Prototype Railroad Galleries > Richmond Pacific Celebrates its new Low-Emission Locomotive (03/14/07) (41)
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The event started at the Florida Street rail yard (team tracks) located a few blocks north of Cutting Blvd ont he UP main. Here the RPRC 2285 was coupled to two beautiful stainless steel dome cars.
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Here’s the 2285, an ex-SP SW1200, built in 1965 and still operating under its SP number. The venerable switcher is well maintained and sports $200K in emissions-control equipment installed voluntarily by the RPRC. -
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Crew and visitors inspecting the new guts of the locomotive.
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The first of the two dome cars, the one we all rode in, is the ‘Plaza Santa Fe’.
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I know where I want to sit for the ride!
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These old girls are rolling works of art, right down to the lettering.
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Another view of the ‘Plaza Santa Fe’. They both looked so good in the sun.
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The second dome car was the CB&Q ‘Silver Solarium’.
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We actually entered the Santa Fe car via the Zephyr car.
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Here’s a quick peek at the ‘Silver Solarium’ through the wire fence.
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Inside the ‘Plaza Santa Fe’. This is the lounge area.
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The dome of course has a very light and airy feel to it.
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A very stylish speaker cover. Love that stainless steel and art deco style.
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This is the view lloking back toward the stair well. In it’s time, this was the way to travel - nothin’ but class.
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This part of Richmond never looked so good as from the window in a classic dome car.
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Directly under the dome is another lounge area and bar. This was my second choice for a place to sit!
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This room was a private dining area. According to the onboard staff, movie stars of the day could often be found in this dining area.
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John Cockle and his staff put on a great show today including a nice spread of food and refreshments. Thanks again John!!!
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Attending were local dignitaries and officials from Richmond and the Bay Area Air Quality Board.
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The man responsible for today’s outing, John Cockle, Superintendent at the Richmond Pacific. John runs a tight railroad at the RPRC.
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Locals, and officials at the event.
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The Mayor of Richmond, Gayle McLaughlin, spoke at the event
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During the speaches, I slipped out the back to get some shots of the ‘Solarium’ since I didn’t know if we’d have time or sun on the other end of the special.
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It’d be great to see this all lit up at night.
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This shot gives a sense of what the Zephyr might have looked like gliding by.
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A couple of reference shots of the track arrangement. There is a small runaround track on the Waterside Drill. Beyond the Drill are the UP main tracks to Sacramento.
Three spurs branch off the runaround to the team track area behind me. This area occasionally sees tank cars or other rail-cars that can be unloaded in place to trucks.
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The UP obliged with a stack train part way through the proceedings. This is pretty typical for this area, two reasonably new units with a but-load of stack cars. These containers are heading inland and will be loaded with all manner of cheap stuff from China and Taiwan. The train is travelling at about 60 mph. It’s pretty flat between here and Sacramento but he’ll slow down to about half his current speed for the curves on the shoreline of San Pablo Bay a few miles ahead.
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Here we all are enjoying the luxurious ride with a snack or a drink. Standing room only!
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These signals ar located on the northern end of the Richmond Amtrak station. Riding in the dome you get a great close up view of this sort of thing.
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Almost at the end of the RPRC’s track. The bridge carries the BNSF Stockton Sub over the UP. On the other side of the bridge is the Hensley Wye and the North Richmond industrial area. On the right side of the tracks is an old roofing factory that is being demolished, presumably to make room for more $500K condos. The RPRC tracks run up to the Hensley Ave grade crossing and rejoin the UP main near after. The RPRC only runs on the secondary so industries beyond this point are serviced by the UP.
Note the wonky track on the other side of the UP main. These tracks appear likely be pulled out along with the demolition and rehab project.
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Here’s the train, safely back in the Florida Ave yard. The old passenger cars are a great way to go for an event. This was a great outing. Congrats to the Richmond Pacific for celebrating in style. Thanks John!
