Southern Pacific

Click on photo to enlarge

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. The Southern Pacific railroad will always be my favorite railroad!

SP and its subsidiaries

Steve Sloan's Trains : UP : Southern Pacific : Locomotives 9000-9156

Click on the following links to see pictures related to the SP in the number series indicated:

SP 9010 Kraus-Maffei ML-4000C, SP Class DF-802

According to good sources, including Strapac's fantastic SP Compendium series, SP 9010 was built in March 1964 by Kraus-Maffei as a model ML-4000, builders number 19106, SP 9010 Kraus-Maffei ML-4000, SP Class DF-802. In 1965 it was renumbered to SP 9113 SP Class KF636-1.
This locomotive was retired in October 1968 and converted to a non-powered camera car emerging as SP 1168, In June 1969 it was renumbered to SP 8799.
The disposition of this locomotive is, retied October 1984. Donated in April 1986 to the California State Railway Museum (CSRM). It was de-accessioned by CSRM and donated, in derelict condition, to the Pacific Locomotive Association (PLA) in 2008. In the summer of 2008 it was moved by Union Pacific from Sacramento to PLA, at the Niles Canyon Railway.

SP 9010 on on March 28, 2010
Pacific Locomotive Association's Southern Pacific Krauss-Maffei ML-4000 (63-unit) 9010 at Niles Canyon Railway's Brightside Yard shop on March 28, 2010.
SP 9010 on on March 13, 2011
Pacific Locomotive Association's Southern Pacific Krauss-Maffei ML-4000 (63-unit) 9010 at Niles Canyon Railway's Brightside Yard shop on March 13, 2011.

About the 9010
Bob Z. said on March 30, 2010, Short(ish) answer:

The KM is being restored in stages. First step has been to re-create the discarded short hood, restore the front pilot area, and seal up the cab. The windows were extensively modified by SP, and work is centering there. Missing parts are being sourced from original suppliers, and the standard of restoration is high. It's being rebuilt, basically, to a condition reflective of the first couple months of service on the SP.

The first goal is to create a 'cab car' which will operate a trailing locomotive. But there are two Maybach V-16 prime movers, and (so far) one seems intact and undamaged. (The front motor was the reason for the unit being sidelined in 1968, with a failed #9 cylinder.) Nobody wants to raise any expectations of operation under power, but the condition of the Maybachs, rear transmission, and Dynastarter are all being investigated. Missing geartrain parts are the biggest hurdle, but parts exist -- it's just a logistical and cost issue. (What isn't? ;-)

Repowering wasn't practical for SP in the late 1960's, and isn't practical now. The units were designed around their components, and to replace the drivetrain would involve more work than simply repairing what's there. As unique as the unit is, the major components are in use elsewhere to this day.

But if you like the power of positive thinking, keep a vision in your head for those butterfly exhaust flaps to be pointed skyward while the rear Maybach idles at 680RPM and throttles up to 1600RPM in Run 16!

I wouldn't mark my calendar yet. But it never hurts to have a vision. And judging by the worldwide support that the Pacific Locomotive Association is getting -- from original KM crews here and in Germany, from the original manufacturers and their corporate descendants, and from interested parties all over the map -- the restoration team led by Howard Wise isn't ruling anything out at present.

But there's a hell of a lot of miserable grinding and cleanup to do first!

SP 9011 EMD SD45, SP Class EF636-4

According to good sources, including Strapac's fantastic SP Compendium series, SP 9011 was built in 1969 by EMD as a model SD45, SP 9011, SP Class EF636-4, builder's number 34379.
This locomotive was upgraded in 1984 emerging as SP 7528 SP Class EF636LR-1.
The disposition of this locomotive is: retired in 1998. It sat in Indio awhile then it was gone.
SP 9011 in Watsonville, CA
Southern Pacific (SP) SD45 9011 leads two GP9s and SW1500 2535 into Watsonville Jct. in the mid 1970s. This is a scan of a print made from a slide shot on bulk Ektachrome 64 film, likely in sometime around 1974.

SP 9076 EMD SD45, SP Class EF636-5

SP 9076 is an EMD SD45, SP Class EF636-5. Reportedly: SP 9076 was built in March 1969 by EMD as a model SD45, builders number 34911, SP 9076 EMD SD45, SP Class EF636-5. This locomotive was upgraded in Jan. 1984 emerging as SP 7489 EMD SD45, SP Class EF636LR-1.
The disposition of this locomotive is, sold July 1994 to Helm Atlantic Leasing, HATX 915. Rebuilt to SD40-2M HLCX 6413.
SP 9076 east at Davis
It used to be I shot black and white film for the boring stuff. Color film was expensive for me In those days Southern Pacific (SP) SD45's and UP SD40's were considered boring, like GEVOs today. SP 9076, UP 3049, SP 9195 and possibly others lead a freight around the wye at Davis, California on an unrecorded date around 1973. The train is coming off the CalP and heading up what now is the California Northern. Then, it was the West Valley Line of the Southern Pacific. According to WAF, (This train) "is the OPS from Oakland, the general merchandise train (mostly lumber empties) between Oakland and Portland. Whether it actually went all the way to Portland is unknown. I suspect it got humped in Eugene and its Portland/Seattle cars forwarded to Portland."

Special Notes

Special Thanks!

To all the great folks who helped me out with information for these Web pages!

Copyright Notice

It is appreciated if you do not repost or forward any photos I am posting to any other list, or online forum, or social network (like Facebook, Google+ or Flickr) without permission of the contributor or the photographer.

All photos are copyright the photographer unless otherwise stated. I will always try as hard as I can to get the permission of the photographer when (and if) I post work by others. When I do I will try to honor their photographic style. Please do not produce or distribute altered versions of this work.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Web Site Table of Contents