modernized at San Bernardino. The crews are transferring their equipment from one caboose to the other in route......Although the San Diegans have been powered mostly by the 350 and 400 class engines in recent months the old standbys, the EMD covered wagons were back towards the end of February...... The First District was washed out near Devore on January 21, and service was resumed on the 22nd. The Cajon line was washed out again on the 25th and closed to all traffic until the 27th. Some traffic was detoured over the SP from Mojave....(Calif Sou Express)......

SOUTHERN PACIFIC: New Double deck commutter coaches have been placed in service, reportedly ending service of the remaining Harriman " cars left in service....The storms of January 21 to January 27 closed all of the major SP routes into Los Angeles. The coast line was closed by numerous mud and earth slides to as far north as Metz in the Salinas Valley, near Paso Robles. A freight wreck just north of Gaviota didn't help the situation either. In the wreck were several tri-level cars with autos and trucks aboard. To top it off the mess caught fire. The loss of a bridge between Niland and Indio stopped traffic on the LA-Yuma line for a couple of days. It also raised hovac with traffic on the subsidary SD&AE, because it shut off the motive power pool used to furnish power on SD&AE freight trains...... The Palmdale-Colton cutoff was closed on January 21, when part of the lines new earth embankments washed away and wound up on top of the Santa Fe main line in Cajon Pass...... New motive power delivered or on the way includes the following locomotives from EMD: 87-3600hp SD-45's, 70 of which will have "Southern Pacific" lettering and be numbered 8982-9051, and 17 for the Cotton Belt numbered 9052-9068. Eighteen SD-39's (Southern Pacific) numbers 5300-5317 and 30 SW-1500's, (18) 2493-2510 for the SP and (12) 2511-2522 for the Cotton Belt. From General Electric are thirty U33C's for the SP -8600-8629... (The Clearance Card).

GOLDEN SPIKE EXCURSION: Orange Empire Trolley Museum and Pacific Railroad Society are jointly running an all pullman train from Los Angeles to the Golden Spike Ceremony. The train will leave LA on Thursday, May 8, at 8:00 p.m. It will run over the SP with a photo stop at Donner Pass and then on to Ogden. The group will then take in the activities at Promontory Point on May 10, The train will return to LA via Union Pacific on May 11. Prices start at $170.00. For details write: Centennial Train, P. 0. Box 146, Perris, Calif. 92370 or phone (714) 657-4785.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RAIPID TRANSIT DISTRICT: Los Angeles area voters have turned down a bond issue, that would have inabled the district to have begun a rail system for rapid transit. Boy, shades of the old red cars.