Santa Fe Valley Division Part 1: San Francisco - Stockton | Circa 1938 - 1971

The Santa Fe's Valley Division is the westernmost portion of the railroad's mainline from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago. While not as strong of a presence in Northern California as railroads such as the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe still was able to obtain a strong and loyal following with its fast streamliners gleaming in warbonnet colors.
The video showcases 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm films from 8 different railfans and follows the Santa Fe Valley Division from the passenger terminal in San Francisco and east to Stockton. You will see famous name trains such as the Golden Gate, San Francisco Chief, California Limited, and Valley Flyer.
EMDs, ALCOs, steam, and even some electric, this program is one of the first to cover this often overlooked portion of the Santa Fe, with a lot of this footage having never been seen before. Enjoy this look as a railroad tried to get Northern California to go 'Santa Fe All The Way!'

[@berkeleygang1834]

Truly a fine production. Thanks again for making these films available on KZbin!

[@bobr511]

This is a very good set of films and nice work on coordinating sounds with them. And a pleasant ending showing the last run of the PAs in 1968. Which happens to have been filmed 55 years ago today, March 3rd!

[@adventureseeker9800]

Golly gee!! I mean like Gee whiz pop! They keep talking about Oakland but it sure doesn't look like gang infested criminal turf!! Oh wait, sorry, this is 1954!

[@JohnJohn-zn8ib]

They don’t make stations like they used to, today, stations don’t have the flair or the quality materials of yesteryear.

[@jimprice1959]

Thanks for putting these films together. My brother and I rode the Santa Fe between Richmond and Fresno many times between 1948 and 1956. We usually rode the Golden Gates but a few times we had a chance to sneak into a drawing room on the San Francisco Chief. Once, for a change, we rode the Southern Pacific (Slow Poke). The trip took an additional hour behind one of those old smokey GS-4 steam engines.😊 We didn't realize how things would change.

[@mikehawk2003]

Was the San Joaquin late that particular day?

[@jimprice1959]

We rode it twice a year from about 1948 until 1956. I don't especially remember it being late. One time a retired Santa Fe engineer told me he got a southbound train up to 110 MPH on the line out west of Merced and Madera. I don't think he was late into Fresno.@@mikehawk2003

[@FreihEitner]

Those are some seriously beautiful trains. Thank you for sharing.

[@cadespencer6320]

At 8:03 the horn sounds like a kazoo XD!!!!

[@3henry214]

LOL... I was thinking along the lines of duck call.

[@krystalstarrett6760]

Thank you, enjoyed viewing. Now look what has happened to passenger rail service with government involvement 😢.

[@toomanyuserids]

Wow...three-plus E power units and consist on East Bay streets.

[@socalpal8416]

Santa Fe with its iconic War Bonnet paint scheme was the zenith of passenger rail. I vividly remember these locomotives. Amktrak should restore one of these beauties along with a diner, sleepers and observation car for coast to coast service. I would buy a ticket for that.

[@robertlewis7237]

THANK YOU FOR VIDEO

[@Greatdome99]

Great stuff. I was lucky enough to photograph four remaining Alco PAs at Richmond on New Years Day, 1969. By then they were in freight service.

[@mikeflynn1629]

These videos of yours are the best I love the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific both my hometown railroads.😊

[@IronHorsefan1869]

8:06 XD

[@TheJesterboy1969]

Wow! Some of this footage reminds me of sitting in Ray Pelots house in Martinez watching train videos! I was 5 or 6 years old. I'm 54 now. Great times.

[@wondabiz]

all my life i've grown up in oakland and berkeley, but just recently did i discover all of the former railroad right of ways that were transformed into current berkely/oakland. I found out last year that ATSF ran trains through Berkeley into Oakland and it all made sense (since looking at google maps shows clear right of ways). Anyways, there is seldom footage of any of the operations from Richmond into Oakland (especially footage from Albany to Berkeley). This video is genuinely one of my favorite videos ever, purely off of the fact that I get to relive the past and see how different those areas were 70 years ago. On top of that, I finally see what ATSF rail traffic looked like in the places that I've spent 95% of my time since i was born 18 years ago. This is truly a treasure and I appreciate that. To add icing on the cake, I recently moved along the Stockton sub so It's an even bigger treat to see operation from Richmond to Stockton. This is a dream video. Thank you. EDIT: I commented that before I even got to the Pittsburg part. It's also not very common to see videos of the SN, SP, and ATSF in Port Chicago, especially all in the same video. This was also a quest of mine, to find footage of the SN ducking under the (currently named) Stockton sub and Mococo line. Here you come again, making dreams come true. You are truly appreciated. P.S: If you have footage of the Mococo line that would also be very cool.

