Southern Pacific Railroad began with a simple idea: to connect San Francisco and San Diego, California, by rail. A century later, Southern Pacific had become one of the largest railroads in America, with lines that stretched from coast to coast (connecting to New York via Morgan Line steamships) and from the south to the northwest. In 1959, SP moved more ton-miles of freight than any other U.S. railroad. Engines featured here reach back to the era of SP steam, and forward to the diesels of the 1980s.
Southern Pacific 2021 monthly wall calendar features: Large blocks for notes | Classic Rail Photos | Beautiful reproduction | Quality heavy-weight paper | Deluxe 11- by 14-inch size Locomotives, locations and named trains featured in the 2021 edition include:
Southern Pacific 702, a Class GS-1 (4-8-4) is on First #5, The Argonaut, at the San Antonio, Texas depot where mail is being unloaded on July 9, 1944. This was a class of 14 locomotives, all built in 1930 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
Southern Pacific 2914, a Class TW-8 12-wheeler (4-8-0), is one of ten locomotives built by Schenectady (American Locomotive Company) in 1898. They were ponderous locomotives, mostly used in later years for branch-line service, primarily in the Northwest. There were 98 of them, some with entering service dates in 1882.
Southern Pacific 9090, an EMD Model SD45 and three Tunnel Motors, all EMD SD40T-2's, are lifting a heavy southbound freight around the Tehachapi Loop at Walong, California on March 9, 1980.
Southern Pacific went to the Lima Locomotive Works in 1939 and purchased a dozen rear-cab articulated locomotives, assigned the AC-9 Class. They were delivered as coal-burning 2-8-8-4 s. They were operated on the Tucumcari line, where there were no tunnels or snow sheds.
Southern Pacific 1218 and 1259 are sitting at Fresno, California, both under steam and being serviced on May 30, 1955. One of a dozen Class S-10's built and delivered by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1918,
Southern Pacific 4242 is on an eastbound freight near Likely, California on July 29, 1955. 4242 is a Class AC-11 cab-forward 4-8-8-2, one of 30 locomotives built in 1942 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
Southern Pacific #9, a narrow-gauge ten-wheeler (4-6-0), is on a five-car freight with a water car up front. Ex-baggage car 12 is serving as a caboose on this train headed south of Zurich, California, headed southbound to Keeler. It is July 26, 1959, and little Number Nine is the sole survivor of the more than 4,000 Southern Pacific steam locomotives that were used in freight service.
Southern Pacific 5036, a Southern Pacific Model SP-2 (4-10-2) three-cylinder behemoth, is one of 23 engines built in 1926, at the Los Angeles, California roundhouse on August 3, 1952. More were ordered, so by 1927, Southern Pacific operated 49 of them, all in freight service.
It is September 7, 1956 and the Bay Area Southern Pacific commuter trains are on the move from Fourth and Townsend, San Francisco with 4324 leading the pack. In charge of Train #136, 4324 will only stop at Redwood City and Palo Alto (California Avenue) before terminating its 47-mile run at San Jose. A Class MT-1 Mountain (4-8-2), 4324 is one of 28 built in 1923 and 1924 by ALCO.
Southern Pacific 6006, is a Class PA-1 diesel, newly designed and built by the American Locomotive Company and General Electric in May 1948, shown here at the Ogden, Utah engine terminal on October 4, 1958.
Southern Pacific 621 is on Mail Train #8 at the Beaumont, Texas depot in November 1949. 621 was a Class P-6 Pacific (4-6-2) built in 1913 by the Brooks Locomotive Works, later part of Alco. Southern Pacific owned 149 Pacific-types in 13 classes. Those used in Texas were numbered in the 600 series.
Southern Pacific 4443, a Class GS-4 Northern (4-8-4) built by Lima in 1941.
