railroad@ucbvax.ARPA (11/30/84)
From: hkywong@ucbcory.BERKELEY (Harry Kim Yee Wong) >> UNION PACIFIC << In the last two to three weeks, seeing DDA40X's on the point of WP van trains (or any train for that matter..) has become increasingly rare if not nonexistent altogether. This is due to the advent of cabooseless trains, which require a receiver box to be installed in the cab of the lead locomotive. So far, only UP SD40-2's (yecch!!) have been equipped with these receiver boxes. Now that nearly all of the trains coming into Oakland are cabooseless, and depart sans caboose, I have not heard of a single instance in which a "Jack" led on a West or Eastbound cabooseless train. >> SOUTHERN PACIFIC << Bay Area SP operations have been a recent source of much of the interesting motive power happenings over the last two weeks.. If you are interested in GE B-Boats or U-Boats, one need only look as far as the SP loco facility in Oakland. Recent GE visitors include.. B30-7's: 7803,7776, and (others that I cannot remember offhand..) U33C's !!! : 8689, 8725, 8720(?) Having U33C's on the SP is a rare treat these days, especially in Oakland! B36-7b : SSW 7771 Cotton Belt's only cabless GE came on the LABAT pig train with the following all-star lashup ssw9380/ssw7771/sp5110/sp5112/spSD?? B23-7's: SP 5110,SP 5112 These little GE's are more common out in the eastern end of the system (i.e. -s. From what I can tell, this is only about the fourth or fifth known instance in which B23's have visited Oakland ..ever. In terms of pool power, the presence of Rio Grande has pretty much dried up in Oakland, as well as on the SP overland route west of Sparks. The last couple of trips my friends took to Roseville Yards (on their way to WP's Feather River Canyon), they saw no DRGW power whatsoever. Hopefully, this will change when SP business levels pick up. --Harry (hkywong@ucbcory.BERKELEY) ( More news later when I can get down to the tracks again.. (i.e. after finals....))