[@berkeleygang1834]

It was a sad day when the ATSF abandoned the line from Richmond to Oakland, and resorted to trackage rights over the SP. I went to Longfellow Elementary, and remember seeing the Oakland local from the classroom window on a regular basis.

[@wondabiz]

@@berkeleygang1834 thanks for the story. I went to Longfellow after it turned into a Middle School and I think it would’ve been really cool to witness such a sight.

[@berkeleygang1834]

@@wondabiz Last run of the "Oakland Local" occurred on May 12, 1979. Freshly painted GP20 3056 lead the train, with Art Pipes as the Engineer - this was his regular run. I understand at El Cerrito, a stop was made where public officials and Santa Fe managers spoke a few words. Just as the Local was departing from the ceremony, a BART train soared overhead.

[@iannarita9816]

I remember Arthur Pipes well. I had taken a large number of pictures 1975-1978, sadly I've lost them. Normally the? Oakland local had a pair of GP-35's on the front. Unless the roundhouse was short of power. A single San Berdoo CF-7 was usually grabbed from the Richmond switch pool.

[@dnice9168]

What a beautiful train. My mom and I traveled from Stockton to Bakersfield on this line, now Amtrak, San Joaquin. In 1962 our Santa Fe train hit a sugar beet truck trailer just outside Bakersfield derailing the engine. We were in the 3rd car, the lounge car. I remember being tossed out of my chair. We had to wait in 100 plus degree weather for an engine to push us down the line to Stockton. We didnt arrive until midnight. Dispite that, i still love riding trains. Thank you for making this available on yt.

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Thanks so much for uploading this historical ATSF action in California.

[@bryce2680]

Very cool. Thanks for putting this together. How much of the film was silent? The sound editing is really good.

[@HunterLohseRRVideos]

All of the sound I synchronized for this video

[@bryce2680]

@@HunterLohseRRVideos You did a fantastic job. Saw steam coming out of the whistles and you timed the sound to that. Amazing. I figured some of it was actual sound it was so good.

[@AJ67901]

Great stuff! Loved every minute of it!

[@terrywebb8636]

Thanks for sharing, great video.

[@jimholder6656]

An absolutely SUPER production -- thanks very much!

[@deutschebundesbahnh0]

Great set of films! Awesome to see the colors!

[@F40M07]

14:23 Private Cars were a thing back then?!!!!?!?

[@jamesghiorzoe107]

Intermodal cars being turned on a turntable...amazing.

[@markjl261]

Great Video! I enjoy watching these classic train videos over and over again! Definitely treasures from the Past, thank you for sharing and thank you for the work you put in to producing them. Your informative narration definitely is a plus to making these historic videos worth watching!

[@rufusreportage6994]

Fabulous!!!

[@iannarita9816]

One of the things I remember about these films, when I saw them at BAERA meetings, was the passenger cars gleaming in the sunlight. Thanks for showing.

[@davidnazario6646]

I love the Art Deco trains 🚂 👍

[@kennyt1674]

wow thats amazing!

[@FiveStringCommando]

8:07 Woah. That horn sounds SAD.

[@charsbob]

I think it's pronounced PINOLEE

[@HunterLohseRRVideos]

It is not, if you went there and said that they would know you are not from there.....

[@bobkohl6779]

NOPE

[@27526]

Amtrak should add an on board dispensary on trains while in Ca. It would dramatically cut down on complaints. Hey, if the train was 4 or 5 hours late....nobody would care. Might need an extra diner tho. 😂

[@F40M07]

8:03 dying horn 😂

[@bobkohl6779]

Almost thought you's skip the PAs, they were around in CA till 65. Rode the Super Chief LA to Chicago in 63

[@GregKenyon-v6i]

I enjoy see your video of the old Santa fe went I was a kid my parents and us kids rode from San Diego to Scott city Kansas

[@GaryCottle-lw3cx]

My Dad worked for ATSF during this time, thanks for the memories,

[@Qrail]

Very good!

[@butchchism]

Great video, and good history of the ATSF in that part of the world. My wife and I lived in Modesto and Sacramento from '65 until' 69, so the scenery is familiar. California the way it used to be!

[@HunterLohseRRVideos]

Make sure to watch Part 2! More scenes further down the valley in that one!